YOURSAY ‘What happened to the cabinet's ruling that children should remain in their original faith of their parents until they reach 18, should one party convert?'

'Amending FT Islamic law on conversion unconstitutional'

Thinkingmachine: We need to be very reasonable in cases where conversion of children are concerned. In a multiracial country like Malaysia, we should stand fast to our belief of racial and religious unity between the various diverse communities.

Both the parents have equal rights under the law over the custody of their child. In most cases, it is unfortunate and a sad thing to see the mothers fighting for custody of their own children.

For child conversion, we must have the consent of both the parents and there are no two ways about it. Let's all be more compassionate as what all religion teaches us to be.

There can be nothing more cruel than snatching a child away from a mother and I do need to talk about the mother's unconditional love for her child.

Guyintheglass: What is the basis for the need for this amendment? Has this something to do with the recent cases of unilateral conversions?

What happened to the cabinet's ruling that children should remain in their original faith of their parents until they reach 18, should one party convert? It looks like this will override that.

RR: It is atrocious to say that one parent alone has the right to convert a child to Islam. Even if both the parents convert to Islam, their children should not be converted.

They will decide which religion, if any, to follow when they reach the age at 21. We cannot ignore the rights of children for they are distinct souls and have different inherent inclinations when it comes to religion.

Sabahan: Shame on those who proposed this amendment. We have seen far too many cases of forced conversion of minors, sometimes even without the parents' consent. If we really want to 'protect' Islam, this is what we should not do.

Paul Warren: It requires a sick state of mind to assume that one parent has the sole right to make such decisions. I wonder if the holy books cater for this as well, or is this just the work of a collection of sick minds?

It's funny that those pushing for this law cannot in all honesty account for their personal wealth. When you have rogues promoting and/or defending religion, I wonder what the religion will look like after they have trampled on it.

Will the non-Muslims in BN vote against this law? Will deputy minister P Waythamoorthy have anything to say about this proposed law?

Subang Jaya : A child (minor) is created by two people - the father and the mother. Therefore both must participate in the decision-making, unless the other is not in a proper state of mind. This cannot be one-sided.

Lover Boy: Malaysian Bar president Christopher Leong, that is the way to go and kudos to you and your council.

However, I would like to propose that any non-Muslim who chooses to convert to Islam should have his or her old name and new Muslim name gazetted.

This will at least solve the problem of secret conversion, secret marriages and forcible conversion of minors. This has caused untold miseries to many non-Muslim families.

Changenow: When the politicians should focus on findings ways to improve the national economy, they waste time on frivolous activities like religion which does not guarantee food on the table.

The government should adopt universal laws for the benefit of the entire populace, not just to appease some fanatical groups.

Religious doctrines will work on their own without human interference. Only dirty politicians will exploit this. And the rape of the conscience goes on unabated till kingdom come. What a nation of scoundrels.

Vijay47: There is only one word to describe the direction this country is heading to - frightening. Nobody is that naive to believe that this latest effort of amending the law or introducing new interpretations is to preserve the sanctity of any religion.

It is but another of Umno's desperate efforts to present itself as a great defender of all things Islam and Malay.

Further, it is not at all strange that the non-Muslim members of government, so vocal against perceived sins of Pakatan Rakyat, are as usual so silent while burying their heads deeper into the slime.

Many years ago, when another law against the justice and the interests of non-Muslims was tabled in Parliament, crafty Dr Mahathir Mohamad cunningly got then MCA chief Ling Liong Sik to second the proposal. And that ‘Sik' man hastened to heed his master's bidding.

What indeed will it take for MIC and MCA and the East Malaysian BN parties to finally decide that enough is enough and that the moment has come for them to make a stand against Umno's excesses?

SusahKes: And to think MCA chief Chua Soi Lek and The Star were trying to convince us that PAS was the one bent on Islamisation.

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