MUKAH: Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud yesterday warned the people of the great dangers involved in mixing politics with religion.
RELIGIOUS UNITY: Taib signs the plaque of the new St Peter/St Paul Roman Catholic Church Mukah. Looking on are Mukah Catholic Church Charitable Trust and Roman Catholic Mission chairman Datuk Aidan Wing (Taib’s right), Puan Sri Ragad Kurdi Taib, and church rector Father Michael Lee (right).
“Never mix religion with politics. There is nothing more volatile, nothing more provocative than mixing the two.
“Inevitably, we will quarrel if we try to politicise religion…also racial issues as well,” he said when opening the RM10 million St Peter/St Paul church here yesterday.
Touching on the issue of some 30,000 copies of Malay language bibles left uncollected at Kuching Port, Taib said it was he himself and not the opposition who had rectified the situation.
“I talked to the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak (on the matter),” he said.
Taib said the opposition only knew how to make people angry and that there were much “at stake for us all if we have anger and suspicions against each other… Christians, Muslims, Hindus or Buddhist.”
“We must not allow religious extremists a free hand to divide and destroy society and the country,” he said.
Taking a swipe at the opposition coalition’s slogan which called on the people to vote for change in the coming election, Taib said the people should think very carefully.
“I have made the change in this state since 50 years ago. People are now better off. They have better standard of living, better lifestyle now. We have good roads, amenities, schools, there are many graduates too,” he said.
He said they should ask themselves if this change was for the better or for the worse, whether there would be stability or instability, certainty or uncertainty.
Taib said the people would face a very uncertain future if they were led by leaders like Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
“We must maintain what we already have…a united, harmonious, stable, prosperous, progressive and respectable society where we have the freedom to aspire for what we believe is good.
“That is why when I step down I want to hand over the state to new people, qualified people so that there will be no change for the worse,” he said. — Bernama