My
initial reaction was this: “It's very bad if this happens in Sarawak.
ACS did the right thing. This is unacceptable. Christmas is the birthday
of Jesus Christ, yet a carol mentioning ‘Christ’ is considered
sensitive.”
Who made this call for TVS? Is it the
station’s top executives, who - according to information readily
available online - are non-Christians from Peninsular Malaysia?
This
is the first time I’ve heard of a TV station trying to teach Sarawak
Christians how to celebrate Christmas and what carols to sing or not to
sing. What utter nonsense is this?
As a Catholic, I
stand in solidarity with my fellow Christians in Sarawak on this matter.
Those who are ignorant or unfamiliar with our ways should not be
allowed to organise religious events in Sarawak.
I
was also reliably informed that the topmost officials of the Sarawak
government, which owns TVS through the Sarawak Media Group, were caught
unaware and were incensed by the conduct of the station’s executives.
I
hope that the GPS government take serious note of this matter and
action must be taken against any erring staff of the station.
This
only goes to show how little they know about Sarawak and Sarawakians.
When you get people who know nothing about Christmas or Christmas carols
to organise a Christmas programme, that must surely be the greatest
recipe for disaster.
I also find it ironic that a Sarawak-owned TV station has to
recruit executives from Malaya as if no Sarawakians are capable of
running the show.
Lack of common sense
An
attempt at damage control later by TVS, claiming “miscommunication”,
was unconvincing and hollow at best. It’s obvious that the organisers
did not expect such a fierce backlash from Sarawakians.
From
the TVS statement, it is also clear that the station’s executives do
not even know the difference between a Christmas carol and a song.
A
Christmas carol is typically a religious or traditional song with a
seasonal theme, often associated with the Christmas season and its
religious significance.
If I were a
Christian working for TVS and were tasked to organise an Islamic event -
say, a Quran-reading competition - my sixth sense would tell me
immediately that I should allow a senior Muslim colleague to spearhead
the job.
The leader in a TV station or any organisation must possess the intuition to feel and do the right thing.
In
this case, the non-Christian TVS executives probably thought they could
hide behind the supposed “protocol” from the Film Censorship Board and
the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission.
Let
me state that I do not think that Bishop Danald Jute, the most senior
prelate of the Anglican communion in Sarawak, could have
“miscommunicated” with the organisers over the matter.
A redundant programme
I
also think that there is no necessity for TVS to organise any Christmas
programme in Sarawak as there are many activities and events planned by
the Christian churches every year. Most of these events are also
covered by other tv stations.
For example, the
popular Christmas parade in Miri, with thousands of Christians in
attendance and the Inter-denominational Christmas Service in Kuching are
held annually for decades. Almost every church, even those in the most
remote of areas, will have Christmas services planned.
And
who could forget the Muslim female officers of the police choir in
Kuching, singing Christmas carols at regular intervals over the Yuletide
season?
Christmas is always celebrated with much
hope, joy, and love by the majority of Sarawak’s three million people,
with many events and activities organised every year. I cannot see how
another event organised by TVS will have any extra impact.
Finally,
let me share these words of wisdom of the late Sarawak chief minister
Adenan Satem, who had declared: “I will not tell you how to practise
your religion. I am a Muslim and I try to be a good one. But I will not
tell my Christian friends how to worship. It is their business.”
It
is my fervent hope that such an unfortunate episode in the celebration
of such a joyous and holy event as Christmas will not happen again in
Sarawak.
