"Ongkili proposes religion sensitisation"

"Ongkili proposes religion sensitisation"

by Abdul Razak Ahmad ("New Straits Times," October 29, 2005)

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Civil servants and municipal councillors need to
undergo "religion sensitisation" training so they can better deal with
problems faced by non-Muslims.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili, who
suggested this, said feedback from Malaysians on unity, found that a
major concern of non-Muslim religious groups related to dealings with
local government when applying to set up places of worship.

Ongkili said while the laws and policies that relate to non-Muslim affairs
were adequate, a common grouse was poor implementation.

Bureaucratic hassles, as well as insensitive and overzealous local
government staff, officers and councillors, were leading to concerns that
could ultimately affect unity among the faiths.

"If we can have gender sensitisation training, then I think we also need
religious sensitisation in a multi- racial context of Malaysia for people
specifically involved in implementation at ground level," said Ongkili.

"What the staff and officers have to do is take current policies,
understand them, and implement them with justice and equality for all."

He was commenting on a statement by the Christian Federation of Malaysia
urging the Government to address issues related to non- Muslims,
including sectarian divisions, the impinging of an alternative legal
system on rights guaranteed by the Federal Constitution and ethnic
discrimination in public and private sectors.

Ongkili, who heads the National Unity Department, said a major concern was
the establishment of places of worship.

"There is no problem worshipping and the tolerance level by Malaysians
towards each other is high, but getting approvals for places of worship
is a concern.

"And when we go to the ground, we find the problems centre on their
dealings with local government and councillors.

"This is in essence a local-level or municipality problem."

Asked how the religious sensitisation training can be conducted, he said
it could start with the organising of inter-religious dialogues aimed at
finding common ground among Malaysians of different faiths, in which the
officers and councillors could be invited to attend.

When asked whether religious-sensitisation training can be included in the
training of civil servants, he said: "It can be done, but the target
should not just be limited to the civil service.

"We also need to focus on councillors because these are the people who
make the decisions.

Another issue involving local councils was on the need for clearer and
more uniform guidelines relating to non-Muslim matters.

"The problem needs to be dealt with at two levels.

"First, we need religious sensitisation for officers and second, we need
transparent guidelines in matters pertaining to approval of places of
worship," he said.

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