While the view was by no means completely agreed upon, panellist at a forum to debate Deputy-Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's "We are an Islamic state" assertion, said the country's secular basis does not preclude religions from serving as a basis for public policy.

The point that the call for Malaysia to remain secular is not one that is anti-religion, anti-Islam or anti-God was made many times at the forum organised by DAP at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

"If this were the case, the (Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism) MCCBCHST would not have taken the stand in calling for a secular Malaysia," noted Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang.

"Malaysia is a secular state with Islam as the official religion, but it is definitely not an Islamic state," he added.

Agreeing with him, MCCBCHST member Dr Herman Shastri ( right ) said the authorities can "draw positive points" from all religions that make up pluralistic Malaysia in order to shore up on their strong points and to combat societal ills.

"If we are truly religious, there are certain things that we all hold true and close to the heart, such as the question of justice, the question of human rights, the question of welfare of the poor, standing up against exploitation and corruption, and so on and so forth," said Shastri.

"The problem is that religion has become so highly politicised and politics has become so communal that it has become so difficult for religions to come together on issues (of common concern)," he added.

Speaking at an international conference on the challenges of globalisation facing Muslim countries, Najib had said Malaysia has never been a secular nation as the government has always been driven by the fundamentals of Islam.

"Islam is the official religion and we are an Islamic state," said Najib when asked whether Malaysia had begun to shed its secularism and embrace the Islamisation process.

Maintain separation

At yesterday's forum, Malaysian Bar Council's human rights committee member K Shanmuga citied the many historical and legal documents attesting to the secular nature of Malaysia since Independence.

He also said the separation between religion and public policies as intended by the framers of the Federal Constitution should be maintained.

"Religion has its place, and that is not in the business of government. Religious leaders are respected, but their views can only be pervasive in the private sphere," he said.

"In matters of public law, in matters of how we govern ourselves, administration, in politics, government elected representatives are meant to use their private integrity and intelligence to make decisions arrived at after debate in Parliament," he added.

Others, however, noted that Muslim sensitivities against the term 'secular' as connoting the insulation of all public life from religion and religious values render it difficult to equate Malaysia simply as such.

Human rights lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar ( left ) said that a secular Malaysia does not imply that Islam as a whole is to be rejected as a basis for making public policy decisions.

It only means, said the Human Rights Society of Malaysia president, that Islam is not the sole basis for such decisions to the exclusion of other religions and that it should not serve to discriminate against members of other faiths.

"To me, it doesn't matter what the point of reference (to making law) is, as long as it does not discriminate....When we say there's no role for religion in governance, we are not rejecting the value base as long as that value base is a universal value base," said Malik.

"In making a decision in the public sphere, when we decide what's good for the country as a whole, we have (our basis) in law, the constitution, in particular, in human rights, and with a universal basis," he said.

There was unanimous opposition at the forum to the directive by the Internal Security Ministry for the mainstream media not to publish views contrary to those of Najib or Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on the matter.