There were musings if Rais Yatim had a fall from grace when he became the arts, culture and heritage minister in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's government.Whatever the untold reasons for this move, his quick response to douse the flames to a fiasco over the exclusion of particular Christmas carols signaled that perhaps there is some real hope in our multicultural project.
It was quite unthinkable for a lot of Malaysians to have Christmas sans its traditional carols, where Jesus Christ is mentioned. There is no cause for the celebration of Christmas by this exclusion.
The sentiments expressed by the director of the Kuala Lumpur-based Catholic Research Centre, Rev Father OC Lim that the omission "for political gain" is outrageous, scandalous and sacrilegious is a shared concern.
When the New Straits Times carried the minister's denial of a ban on Dec 13, the grouses were nipped, leaving us completely in the dark as to who bungled between the ministry and the several facilitators.
- Discuss religion with level heads
- Can one become a Malay?