DEPUTY Chief Minister II Prof Dr P. Ramasamy reminded the people to respect all religions during the Perai Christmas open house celebration at St Chastan & Imbert Church in Taman Chai Leng, Perai.
About 1,000 attended the Christmas lunch at the church compound on Dec 16. They included Bagan Dalam assemblyman M. Satees, Rev Father Dominic Santiago, Rev Father Victor Louis and Seberang Perai Municipal Council councillors David Marshall, Jason Raj and K. Kumaran.
Ramasamy thanked the organisers, especially Jason, for organising the event annually without fail for many years.
“I work closely with all religious organisations, immaterial with whatever religion. I think this is very important in Malaysia, the respect for religious freedom is very, very essential,” Ramasamy, who is also the Perai assemblyman, said in his speech.
“We might be Hindus, Muslims, Christians or Taoists. It doesn’t matter but the most important thing is we respect other religions. We don’t want any form of extremism in this country.
“Malaysian cannot tolerate extremism. Extremism in one form or another is not good for the stability of the country. This is why Pakatan Harapan always make sure that we will appreciate diversity, we will appreciate differences and we appreciate people do belong to different religion. That fact must be accepted and protected by our constitution.”
Although there are extremist groups, Ramasamy said he believed the vast majority of Malaysians prefer a multiracial and multireligious society.
“This message is to all members of all religions. Do not think that your religion is superior. Please do not do that because that is not good for a cordial and stable society.
“You can have your respective religion, you can have your prayers etc, but the important thing is to respect diversity, whether it is religious diversity, ethnic diversity or social diversity.
“In that spirit, we celebrate Christmas, we celebrate Deepavali, we celebrate Hari Raya, we celebrate the Chinese New Year or any other religious celebrations. This is what Malaysia is famous for and let’s not be taken in by extremism,” Ramasamy added.
Besides a good lunch, the attendees were also treated to a celebration of Christmas carols and performances.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Nur Afiqah Zainudi