Attacks on Churches in Malaysia

On Friday, 8 January, four churches in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor were attacked with petrol bombs. On Sunday, 10 January, more churches in Taiping of Perak state, Bukit Mertajam of Penang, Malacca and Mini of Sarawak also suffered defaced or destruction by some religious extremists. All Citizens regretted deeply that such repeated occurrences of violent acts to destroy local churches have happened in Malaysia during the weekend.

Government Must Ensure Church Security
While the nation was shocked to see the religious fanatics destroying the nation's religious harmony on Friday, it was even more shocking for the community to notice that these religious extremists have continued their malicious acts on 10 January as well. Any deliberation in the destruction of religious sites is serious for it involves not merely the loss of property only. It can trigger greater chaos and more destruction and pose threat to national security.
In the worst scenario, setting fire on churches might lead to religious hostility between different faiths. The police must deploy more force, more undercover, and more intelligence agents to comb out the malicious extremists who did such condemning act to the nation in the dark.

People Must Remain Calm
While we urge all Malaysians to remain calm we also urge the police to resolve these arsons on local churches speedily so that peace and stability can be restore in the society.
Malaysian King Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak have also appealed to all Malaysians to keep their cool and not to support the act of these religious extremists.

Rebuilding Churches
Of all the damaged churches in Kuala Lumpur, the Metro Tabernacle Church that were thrown with petrol bombs and destroyed by fire. It was indeed a kind gesture for the Government to grand this church a church rebuilding fund of M$ 500,000 ringgit. We hope the Government's special care for other religions besides Islam can continue to flourish.
It is also worth mentioning that the Alliance of Muslim NGOs with the strengthen of having 100 organizations as members; have taken the initiative to extend a helping hand to help maintain rules and orders in the churches and Christian communities as and when required. We should continue to encourage and advocate this kind of mutual assistance spirit that prevails among different religious faiths in the country.