SUSANNA Liew, the wife of missing Pastor Raymond Koh, believes there is still not enough religious tolerance in the country with Christians still being subtly persecuted.
This comes despite the World Watch List 2019 survey stating that Malaysia was among three countries globally that show “signs of hope” for Christians in 2019. Malaysia scored 42 out of 50 countries on the difficulties of practising Christianity.
Commenting on the survey results, Liew said she does not see much improvement, citing the recent incident in Penang where there was an outcry among some Muslim groups over the perceived shape of a crucifix on an apartment building.
“Recently there was the issue of the cross in Penang. This shows there still isn’t much tolerance,” she told The Malaysian Insight.
Liew was referring to her husband Koh, a pastor, who was abducted by a group of men almost two years ago. Despite a public inquiry into his disappearance, there has been no word on his whereabouts.
The World Watch List 2019, released earlier this week by the non-denominational mission Open Doors, showed Malaysia’s improved ranking.
But despite this, Malaysia, which came in at a higher level of 23 last year, is still listed as posing “high” levels of discrimination against Christians.
In a report published with the release of the survey, Open Doors said while “peace and stability” for the religious community is to be welcomed, the missing status of Koh leaves a black mark on the country.
Liew said, by next month, it will be two years since Koh was abducted and there are still no answers to his whereabouts.
“I’m glad that they (the report) mentioned Koh because it is of grave concern that nothing has been done,” she said.
“The state actors seems to get away with impunity, behaving like they are above the law.
“We need political will to see justice being served. And we believe the new government can do it.”
The pastor was abducted in Petaling Jaya on February 13, 2017 by about 15 men in three black SUVs.
The abduction was caught on closed-circuit television cameras and has been described as a well-coordinated operation.
The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia is conducting inquiries to determine whether the disappearances of Koh, Perlis Hope founder Amri Che Mat, as well as pastor Joshua Hilmy and his wife, Ruth Sitepu, are cases of enforced disappearance sanctioned by the state. – January 19, 2019.
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Comments
Posted 5 years ago by It's me GR · Reply
Folks, in Punishment of Cowardice (1580) it is said a coward who is allowed to live might be shamed into fighting courageously and the ways of humiliation are even more various than those of killing him.
On 17 February, the anniversary of Kohs abduction, Tertullian will echo this sentiment, in that it would be better to embarrass someone than do much worse. The old Greek would Rather bring the blood into a mans cheek than let it out of his body.
On a tangent, let us ask how would Christ would respond to Kohs abduction vis--vis blasphemy. He would say to blaspheme Koh is a misnomer simply because a dyed-in-the-wool Christian embraces it as a condition whilst his Roman oppressor is obliged to react to it. In essence, Christ would say, defiling Koh even ought to evoke nothing but a warm embrace. He would add his followers are not asked to emulate his extreme deed on the cross, but the least they can do is to respond the way he would, by embracing their persecutors.
Posted 5 years ago by Tommy Peters · Reply
Posted 5 years ago by KJ John · Reply