(Seated from fourth left) Ambrose, Ng, Ngenang, Justin and Cheong pose for a photo-call with other religious leaders in Miri after the meeting. Tiong is at fifth right (back row).
MIRI: The newly established Unit for Other Religions (Unifor) had a successful meeting recently with leaders of the Association of Churches Sarawak (ACS) Miri, churches of different denominations and representatives from the Sikh Temple and Bahai.
Unifor director Datuk Dr Ngenang Janggu chaired the meeting jointly with ACS secretary-general Elder Ambrose Linang at one of the leading hotels here.
Among those who attended the meeting were president of Borneo Evangelical Mission (BEM) and chairman of ACS Sarawak Rev Datuk Dr Justin Wan, chairman of ACS Miri and Roman Catholic Bishop of Miri Diocese Bishop Richard Ng, assistant Bishop of the Anglican Church Bishop Solomon Cheong, District Superintendent of the Methodist Churches in Miri Rev Simon Ting, Pastor Andrew Ganya Sagir of Seventh Day Adventist Church, Pastor of the Grace Methodist Church Miri Rev Lenita Tiong and other representatives.
“During the meeting, Dr Ngenang shared that the government has set aside RM15 million annually for Unifor to disburse to help the different religious bodies in funding for buildings and repairs.
“The unit will also assist in other areas such as land application, issues of worship and burial,” Rev Tiong told The Borneo Post yesterday Rev Tiong added that the leaders were given a chance to bring up the needs and concerns of their respective organisations.
“These included the need for documents for some members who have no birth certificates or identity cards, land for burial, conversion issues, land for schools, concerns about social issues and families,” she said.
Unifor, formerly called Non-Islamic Affairs Unit, was set up in April this year under the Chief Minister’s Office.
Sarawak is the first state in Malaysia to have such a unit, which is the brainchild of the previous chief minister, the late Pehin Sri Tan Sri Adenan Satem.
Its main function is to coordinate the communication and relationship between the government and leaders of non-Islamic religions – Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Bahai and Sikhism.