News-item from Malaysia:
PETALING JAYA, April 22 — For years, two non-Muslim houses of worship in Taman Medan avoided the controversy that befell a neighbouring church that was forced by residents to remove its cross, by shunning open displays of their faith.
Instead, they go about their worship without the usual trappings of their respective religions, out of caution over how the overwhelmingly Muslim community may view these.
One local church, the Petaling Jaya Church of Christ (PJCC), said it does not display overt symbols of the faith or conduct open displays of its activities.
“It’s not about the symbol that matters, but how one wants to practise or follow their faith... our faith is strong and we are not concerned about our church not bearing a cross on its façade,” a representative of the church told Malay Mail Online yesterday.
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At a Hindu temple a short distance away, priest N. Bala from India told Malay Mail Online that the need for non-Muslim religions to be discreet was a reality in Malaysia.
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Like the representative of PJCC, Bala was similarly accepting of the necessity to keep a low-profile in order to avoid trouble, saying that the absence of religious symbols did not weaken his faith.
Still, he lamented how non-Muslims in Malaysia must be so wary about how they practised their faiths and how religion here was used to divide rather than unite.
“I myself feel my right is being infringed...there should be equality in matter of religion,” he said. “How are churches or temples lesser compared to mosques? All religion is good.”
