PAS says sorry over claims events had elements of proselytising Christianity and touched on the sensitivities of Muslims in Tawau.
Tawau PAS has apologised to the public for sending a memorandum to protest the Christmas and New Year’s Eve celebrations held in December.
Its chief Mohamad Husain said they have also apologised to Parti Warisan Sabah and PKR in Tawau for including them in the memorandum.
The issue drew flak from various quarters accusing the party of spreading negativity.
Mohamad said the joint memorandum was sent prior to the celebrations, following a group discussion with various parties and individuals.
“We admit the mistake and regret what happened,” he said during a press conference in Tawau on Wednesday (Jan 2).
“If there were any parties who feel upset, just forget about it, as we all know each other and furthermore, the memorandum was not meant to annoy or hurt anyone’s feelings.
“It was not our intention to hurt anyone, but to just ask for an investigation to be carried out to see if the organiser of the events violated any acts or laws in Malaysia,” he added.
Tawau PAS had led a group claiming to represent Muslims in the district to issue a memorandum to protest the celebrations and lodged a police report.
They claimed that the events had elements of proselytising Christianity and touched on the sensitivities of Muslims in Tawau.
Among the elements, they said, was a speech by a representative of a bishop during the celebrations and a choir performance which they alleged could preach the Christian faith to Muslims.
On Jan 1, Tawau PAS held a press conference to protest against the festival organised by, among others, the office of Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Christina Liew.
In the press conference, Mohamad claimed to represent Warisan, PKR, Umno and several NGOs from both the Tawau and Kalabakan constituencies.
Tawau Parti Warisan Sabah chief Frank Salazar and Kalabakan Warisan chief Ismail Senang lodged a report with Tawau police, denying the divisions’ involvement in the memorandum.
Liew voiced her surprise over the protest, saying such actions were unacceptable in peace-loving Sabah, which more than 30 different ethnic groups with numerous religious beliefs call home.
“What are these people protesting? This is an annual event that we have been organising for the past 20 or 30 years without any problem. Suddenly we cannot do this anymore? Why?
“There were leaders from other parties, like Kalabakan MP Ma’mun Sulaiman, who was there. There were thousands of people of all races and religions, celebrating happily with us,” Liew was quoted as saying by the Malay Mail.
The Tawau MP said she hoped Sabahans would reject such a mentality and will continue to live harmoniously with one another instead.
“We don’t want to be affected by this. Is there any such teaching that compels its followers to make this kind of objection? I don’t quite understand.”
Meanwhile, Parti Solidariti Tanah AirKu wants the government to urgently address religious fanaticism and anti-Christian sentiments in Malaysia.
Its president Datuk Dr Jeffery Kitingan said the recent opposition to the Tawau Christmas and New Year celebrations was alarming.
“This is a serious escalation of the anti-Christian attitude in the country.
“Every Sabahan should be alarmed and oppose this development,” he said yesterday.
The Keningau MP said religious fanaticism should have subsided in Malaysia with the coming of the Pakatan Harapan government.
He urged the government to make a stance against the anti-Christian development in Tawau by condemning it as anti-national and highly divisive by an arrogant group.
In Penang, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng also slammed the parties that staged the protest.
On the reports of PAS submitting a memorandum on the matter, he said the party was trying to ruin the racial harmony among Sabahans.
“It shows how ugly PAS is, using poisonous politics of polarisation based on religious extremism to foment fear and hatred, disrupt social harmony and divide the rakyat,” Lim told FMT.
PBS Youth chief Christopher Mandut said he was disheartened about the protest, especially because those who protested did so using religion as the basis of their arguments.
“Since when did we become so divided over an event?
“We in Sabah have always celebrated Christmas together as one big family. But now, why can’t we do it any more? And to think that those who protested the events are all Sabahans…”
Mandut said he found the groups’ protest against the choir presentation and the speech by a Christian bishop in particular as mindboggling, especially because there was no element of proselytising, as alleged.
He said he feared the protest was actually just the beginning of the erosion of tolerance and mutual respect long enjoyed by Sabahans.
Such mentality, he said, was alien to Sabah not so long ago to the point that the Bornean state, together with Sarawak, had always been held as examples of what it means to be a truly united multi-religious and multiracial society.
He said Sabahans only heard or read in the news about intolerance towards other religions in West Malaysia.
“Racism is still prevalent there because supremacists are given free rein in Malaya. We in Sabah have always been above that level.
“It is so disappointing to realise we have stooped so low that we are now no different from the rest. Don’t bring that sick mentality and culture into Sabah.”
However, Mandut believed it is still not too late for the Sabah government and the relevant authorities to rectify the problem.
He urged religious bodies to talk to one another and to stem the increasing racial and religious superiority complex among the people.
“Unfortunately, this goes both ways and we have people like these on both sides of the fence. What is the government going to do about this?”