Longhouse applauds as Adenan recites Christian scripture
CM who knows the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles, was one of the few Malays with a distinction for Christian religious knowledge.
MULU: Sarawak Chief Minister Adenan Satem charmed the Christian community at a longhouse in Long Panai with his knowledge of Christian scriptures.
He recited a few verses while giving his speech, which received thunderous applause from the Kayan majority community.
“I am not a Christian of course, but I am trying to be a good Muslim. I also studied the scriptures. I know about the Gospel of Luke, Matthew, John and James.
“I also know the Act of the Apostle, and so on so forth, and I know the life history of Jesus…in school I got a distinction for my scriptures, one of the few Malays who got distinction in scripture, not easy I tell you,” he said when meeting about 1,000 people at the longhouse.
The meet and greet session at the 127-door long house was also attended by Barisan Nasional candidate for Mulu, Gerawat Gala.
Adenan, who is defending his Tanjung Datu seat in the elections to the state assembly, said freedom of religion was among the 53 principles and actions he had put into practice since becoming chief minister.
This freedom, he said, would be upheld as long as he was chief minister.
As for the May 7 election, Adenan remarked on the opposition’s behaviour of rejecting the creation of 11 new state seats, including Mulu, during the redelineation exercise but had later fielded a candidate to contest for the seat.
“They (opposition) even took us to the court in an effort to nullify the new Mulu seat but we appealed and were presented with a new seat for Mulu. That is why I am surprised that the opposition is contesting here. This is just like what a Malay saying goes ‘menjilat ludah sendiri’ (lick the own saliva),” he said.
Adenan said two of the new seats were allocated in the Orang Ulu area so that the state assembly could have more representatives from the community for their voice to be heard.
“Support my team, I can do things for you but first you must do something for me. This is not just a promise…I have power to do, as Chief Minister I have power over land, natural resources, etc,” he said.
Mulu is being contested by four candidates: Gala of BN, Paul Raja (DAP), Pauls Baya (PKR) and Dr Roland Mattu (Independent).
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– BERNAMA