Tuesday, 11 November 2008

Letter to a Fellow Catholic ...

(I received a forwarded email this morning, and my reply follows)

Fw: FR. Paulino
Father Paulino of CHURCH OF DIVINE MERCY , Shah Alam was picked up by the police yesterday at the Anti -ISA Rally he attended at the Am Corp Mall.
Pls pass the Word and Ask for Prayers.

Did you know about this? He's our parish priest. I go to CDM.

.....................................

Dear XXX,
Yes - I'm quite aware who Fr. Paulino is.
It is admirable that he made a stand, despite the church's "passiveness" in this predicament. Same goes for Fr.OC Lim, who has been at the forefront of the struggle against ISA for years (although ealier, I did have reservations on his methods).

However, the fact that he is a priest isn't an issue - just like you & I, he is only another child of God & a Malaysian citizen first, just like Tony Pua, Lau, Haris, RPK, Ronnie Liu, all the ISA detainees - alleged Al-Maunah, KMM, forgery and other unknown "dangerous elements".
Therefore, I hope the righteous passion against this travesty of justice will be shown, and prayers offered for all our brothers (regardless of color, creed or culture) who are incarcerated under the ISA.

I was supposed to be there but couldn't make it.
Later I heard about the high-handedness of the FRU.
A Very sad reality, really- that we as Malaysians are deprived of our dignity and freedom.

Sadder still is the culture/disease of selfishness, fear and apathy among many Malaysians who believe that the fight for justice "isn't for me" or "politics isn't for me" or "it isn't my fight".
It appears that Malaysians believe in sacrificing their humanity, dignity and their God-given right of free choice, at the altar of prosperity.
Despite all the verbose religiosity, it isn't a very "Godly" thing to do really - whichever creed one may belong to.

Anyway, being optimistic, the good sign here is that the Govt is beginning to fear the people.
It is imperative that the people show solidarity so that the future of our children is secured from the fascists who plunder this nation.
Hopefully Malaysians will come forward in solidarity to voice their opinions, instead of only deploring actions upon those who come forward - more so when only one who is considered "their own" is persecuted.

God Bless You and all Malaysians.
Cheers.
--------------------------------------

Please note that I no longer have any reservations on the "methods" (I mention above) of Fr. OC Lim any longer. It was just that I believe that religion loses its sanctity when politicized - but
Fr. OC has consistently kept from "politicization of religion". Therefore, he is justified in his way of expression while preaching.
In fact, I always look forward to his dynamic ideas these days ....

1 comment:

  1. I have seen Father OCLim at one of the vigils at AMCORP MALL field.He was dressed in a short sleeve shirt and pants,

    On Sunday 9 Nov 2008, at about 7.50pm, I was talking to a senior police officer on the field to allow the growing crowd onto the field instead of being on the roads and road pavement when I saw on the pavement on the other side a figure in a white frock with 3 persons behind him watching me .I walked over to talk to him briefly. The immediate impression is that he is a gentle soul and the 3 others are standing behind out of respect for him.

    A personal report by one of those arrested and put in the darkness in the black Maria confirmed that he could make out there is one in a long white frock.

    I cannot imagine the police will arrest him in his white frock.But then again I cannot imagine that the Father will run.

    ReplyDelete

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