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KUCHING - On 14 June, Leonard Teoh, an Advocate and Solicitor of 35 years’ standing from Kuala Lumpur, at the invitation of the Archbishop of Kuching, addressed a large number of Catholics at the Tan Sri William Tan Auditorium on the issue of religious freedom in Malaysia.

     Teoh, a past president of the Catholic Lawyers’ Society of Kuala Lumpur, is the Chairman of the Think Tank Committee of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism (MCCBCHS). He made specific reference to two Articles: Article 11 (1) of the Federal Constitution provides that every person has the right to profess and practise his/her religion and to propagate it subject to State laws or other federal law controlling or restricting the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the religion of Islam. Article 3 (1) provides that Islam is the religion of the Federation, but other religions may be practised in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation.

     Teoh elaborated on parts of the Reid Commission Report, the Statement of the First Prime Minister which was reported in the Hansard, and the Report of the Commission of Enquiry for North Borneo and Sarawak (1962) to give a better understanding on the intent of the Federal Constitution as to the freedom of religion in Malaysia.

     Further references were made to judicial and legal interpretations made by the courts in Malaysia from the 1980s to the current period. Among the decisions discussed, the case of Che Omar bin Che Sor v Public Prosecutor was mentioned and it was highlighted that the then Lord President, after reviewing Malaysia’s constitutional history ruled that the religion of Islam in Article 3 means only such acts as relates to rituals and ceremonies and that Article 3 was never intended to extend the application of Syariah to the sphere of public law. Similar decisions made in the 1980s were quoted. 

     In contrast, Teoh referred to a more recent case which has departed from the previous decisions and helped the supremacy of Islam take precedence over other religions in the country.

     In addition, Teoh emphasized that recent Court of Appeal decisions which held that only the Syariah Court has jurisdiction to declare that a Muslim is no longer a Muslim has created a dilemma in that a person who has renounced Islam should no longer be subject to the jurisdiction of the Syariah Court and to do so many mean that he/she could be construed as admitting that he/she is still a Muslim.

     Teoh further expressed his view that freedom of religion should mean that a person should be the one to decide his/her own faith and a person’s faith should not be left to be determined by a third party. He noted that Sarawak is very fortunate to have religious freedom in the State and reiterated that for inter-religious co-operation and understanding in Malaysia it is important that there be religious freedom. 

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