A women’s rights activist was shocked to learn that a photo of him and several others attending a government function has been circulating in cyberspace as ‘proof’ of the country’s Muslims being converted to Christianity.
The photo circulating in blogs since 2012 shows him among with a group seated on wooden benches, many of them women wearing headscarves.
In a statement denying the blogs' allegations, Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) advocacy officer Yu Ren Chung said that photo was in fact taken at the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation’s (Istac) main hall in Bukit Tunku, Kuala Lumpur, and not at a church as alleged by the blogs.
He said the event was hosted by the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) on Feb 29, 2012 to discuss the National Family Policy, and was attended primarily by civil servants as well as a small number of NGO representatives.
However, Malaysian and Indonesian blogs have used the photo claiming it shows Muslims who had just been baptised, with some blaming DAP and PAS for the issue.
“I was shocked to read the allegations in the blogs – Istac became a church!
“Pity the civil servants in the picture. They were just doing their jobs by attending LPPKN’s programme, but were accused of leaving their faith.
“Pity PAS and DAP. Normally only DAP gets slammed when amurtad (apostsay) issue shows up, but PAS is not spared this time. This programme was backed by the BN government, too.
“Pity myself and my colleague too. Our faces were shown everywhere, but we didn’t even know about it.
"On top of that, that was the first month the two of us had just started work. Sigh…” Yu wrote in his blog post on Thursday.
Tipped off by friend
Murtad - or apostasy - is considered a serious sin and a social taboo amongst many Muslims.
In Malaysia, it requires the permission of the syariah court, but this is granted only under rare and extraordinary circumstances.
In a separate blog post, Yu said the earliest use of the photo as part of the apostasy claim was on March 27, 2012.
He did not realise this until Feb 26 this year, nearly two years after the first allegation appeared.
“Good thing that my schoolmate recognised my face and showed the picture to me. Otherwise, I would be famous without knowing it,” he quipped.
So to avoid "further confusion", Yu urged readers to scan the Internet for photos of Istac’s main hall and compare them with those posted on the blogs.
Pro-government lobbyists have been using the alleged conversion of Muslims by Christians to attack the Pakatan coalition in the run up to the 13th general election.
At the heart of the movement was the Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor's (Jais) controversial raid on the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) on August 3, 2011.
Former Selangor exco member Hasan Ali held a series of nationwide roadshows crying apostasy and claiming to possess proof.
However to date no incontrovertible evidence has been produced over such claims and no party has been prosecuted for attempting to convert a Muslim.
The photo circulating in blogs since 2012 shows him among with a group seated on wooden benches, many of them women wearing headscarves.
In a statement denying the blogs' allegations, Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) advocacy officer Yu Ren Chung said that photo was in fact taken at the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation’s (Istac) main hall in Bukit Tunku, Kuala Lumpur, and not at a church as alleged by the blogs.He said the event was hosted by the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) on Feb 29, 2012 to discuss the National Family Policy, and was attended primarily by civil servants as well as a small number of NGO representatives.
However, Malaysian and Indonesian blogs have used the photo claiming it shows Muslims who had just been baptised, with some blaming DAP and PAS for the issue.
“I was shocked to read the allegations in the blogs – Istac became a church!
“Pity the civil servants in the picture. They were just doing their jobs by attending LPPKN’s programme, but were accused of leaving their faith.
“Pity PAS and DAP. Normally only DAP gets slammed when amurtad (apostsay) issue shows up, but PAS is not spared this time. This programme was backed by the BN government, too.
“Pity myself and my colleague too. Our faces were shown everywhere, but we didn’t even know about it.
"On top of that, that was the first month the two of us had just started work. Sigh…” Yu wrote in his blog post on Thursday.
Tipped off by friend
Murtad - or apostasy - is considered a serious sin and a social taboo amongst many Muslims.
In Malaysia, it requires the permission of the syariah court, but this is granted only under rare and extraordinary circumstances.
In a separate blog post, Yu said the earliest use of the photo as part of the apostasy claim was on March 27, 2012.
He did not realise this until Feb 26 this year, nearly two years after the first allegation appeared.
“Good thing that my schoolmate recognised my face and showed the picture to me. Otherwise, I would be famous without knowing it,” he quipped.
So to avoid "further confusion", Yu urged readers to scan the Internet for photos of Istac’s main hall and compare them with those posted on the blogs.
Pro-government lobbyists have been using the alleged conversion of Muslims by Christians to attack the Pakatan coalition in the run up to the 13th general election.At the heart of the movement was the Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor's (Jais) controversial raid on the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) on August 3, 2011.
Former Selangor exco member Hasan Ali held a series of nationwide roadshows crying apostasy and claiming to possess proof.
However to date no incontrovertible evidence has been produced over such claims and no party has been prosecuted for attempting to convert a Muslim.
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