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On Saturday, April 28, many Malaysians will converge at the historic Dataran Merdeka in support of BERSIH’s call for a free and fair electoral system in Malaysia.

Even as I write, the authorities are preparing to lockdown the Dataran in their effort to thwart the plans of the BERSIH 3.0 supporters.

If this standoff continues until 12 pm tomorrow, there will only be one outcome, i.e. a repeat of the violent crackdown on the protestors by the police which happened in July 2011.

Many have asked whether I will participate in the BERSIH sit-in at Dataran Merdeka. Well, many are also aware of my personal conviction as far as BERSIH is concerned.

This message is neither to encourage our pastors and members to join the sit-in nor to discourage their participation. Rather, this is a humble call to you, as members and friends of the Lutheran Church, to say a prayer for our nation comes April 28. Malaysia is in dire need of your prayer support as she faces many uncertainties in the near future.

So, whether you are sitting on the manicured lawn of Dataran Merdeka, or stretched out comfortably in your sofa at home watching the events of the day unfold, I hope you will intercede for our country. Pray that goodness, justice, and peace will always prevail over extremism, racism, discrimination and other forms of evil. Pray for a better Malaysia.

Finally, I urge those who plan to be part of the human wave washing towards Dataran Merdeka tomorrow, please keep safe at all times. Also take care of the wellbeing of those around you.

May the risen Lord grant us the faith to face the challenges and the grace to love others.

Bishop Philip Lok

April 27, 2012

After reading this, I realize perhaps this is why I love this video so much (even if I can’t dance properly at all)

"The dance of culture, the enthusiasm, the banquet, the community . . . because by dancing, I am telling everyone that I live, but differently from the stone in the road, which miserably exists. I do not exist, I live, and I live in this [ideal] manner of a [dancing] culture." ~ Enrique Dussel (via Ethics Is the Original Philosophy; or, The Barbarian Words. Coming from the Third World)

O Lord, protect us in our struggle against evil. As we begin the Lenten journey, make this season holy by our self-denial. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

adapted from International Committee on English in the Liturgy (via Verse and Voice)

There are two seasons which has a special place in my own spiritual journey.  The first is Advent, the other is Lent. Both seasons somehow concentrate my attention towards a climatic point, the two pictures that capture this climax is the cradle and the cross of Christ.

This is my first season of Lent away from my home country.  So, the Lenten journey opens up a a different possibility to reflect on the regular themes only in different geographical location, but also in a different spiritual location in this season of my life.

My connection back home to Malaysia, is primarily through the internet either on Facebook or reading the news and views online. A quick glance of the thoughts in So, why is Malaysia on the Human Rights Council again?, especially the following caught my attention:

The dialogue on human rights in this country has been strange and very often contradictory. It’s not for nothing that we have been accused of being “champions of double talk.” Consider the fact that time and again, our policymakers have repeated the line that human rights is solely a Western device not suited for Asian communities. A number of religious figures have even stated that human rights is not compatible with Islam, never mind that the Quran is in fact, when read and interpreted properly, chock-a- block full with the spirit and principles of human rights and justice. The Malaysian government has also argued that international standards of human rights are not applicable to Malaysia because of the over-emphasis on the rights of the individual as opposed to the rights of the community.

So why then are we on the Human Rights Council? Why did we make those pledges during the campaigning and lobbying to be elected for a seat (yes, Malaysia did work hard and made several pledges to be on this august group). Malaysia stated clearly as one of its pledges that it would “engage constructively in the evolving modalities of work of the HRC to make it a strong, fair, effective, efficient and credible vehicle for the promotion and protection of human rights worldwide.” If Malaysia doesn’t believe in human rights as it is understood by the international community, why then continue to be a member of the HRC?

So my mind comes back to the opening utterance from the prayer:

O Lord, protect us in our struggle against evil.

In this season of Lent, our struggle against evil not only includes confronting the rights and wrongs  – good and evil within us so we can be an ‘Upright Human’, but this whole debate on ‘Human Rights’ alerts us to the struggle of right and wrong – good and evil outside of the comforts of computer screens and the solitude of our souls.

We are very well aware that when our ‘souls’ are corrupted by evil, this corruption is destructive to our ‘body’ life and our relations with other people, culture and even nature. I doubt it is that different when the ‘soul’ of a nation is corrupted by evil in and through self-deception, questionable intentions, methods of control, and a range of other expressions would in any way help the ‘body’ life of our society. The lines from the Lord’s Prayer is shouts aloud in the classic translation, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”.

So, as I enter this Lented journey as an individual, and together with a corporate body as a church both institutionally and organically, I wonder what this Lenten journey might mean for us in Malaysia as we are gearing towards what some have labeled as potentially the ‘filthiest’ general election in Malaysian history.

For me, my prayer is for all who are struggling against evil expressed in varied shapes and sizes – whether is corruption or a ‘dirty’ election.  This does not mean that when we pray this prayer everyone who is not like us are ‘demonized’, it’s a call to ALL to recognize the ‘war against evil’ is truly a struggle because no one is exempt from its temptation.

