Justice and Fair play for the family of Gan Eng Gor (deceased)

As extracted from http://hsiauchuen.wordpress.com/

Justice and Fair play for the family of Gan Eng Gor (deceased)

1. Our father was seventy four (74) years old. He suffered a severe stroke in 2006. He was as immobilized,bedridden, mentally unsound, cannot speak, partially deaf and has very poor vision.

2. We transferred him to stay with one of our brothers in Klang. Our aged mother looked after, bathed andfed him. She also helped to look after our nephews and nieces.

3. Our father died on 20th Jan 2008. As Gan Hock Seng (the eldest son) is a member of the family, we informed him of our father’s death. He was then told us that our father is a muslim, we were shocked and did not believed him. So we continue to perform the wake service as our father have never led a muslim life. The Majlis Agama officers came and attempted to snatch the dead body, all our family members more shocked and angry, we resisted and strongly protested against the removal of our father’s body.

4. We obtained his alleged conversion papers from Majlis Agama the second day.

5. We were advised by our solicitors that there are serious irregularities in the said conversion papers especially the Declaration of Conversion into Islam.

a). The declaration was before a Pegawai Ukhuwah. His rubber stamp was on the paper but that officer did not sign.

b). Further there was no signatory at the certification column.

c). There was an illegal alteration on the date to 3rd July 2007.

d). The thumb print was questionable as we are certain that our deceased father was in Klang and not at the address No. 451, Taman Megaway, 70400 Sikamat, Seremban as stated in the application form.

e). His address stated in the Borang Perakuan Memeluk Islam is No: 1272, Jalan TBK 6/2, Taman Bkt Kepayang, 70200 Seremban, the residence of the eldest son. We wish to state that our father has never resided at this address.

f). The Majlis Agama Authorities claimed that our deceased father made an oral declaration in Arabic accepting the Muslim faith. Our family has medical confirmations from three doctors that our father was unable to speak.

g). We were asked to appear before the Syariah Court Seremban, we believe the Syariah Court is for Muslims only.

h). We refused to attend at the Syariah Court on a matter of principle as non-Muslims. We refused to submit to the jurisdiction of the Syariah Court.

i). The Syariah Court made a unilateral declaration that our father is a Muslim and is to be buried in accordance to Muslim rites.

j). We filed an application at the High Court Seremban to adjudicate on the validity, authenticity, veracity and legality of the conversion paper especially the declaration of acceptance into Islam.

k). The High Court Seremban dismissed our application on the ground that he has no jurisdiction to hear this matter as the subject matter falls within the purview of the Syariah Court. We beg to differ.

l). We were indeed shocked and aggrieved at the simplistic way the High Court disposed off this matter. We only seek justice, fair play and to find out the truth on his alleged conversion.

10. The eldest son Gan Hock Seng converted to Islam years ago. Our father and mother had strenuously opposed his conversion.

11. This eldest son had allegedly converted our father without the knowledge of our other and all other seven siblings.

12. Further, the eldest son had NEVER taken care of him physically and financially. He hardly visited him too.

13. Even if the eldest son had converted our father, we like to ask :

i). Why is it that he did not take care of him and brought him to stay in his house to lead a Muslim life?

ii). Why did he allow our father to continue living in a non‐muslim home in Klang ? Our father had never prayed and continued eating pork and other non‐halal food. He never revealed to anyone that he has converted to Islam.

iii). Why he as a Muslim, did not ensure that our father (if he had been indeed converted) led a Muslim life ?

iv). Why is it that the Agama Islam authorities did not visit and follow up with our father – the alleged new convert, after his conversion?

14. We believe we have been unfairly treated by our eldest brother and the Agama Islam authorities in this alleged conversion of our father. If there had been a conversion, we firmly believe that the Agama Islam authorities should have informed all members of the family. There should not be a fight over the body of dead person. There should be dignity and respect on the dead person.

15. We hope the PM and the higher ups in the Islamic Authorities review this case and to ensure that the truth is unraveled. We hope that all conversions to Islam is fair and transparent and made known to all the next of kin of the convert.

We Seek Justice, Fair play and Truth in this matter.

From,

Gan Hok Ming for and on behalf of the family members of Gan Eng Gor (deceased)

Date: 25th January 2008

Becareful with what you recite - especially those in arabic when you don't know it meaning!

Agence France-Presse - 1/18/2008 11:02 AM
Malaysian Islamic authorities lose battle over body

A Malaysian court Friday ordered a Christian woman's body be returned to her family after Islamic officials admitted they were wrong in claiming she had converted to Islam.

Wong Sau Lan died December 30, but since then her remains have been kept at a hospital because of the dispute -- the latest in a series of religious tussles that have raised tensions in the multicultural country.

"It clearly shows over-enthusiasm of the official from the Islamic Religious Council. They admitted that it was a mistake," Karpal Singh, a lawyer for Wong's family, told AFP.

"This victory is very significant as there is growing fear among minorities over their religious rights, which seem to be being eroded," he added.

Karpal said Islamic officials had earlier told the court that Wong, who was 53 when she died, had converted to Islam on December 24. He said it was not clear why they retracted their claim.

Wong's husband, Ngiam Tee Kong, said his wife had sought the help of a Muslim "bomoh" or traditional healer in December -- a common practice among Malaysians.

"My wife was made to recite some Koranic verses. When she died, the witch-doctor showed the video clip of my wife reciting to the Islamic officials, who then issued a letter saying my wife was a Muslim," he told AFP.

"But my wife does not have a Muslim name. She had never converted to Islam," he added.

Karpal said Wong's body would be cremated on Wednesday in a Christian ceremony and that her family would take legal action against the religious authorities.

"The trauma suffered by the family has to be taken into account. It is negligence on the part of the Islamic officials. So we will proceed with the suit," he said.

About 60 percent of Malaysia's 27 million people are ethnic Malay Muslims. The rest are mostly ethnic Chinese and Indians who are largely Buddhists, Hindus and Christians.

Commentators have sounded alarm over the growing "Islamisation" of the country and the increasing polarisation of the three main ethnic communities, which mix much less than in the past.

Several high-profile cases have underlined the strain. In 2006, an ethnic Indian mountaineering hero was buried as a Muslim despite the protests of his Hindu wife, who insisted that he never converted.

In recent months, there have been controversies over a ban on a Catholic newspaper using the word "Allah", the rights of non-Muslim spouses and the destruction of Hindu temples.