Let Sarawakians handle our own Christmas celebrations

Let Sarawakians handle our own Christmas celebrations

Francis Paul Siah


COMMENT | Believe me, I find no joy at all in penning this subject. In fact, as a Sarawakian, I feel ashamed that such a negative and unhappy episode involving the joyous season of Yuletide has taken place in my homeland.

This is not the fault of Sarawakian Christians but those not from the state and of different faiths who attempted to teach my fellow Christians in my homeland how to celebrate Christmas. What baloney!

So, why am I ashamed? I have been telling the whole world umpteen times in my writings here and elsewhere about the pride of Sarawakians and their strong adherence and devotion to maintaining racial harmony and religious tolerance in their beloved Land of the Hornbill.

And what had just happened? A dispute between Sarawak Christians and a TV station, namely TV Sarawak (TVS) over a Christmas carol.

Of all things, we have to debate a beautiful carol with great significance to Christians just because TVS top executives, think the lyrics border on “religious sensitivity”.

No, surely this could not have happened, but it did! I’m very disappointed, fuming mad, to be honest.


Stay in your lane

Back in Kuching this past week, I first got wind of the “religious issue” brewing when I received a well-circulated letter written by Rt Rev Bishop Danald Jute, the president of the Association of Churches, Sarawak (ACS).

The ACS has rejected an invitation to participate in the “Christmas Carol - Sarawak in Diversity” programme scheduled for Dec 3 in Kuching as its request to replace the 'Jingle Bells Rock' with the 'O Holy Night' was rejected by the main organisers TVS.

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.



FRANCIS PAUL SIAH is a veteran Sarawak editor and heads the Movement for Change, Sarawak (MoCS). He can be reached at sirsiah@gmail.com