COMMENT | The conduct and subsequent actions of Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuching Simon Poh following the announcement of the local Federal Court’s decision concerning apostasy and jurisdiction was, in my humble opinion, quite commendable.

This has little or nothing to do with who Poh is or who he represents, but with how he acted in the face of what happened.

As it happens, Wikipedia tells me that the honorific for archbishops is “Your Grace”, and this appears to be precisely what was demonstrated.

Watching the video, Poh finds himself in an atmosphere that someone in his position could very understandably have found hostile and even somewhat dangerous.

However, Poh can be seen throughout to be unfazed and smiling.

In one of the more touching moments of the video, Poh can even be seen sharing an embrace with a number of Muslim leaders present at the scene.

Credit to the police

Later on, as things get more tense outside the courthouse, Poh is whisked away by security personnel.

Just as we criticise the police when they do not do their jobs, we must credit them when they do.

While imperfect, as perhaps more preventive steps could have been taken beforehand, people who have been in such situations can probably attest to the rather fluid and often unpredictable nature of such crowds...