Malaysia top court hears landmark religious dispute

By Dr.Radhe Shyam Kumar
Wednesday,May 19,2010

Malaysia's highest court began proceedings on Monday on a landmark inter-religious child custody dispute, outcome of which could further raise political tension in this mainly Muslim country.

A Hindu woman, Shamala Sathiyaseelan, won temporary custody of her two children in 2004 following her husband's conversion to Islam. She is seeking full custody and a declaration that it is illegal under Malaysia's constitution for a parent to convert a minor to Islam without the other's consent.

Malaysia's dual-track legal system where Muslims fall under Islamic family laws while non-Muslims come under civil laws has led to overlaps and unresolved religious disputes that have fuelled minority unhappiness and raised political tensions.

"This is a fundamental constitutional question being brought up for the first time, and a lot of other cases will abide by the ruling on this case," Shamala's lawyer, Cyrus Das, told reporters.

MINORITY GRIEVANCE

Unhappiness with the government over religious and ethnic issues by minorities who make up 40 percent of the country's 28 million population was among the factors that led to the ruling coalition's historic poll losses in 2008.

Since taking office in April last year, Najib has reached out to minorities by introducing a "1Malaysia" policy to foster greater inclusiveness and set up an inter-religious committee to foster dialogue.

The cabinet in April last year issued a directive banning the unilateral religious conversion of minors by one parent but its implementation is still uncertain.

But the by-election comes at a time when major church there has a pending court case against the government over its right to use the word "Allah."

"There is a huge crack in the nation due to the overlaps (in jurisdiction between Islamic and civil courts) and the rolling back of rights," said Ivy Josiah, executive director of rights group Women's Aid Organisation (WAO).

"If unresolved, people will have no choice but to go to the ballot box," said Josiah, whose WAO is one of five rights groups granted observer status by the federal court on the Shamala case.

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20,000 Hindus Expected To Attend Temple Ceremony In Malaysia

Source: www.hindustantimes.com
Tuesday,May 18,2010

(Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia)

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA : More than 20,000 Hindus are expected to attend the consecration ceremony of Sri Maha Mariam man Temple in Malaysia. The 105-year-old temple in Puchong, a suburb, is being reconstructed at a cost of more than US$885,000.

Temple chairman A. Sevaguru said preparations were being undertaken to ensure the temple would be ready by May 23. He said the temple’s steeple was 70-foot tall and devotees could see it from within the temple through a glass ceiling. Sevaguru said there would be six prayer sessions for the devotees to place gold and silver rice in the inner sanctum and an anointment ceremony would be a rare opportunity accorded to devotees. The temple was originally set up by South Indian contract laborers brought here by the British in 1905.

Academy To Train Hindu Priests in Malaysia

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com
Thusday,April 15,2010

IPOH, MALAYSIA: Malaysia’s first academy to train Hindu priests will conduct a five-year course developed in consultation with similar institutions in India, Human Resource Minister S. Subramaniam said. He opened the academy Sunday, stating that for now the country’s Tamil Hindu community will continue to get priests from India since the training, grading and certifying of priests will take time.

The Hindu community’s wish to have a training facility for local priests has been fulfilled with the setting up of the academy in Jelapang Tambahan. With the opening of the academy, the availability of qualified priests will be assured for over 3,000 Hindu temples in the country.

Subramaniam said although there were locals who were trained as priests, the training was not done formally by recognized institutions and was not accredited at the national level. He said a major problem facing the community was the qualifications of local priests conducting important and complicated ceremonies in the temples.

Hindu Temple In Malaysia Adopts School

Source: www.thaindian.com
Wed,March10,2010

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, March 3, 2010: Arulmigu Veera Muniswarar temple committee in Gunung Hijau, Batu Gajah, Perak state, has adopted a Tamil school. Students will be provided with textbooks and school material, and the committee will help with transport for the poor pupils, committee adviser R. Damodaran said.

Malaysia Namban newspaper urged other temple committees to emulate this as many Tamil schools and their parent-teacher associations were facing problems.

Malaysia is home to nearly two million people of Indian origin, a bulk of whom are Tamils who settled here during the British era.