"You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities." - Psalm 51:6-9

One key notion struck me in this conversation, that is the idea of “alternative modernities”. If we can say there is a “USA model”, and now since being in Norway I’m more alerted to a “Norwegian model”, I wonder what a “Malaysian model” looks like.  How do we imagine it to look like today and possibly in the future?

Take the relationship between Religion and State for example, institutionally we might say in USA it’s a clear separation even though one might argue the influence of Religion in Politics is not. In Norway, their constitution is similar to Malaysia in that religion is not separate from the state.

Compare what is in the Constitution of Norway,

A. FORM OF GOVERNMENT AND RELIGION

Article 1
The Kingdom of Norway is a free, independent, indivisible and inalienable Realm. Its form of government is a limited and hereditary monarchy.

Article 2
All inhabitants of the Realm shall have the right to free exercise of their religion.
The Evangelical-Lutheran religion shall remain the official religion of the State. The inhabitants professing it are bound to bring up their children in the same.

with wordier the Constitution of Malaysia,

Article number: 1
1.
• (1) The Federation shall be known, in Malay and in English, by the name Malaysia.
• (2) The States of the Federation shall be Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Perlis, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor and Trengganu.
(3) Subject to Clause (4), the territories of each of the States mentioned in Clause (2) are the territories comprised therein immediately before Malaysia Day.
• (4) The territory of the State of Selangor shall exclude the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur established under the Constitution (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1973 and the territory of the State of Sabah shall exclude the Federal Territory of Labuan established under the Constitution (Amendment) (no. 2) Act 1984, and both the said Federal Territories shall be territories of the Federation.

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Article number: 2
2. Parliament may by law –
• (a) admit other States to the Federation;
• (b) alter the boundaries of any State, but a law altering the boundaries of a State shall not be passed without the consent of that State (expressed by a law made by the Legislature of that State) and of the Conference of Rulers.

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Article number: 3
3.
• (1) Islam is the religion of the Federation; but other religions may be practised in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation.
• (2) In every State other than States not having a Ruler the position of the Ruler as the Head of the religion of Islam in his State in the manner and to the extent acknowledged and declared by the Constitution, all rights, privileges, prerogatives and powers enjoyed by him as Head of that religion, are unaffected and unimpaired; but in any acts, observance or ceremonies with respect to which the Conference of Rulers has agreed that they should extend to the Federation as a whole each of the other Rulers shall in his capacity of Head of the religion of Islam authorize the Yang di-pertuan Agong to represent him.
• (3). The Constitution of the States of Malacca, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak shall each make provision for conferring on the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall be Head of the religion of Islam in that State.
• (4) Nothing in this Article derogates from any other provision of this Constitution.
• (5) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall be the Head of the religion of Islam in the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Labuan; and for this purpose Parliament may by law make provisions for regulating Islamic religious affairs and for constituting a Council to advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in matters relating to the religion of Islam.

There’s more on the role of the Norwegian King in relation to the state Church, but my interest here is how does one treat their religious minorities in practice to show the kind of “modern” nation one aspires to be within the constitutional frameworks as our common starting point. Both have to find ways to negotiate the majority religion namely  Evangelical Lutheran Christianity for Norway, and Sunni Islam for Malaysia.

One TV advertisement kept popping up which had Norwegian Muslims speaking in Norwegian describing their life in Norway, and the ad ends with an invitation for neighbors to have tea with them. In fact, my new friends in Norway shared how they tried it out to be connect with the immigrant community. There are indeed challenges no doubt but it seems to me that the “Norwegian Model” gives us of an example of the state not interfering, but rather creating space for people to relate to each other better as citizens. In the recent horrific terrorist-like attack in Oslo and massacre in Utøya Island, one thing I noticed was how cautious the Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in his public statement and the ministers interviewed was in a disciplined refusal to speculate on who was behind the attacks (unlike the so called “specialist analysts” who were quick to make possible links to so called “Islamic militants” on the news). It was hard not to think back on how politicians speak in my homeland Malaysia.

The recent events and especially statements by politicians and especially a government minister in Malaysia on making it a crime to convert muslims after a raid on event in a church is troubling. Less this is portrayed as THE Muslim position, a Statement by Muslim NGO on proposed Faith Crime Act strongly condemned this kind of thinking arguing from an Islamic perspective.

We, from the Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF) read the news regarding the proposed Faith Crime Act by the Deputy Education Minister yesterday with trepidation.
The proposal came about as a response to JAIS’s unwarranted raid of Damansara Utama Methodist Church last week.
The raid conducted by JAIS was purely based on suspicion that the Methodist Church was involved in an act of proselytisation. The Malaysian Aids Council however reiterated that the dinner was actually a fund-raiser for HIV/AIDS support programs.

The whole issue boils down to one main issue. The so-called defenders of the faith believed that their action was espoused by the religion of Islam in preventing the believers from apostasy.

This uncivilized act of storming into a sacred place accompanied by the Mafia-like Malaysian police was endorsed by none others than the insular and xenophobic NGOs like Perkasa and Pembela.

