Persecution in Malaysia

Calvin Martin, Chief Steward of Malaysian Airlines System (MAS) was sentenced to jail by the Malaysian authorities and now faces the possibility of being thrown out of job.

Why?

All because he went to Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia.

On their journey flight from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney and back to Kuala Lumpur, cabin crew members share details of their free time during the trip. Flight stewardess Nadiya Nordin was chatting with Calvin Martin and she asked how he spent his free time when they stopped by at Brisbane. Calvin then told Nadiya that he visited Hillsong Church. Nadiya was surprised that Calvin would spend his time at a church. Calvin then told him about his experience in Hillsong Church and how it was like attending a rock concert. Then Nadiya asked Calvin to let her have a look at Hillsong’s Welcome Pack. Calvin passed it to her as requested. But what happened next was a total shock.

When Calvin returned to Malaysia, he was put in jail for 24 hours without any valid reasons! Two days upon arrival, Calvin received a call from MAS requesting that he be at KLIA for questioning by MAS Security and police. He was shocked. On January 25 2008, he was questioned by MAS security personnel for two hours. At the end of the questioning, Calvin asked for a copy of his statement and they told him it was “lost”. How unbelievable!

After that, Calvin was questioned by the police Special Branch for another two hours. After that, the Crime Division of the Sepang District Police Department also questioned him. Police told him he was remanded under Section 298A of the Penal Code. Section 298A dealt with causing disharmony, disunity or feelings of enmity through racial or religious hate speech. He wondered why…

When Calvin asked why he was being remanded, they said that Calvin had preached Christianity to his Muslim colleagues on a MAS flight to Australia. He was never allowed to see the police report made against him until last month (April) during the MAS Domestic Inquiry.

Calvin has been a 17-year MAS veteran and has even got a letter of appreciation for his wonderful service from MAS Managing Director Idris Jala last July. But now he has been suspended since January 28 and have lost his bonus that he was supposed to receive for his outstanding performance.

When he saw the police report made against him, he was shocked to read that the allegations made against him were from MAS Leading Steward, Mohd Nasir Mohd Noor. In the report, Mohd Nasir alleges that Calvin had told Nadiya to stop embracing her Muslim faith, and had insulted Islam by making unwarranted comments about the Ka’abah.

What was shocking was that Mohd Nasir wasn’t even in the cabin with Calvin that time. Calvin was only talking to Nadiya and telling her about his experience and that was all. Calvin did not mention anything about Islam to Nadiya at all! Furthermore, it was not Nadiya who made the police report.
Calvin did not know where to find help. Those people who wanted to represent him at the Domestic Inquiry were harassed to drop his case! Pif!

Calvin continues to put his trust in the Lord. He believes that his visit to the Hillsong Church was not a coincidence at all.

That day, he was ready to go out shopping when he spilt his tea. As he hurriedly cleaned up, the door-bell of his hotel room rang. An oriental lady at the door insisted she was from room service and had come to check the mini bar. He thought it was odd for someone to turn up at 9.00am for this, especially when he was not checking out till evening. She kept insisting. Then all of a sudden she just said “all right” and left. It was strange for her to be insisting so strongly one minute and then just left the next minute. When he went downstairs, the shuttle bus had left. He then asked the receptionist if there were any churches nearby and was told that Hillsong being 20 minutes away. So he went to Hillsong church.

When remanded at the lock-up, policemen informed the five inmates in Calvin’s cell that he had insulted their religion. They were hard core criminals with scars all over their body. Surprisingly, they treated Calvin nicely. In the van on the way to court, Calvin tried to sit on the bench but a detective pushed him onto the floor. In court, Calvin was handcuffed to a migrant worker. There were about 30 detainees, some in shackles, and none of them had a lawyer. When Calvin’s turn came, he was surprised to see six lawyers representing him. He only called for only one! The magistrate was shocked and said, “This is not a trial you know.”

One of the lawyers replied, “Yes, if it were a trial, we would be here by the truckloads.” =)

Today, Calvin is still under the suspension from MAS. He has no allowances for a long period and it is taking a toll on Calvin’s finances. He lives in Seremban and travels regularly to the Sepang District Police Department to report his presence.

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Let us pray for Calvin. What happened to him made us see what the Malaysian Government is capable of doing – and also what our God is capable of doing.

Is it wrong to tell a Muslim, “I went to church yesterday.”?
If it is, put me in jail then!

Is it wrong to tell a Muslim, “I enjoyed my time at church yesterday.”?
If it is, put me in jail then!

Can’t we Christians even open our mouth to mention the word “Church”?
I thought Malaysia is a multi-racial and multi-religion country? What happened to the Freedom of Speech?

Throughout history, many governments and leaders around the world have tried to put Christians in jail. Yes, some may have succeeded in putting Christians in jail, but never will they succeed in putting Christianity in jail!
–Zlwin Chew



This article is published in the latest issue of AGAPE Magazine (a well-known Christian Magazine in Malaysia) I took the information from AGAPE Issue 2/Volume 6 and edited it to shorten it before I posted it on my blog.