COMMENT The safety of abducted Pastor Raymond Koh is now top priority for Malaysian churches.

If he returns alive, it is all well and probably the family would want to just move on; if he is found dead, it raises alarm as questions would be asked whether our country has been infiltrated by ‘extremists-bordering-towards-terrorists’ as a possible explanation to the mysterious abduction.

For this reason, the Christian Federation of Malaysia has raised its concerns over the disappearance of Pastor Koh, the founder of Harapan Komuniti and urging everyone to pray “for the success of the police in locating Koh and for the abductors to release the pastor unharmed”.

It does not appear as simply just another abduction, because it was done professionally in broad daylight. Nor was it just another prank that will go away.

We have learnt that six years ago, Koh had received a bullet that was sent to his home. This is something that I am happy to learn that the police are not taking lightly. The death threat, more than just a verbal threat, is serious.

The police have done a great job in carrying out the investigation into the death of the North Korean leader’s half-brother, Kim Jong-nam. Therefore, it cannot be seen as taking the abduction case as something of lesser importance, since Koh is a Malaysian citizen.

His abduction calls for a lot of attention.

Wrong timing

Koh’s disappearance happened at a time when the country is going through a bit of a bad patch, especially with the government seemingly now bowing to the pressure from an Islamist party to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, or Act 355.

A number of civil rights leaders, politicians, retired judges, a mufti and civil servants have spoken up against the amendment. They are the voices of the silent majority.

What past leaders have resisted for over 50 years, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak now seeks to push for the amendments. Critics have of course said that he is trying to divert the attention of the people from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal which has hit international headlines.

In fact, MCA secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan has sent a wrong signal to the Chinese community that MCA, being the second largest party in the Barisan Nasional, exists only to have its opinion heard on behalf of the Chinese community instead of objecting to the amendments.

A Malaysiakini reader going by the pseudonym ‘Drngsc’ has raised an important question: “Please MCA secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan, stop speaking with a forked tongue. Will MCA be objecting to amendments to Act 355 - yes or no?”

At the same time there are allegations by Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia leader P Waythamoorthy that Indian Islamic preacher Zakir Naik is currently in the country.

Here is a man being sought by the Indian authorities for further investigation into his possible link to the Dhaka bombing. The authorities there are also investigating him under terrorism laws and for alleged money-laundering, but in Malaysia, he was awarded the ‘Tokoh Maal Hijrah’.

This is what makes Waythamoorthy very concerned, because Zakir’s preaching circuit in Malaysia last year has indeed raised eyebrows among the non-Muslims. His brand of sermons were largely allegedly unsubstantiated and instigative, and hardly suitable for a multiracial and multi-religious society like ours.

With the Islamisation process and a bent towards extremism in mind, Koh’s disappearance therefore raises alarm, especially within the local and wider Christian community, on the apparent lack of success of the police in locating Koh.

At a time when the Malaysian government is fighting off the image of kleptocracy, such an abduction is adding to the negative perception of the Islamisation process in the eyes of the world.

As pointed out by Bob Teoh, a freelance columnist and formerly the secretary-general of the Confederation of Asean Journalists (1985-87), news of the mysterious abduction on Feb 13 has already become widely spread.

Online petitions have also been created, with one urging the White House to look into the plight of a lesser known person, who disappeared at almost the same time as Kim Jong-nam’s assassination.

At the time of writing, it has only garnered 998 signatures, short of some 99,002 signatures before it would get the sitting president’s attention.

The other is urging the Malaysian authorities to find the abducted pastor so that he and his family could be reunited. This is going viral on the social media especially WhatsApp.

While Najib is trying to discredit the social media, it has proven to be an effective tool to reach the masses, urging them to continue praying for Koh’s safe return.

It cannot be denied that there were, in fact, attempts to post fake news of Koh’s return, but the fact remains that the social media is still more powerful in reaching the masses than the mainstream media.

Everyone now is hoping and praying that the police will be able to get to the bottom of the abduction case and rescue the social worker.

This case, coupled with the possible abduction of another pastor and his wife, may have a common link. According to Release International, a Christian portal in support of persecuted Christians around the world, the couple has been identified by the local Christian chat groups, but the portal claimed that “the police have neither denied nor confirmed it”.

What everyone is praying for is for Koh’s early release and for his safety, especially after his family and well-wishers have offered RM100,000 for information that could lead to his release from the hands of the abductors.

Two weeks may be passing very quickly but for the family members, it was already a drudgery and Koh’s wife has gone for trauma counselling in Singapore. Susanna Liew is urging her husband to stay strong, wherever he may be.

By Monday, Pastor Raymond Koh would have gone missing for two weeks, with no sign of his whereabouts, raising a lot of anxiety for family, friends and the general Malaysian population. For this reason, support for this man is growing, with more legal eagles willing to take up the case.

The Evangelical Free Church Malaysia (EFCM) will be hosting a special prayer meeting for the abducted pastor on Feb 27.

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.