We believe that such an act of storming into a church without any warrant and based on mere suspicion was a travesty of justice and democratic principles. Freedom of assembly is enshrined in Article 10 of our constitution. Any act that violates this freedom is reprehensible.

We realize that this conflict stems from the static and stagnant approach to understanding Islamic law. The codified law in Islamic jurisprudence derived through the exercise of juristic reasoning of the latter years was considered sacred and beyond reproach. Hence the most rigid and literalist interpretations tend to prevail.

The defenders of faith failed to look at ample evidence in the Qur’an that gives the liberty to the people to freely follow their conviction.

Any individuals are given the right to accept or reject a particular faith based on his personal conviction.

So the story will continue to unfold, there are now more voices that must be heard but the broader question remains, What kind of “modern Malaysia” do we envision?

~ First posted in Friends In Conversation

The coffee is ready. It’s good to return to some random thoughts.

The sun is rising on my right behind the tree. It’s a new week ahead with quite a few “new” experiences lined up.

But first, before I leap ahead, I’ll dwell a little longer in gratitude for a lovely “Mastralian” weekend. It was nice to reconnect with “home” through multiple ways. From conversations on simple topics to updates on friends and family, then there was also the very early in the morning Skype session back to Bangsar Lutheran Church.

A lot of walking on the weekend for the whole family with our guest So, an extra physical workout bonus indeed. But the extra “sunshine”, whether it’s the weather or from “rat girl” was indeed a blessing.

It’s just over six months since I’ve first arrived, and about two months for the rest of the family. The clock at the same speed, but the experience of time is indeed relative. It feels so fast. At times I wish it would slow down, but then again, we aren’t in control of the rhythm of the clock, we are only in some degree of control of how we will savor the moments, and decide on the next steps forward, with a dose of memory documentation.

I’ve been thinking about how we live in multiple “worlds”. We start somewhere we call “home”, then often, our pilgrimage opens up doors for us to have “second homes” (or more), then we walk around different zones outside of our “homes”, some comfortable, often surprising, occasionally remarkable and interesting. Not for forget, some bumps along the way with growing pains to mature us.

We embrace the local languages as much as possible, then a kind of “hybrid” moment comes. We can never be the same. But when could we? Even when we’ve been located in the same “geographical” area all our lives, we’re never in the same “chronological” space. Wise men and women would add, there also these “kairos” moments too.

It’s also easy to let them pass quickly without attention. We miss out the extra gems to add to the jewelry of our memory and personal formation. So, it’s good to have some coffee with the sun now rising a little higher, to “recollect”, to contemplate – to have a look again.

There’s so much to reflect upon, so many lessons to draw from.

The strange and yet surprising way we move beyond the surface of language and culture to dig deeper into our humanity.

New people who begin to brighten up and make a mark in the ever unfolding narrative of our existence.

Ideas that come and go. Knowledge which opens doors to new ways of thinking. Old ways of thinking either retrieved, reworked, or released, I have in particular found the joy and struggle with playing with “ideas”. The pursuit of “knowledge” is tremendously humbling. “Thinking” while is very much a “head” thing, but it’s beyond the “head”. Perhaps, some biological perspective can explain how all these impulses work in the brain. It’s pretty amazing. But reducing it to electronic “ping pong” movements does make it less artistic.

Watching my kids has always been a way into new discoveries. Seeing the world through their eyes makes me connect and reconnect again and again to what is important, and what is less important, and for the so called “Adult”, makes me wonder what the struggle is all about. We can’t chuck away the struggle, unless we want to “exit” a little faster. Perhaps, in some ways the perspective of a child clarifies significance of things, events, people and relationships, while the struggle of an adult is an indicator of life and growth in a messy and broken world.

How we wish our world can be a better place for our children. And often, the “powerful” adults are responsible to make that possible. We fail so frequently. Some of us blame those before us too. There’s always a place to do some accounting at some stage. But since the whole notion of “wish” is here, then to make a “wish come true” needs loads of imagination added with the necessary steps towards what we “wish” for. “wishful thinking” is when we are full of “wishes” and “thinking” but lack the courage maybe and perseverance to make those wishes become a reality in our world.

The coffee is finishing soon. The sun is really shining brighter now. Looks like it’s time to “zone out” from this moment of hopefully cultivating some “wisdom” so that one is not running around in circles “wishing” only. The road from wishing and wisdom isn’t that far I suppose, when we know when to stop and simply check on the direction we are heading. The way to folly is broad indeed. There are lots of “folly” fans ready to drag us into the mob of “foolishness”.

However, though the way of wisdom is narrow, and often hidden, you might spot the trail, or if you are lucky, and often we’re more than lucky and a little blessed, whether it’s a fellow pilgrim or a sagely master, we’re join in with a little more confidence we’re on the right path.

Hip hip hurray to all of them!

HIp hip hurray to all the children …

HIp hip hurray to our loved ones, those whom we often take for granted, and those whom we look forward to see one day.

And yes, one more!

Hip hip hurray to the one who made it possible to enjoy this coffee with all the factors needed to make it possible, and the assembling this awesome world we live in warts and all.