The bumiputera Christian community in Sabah, set to celebrate Christmas in 10 days time has welcomed the cabinet decision to resolve their long-standing MyKads dilemma recording some as Muslims, and wants swift action.

National Evangelical Christian Fellowship Commission of Sabah Affairs (NECF-COSA) said they will seek immediate cabinet and state NRD intervention to remove the long protracted dispute from the Kudat Syariah High Court which is to determine whether three baptised Christian , adhering to their faith since birth, are not Muslims.

NONE "We urge the authorities to act with the utmost urgency to amend the error in the entry in their MyKads as Christians and not Muslims so that the Syariah Court is not forced to arrive at any judgment or order which may further complicate the problem."

NECF-COSA in a statement said the cabinet move was a step in the right direction.

"NECF - Cosa welcomes the cabinet decision to resolve with urgency the long-standing dilemma faced by bumiputera Christians with regards to their MyKad.

sabah church christian books suit 160108 jerry wa dusing "This is a step in the right direction to avoid further confusion over the status of bumiputra Christians in Sabah," said Jerry Dusing, chairman (right) of the NECF, today.

"The assurance by the state National Registration Department (NRD) that the error in recording the religious status in MyKad can be resolved immediately is a positive move.

We hope this injustice and the huge back log of unresolved MyKad cases can be cleared quickly without going through the Syariah Court."

Last month, it was reported that NRD practice of randomly including "bin" or "binti" in Sabah Christians names which identifies them as Muslims had come under strong attack.

United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation president, Bernard Dompok, who is also the Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister, had said the cabinet and Prime Minister Najib Razak, had given the NRD the green light to rectify the errors without going to the Syariah Court.

The cabinet had also appointed Bernard as the "focal point" in Sabah while Natural Resources and Environment Minister Douglas Unggah Embas had been tasked to monitor Sarawak.

Christians classified as Muslims

The controversy, came to light when a 53-year-old Banggi ethnic widow, Intim binti Lambatan, and her two daughters, Norina binti Nuhudan, 28, and Listin Nuhudan, 22, were classified as Muslims in their MyKad when all three had been baptised Christians of Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB).

Even the Sabah Islamic Affairs Department had clarified that their names are not on the department's register, thus indicating they are not Muslim converts.

However, the problem remains as the NRD would not rectify the error and asked Intim and her daughters to get a declaration that they are not Muslims from the Kudat Syariah High Court.

The case, NEFC-COSA said surfaced last October but was postponed due to the absence of other concerned parties.

NECF-COSA added that the Sabah NRD director Ismail Ahmad blamed the errors on "technical glitches" and requested those facing such problems to call on the office for rectification.