Church Demolition in Kelantan

It seems that some extremist Muslims in Kelantan are determined to do things their way without regard to the Laws of this land. Every Malaysian knows that the West Malaysian natives, the Orang Asli have their own gazetted settlements and what they build on their land is their own bloody business. I await the due process of the Law to take place and pray that those damn religious nutty thugs who tore down our fellow brother and sister Christians' house of God will be brought to justice. May us in Sarawak, be aware of the form of religious extremism that is practised in parts of West Malaysia. We must be vigilant against the actions of the forces of darkness. The following is a Malaysiakini report dated 12/6/06. Pastor sees red over church demolition.

Sabrina Chan Jun 12, 07 3:45pm

A pastor is crying foul over the demolition of a church in an Orang Asli settlement in Gua Musang, Kelantan on June 4. According to Moses Soo, the Orang Asli community in Kampung Jias had embraced Christianity in February and wanted to erect a small church to mark their faith. After consulting the Village Development and Security Committee and the Department of Orang Asli Affairs, they proceeded with the construction with the help of volunteers and donations. Following this, Soo claimed that on several occasions, people from religious groups came to the site uninvited and took photographs of the construction and those involved in the work. “They came in cars that had car plates indicating they belonged to Islamic religious groups. They looked scary and tough, but the villagers refused to stop work even though they were afraid of the people who came,” he told malaysiakini today. On April 11, the Gua Musang district land office issued a stop work order. The letter stated that the construction was being carried out on state land without permission from the authorities. The following day, the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship of Malaysia (NECF), in a letter to the land office, said the land belonged to the Orang Asli villagers. “Their right is guaranteed under Section 2 6(1) and 7(1) of the Orang Asli Act 1954,” read the letter signed by NECF secretary-general Reverend Wong Kim Kong. Copies of the letter were sent to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Kelantan Menteri Besar Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail. Intimidation tactics Soo said work on the church continued but the land office slapped them with another stop work order on April 19. Five days later, the pastor claimed, several policemen had asked him to follow them to the police station without providing any reason. “Three police officers stopped me while on my way to Gua Musang at about 11am. They demanded for my IC (identity card), which I obliged afer seeing the officers' identification. “They insisted without reason that I should follow them back to the police station, which I declined as I was heading back to Kuala Lumpur to celebrate my wife’s birthday,” Soo recounted in a website set up to highlight the issue. When he refused to follow them, Soo claimed that he was tailed by the policemen for several minutes. He told malaysiakini that this was an attempt to “intimidate” him. He said the policemen then went to the village and took down the IC numbers of the volunteers involved in the building of the church. On May 24, the land office issued a third notice informing the village headman Pedik Busu that the “illegal” structure would be demolished. Soo said despite various efforts to block the demolishment, the church was finally torn down by bulldozers. The pastor claimed that since the land belongs to the Orang Asli, the district land office did not have any right to reduce the church to rubble. According to him, the land belonged to the headman of Kampung Jias but was donated to the community for the purpose of building the church. On June 6, a police report was filed on the incident by the village headman.

Unusual Tattoos!

These pics are from TIME Magazine. The girl is Japanese and the guy with the great wartime hero Churchill's image is a Briton.

My collection of TIME began in 1975 when there was a special student offer available at a really attractive discount rate.

Of course, in the early '70s, the battle for the hearts and minds of everyone was crucial as communism reared its ugly head and loomed large over Asia... and regrettably, the Americans were hastily beating a retreat from South Vietnam.

In those days, the Voice of America, or VOA as it was popularly known, besides the BBC, was the best reliable dominant news and story station out in the Far East here. There were frequent latest news updates, public affairs views, American music reviews, history of the States, and so forth... Man, it was generous with magazines and souvenir gifts such as map books and pens!

Today, I still keep a stack of its listeners' magazines, which I received regularly and a map book (Outdated!) and a pen (Unusable after all these years!) . In these mags, there were pics and advanced program info on upcoming documentaries and stories and follow-ups on some past stories. There was even a youthful pic of my fav radio/TV interviewer, the outstanding smooth-talking Larry King and the ever fatherly Ronald Reagan before and after winning the elections.

More about the VOA Mags later...