Multifaith council commends Malaysian politician's comments on conversion to Islam

May 3, 2008

The Malaysian of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism,  and  issued a statement Friday praising comments made Wednesday by Malaysian politician  on conversion to Islam. Malaysian Consultative Council president Datuk A. Vaithilingam said that Ong's views are shared by Malaysians from all religious faiths in the country. "Conversion to Islam should not be abused as a means to evade one's legal obligations to one’s family. A person's conversion to another religion should not cause pain and suffering for other members of the family," said Vaithilingam. He asked state and authorities to take necessary steps to fix loopholes in the law, so that Malaysians could  in the country.

Ong is the current Minister of Housing and Local Government in the, and also serves as the secretary-general of the (MCA) and  MCA chairman. In his Wednesday statement, he said that individuals who convert to Islam through the marriage process should be permitted to renounce the religion if they leave the marriage. Ong also stated that the religion of a minor child with one Muslim parent should be determined by both parents, or remain the same until the child turns 18.

Ong said that issues involving, custody of children and inheritance in matters of of non-Muslims had increased dramatically in the last three years. Ong emphasized the importance of civil law as related to non-Muslims in the country, as opposed to that of Syariah (Sharia), Islamic.

"Non-Muslims are not to be subjected to any form of Syariah laws and for any disputes or overlapping areas involving the jurisdiction of civil and Syariah courts, civil laws must prevail. [...] We urge the Government to be transparent in this process," said Ong.

Ong's comments were made as part of an 11-page motion of thanks on the royal address. His motion was seconded by. Ong also spoke about the corruption, education, crime and security and the economy in his two-hour speech.

Of the 27 million people in Malaysia, 60 percent are Muslim, 25 percent are Chinese and mainly Buddhists or Christians, and 7.8 percent are ethnic Indians and mainly Hindus.