He pointed out that what is also significant for all Sarawakians to celebrate is the recent Federal Constitution amendment relevant to Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) on Dec 14, 2021, thereby restoring the status of Sarawak and Sabah to where they rightfully belong within the federation. “We ought to be thankful to have an inclusive and understanding Sarawak government who is willing to listen to the voices of the rakyat and act on the reasonable requests and appeals of our people,” said Shankar Ram. Unifor’s setup and existence is the envy of our fellow Malaysians across the South China Sea. “Unifor is a unique unit which is the one and only of its kind in the whole nation. “Being a responsible leader, one must be able to show the quality of being able to give credit when it is due and criticise when only real and necessary. He (Baru) should not try to ridicule Unifor for distributing funds to churches because all the other religious organisations also benefitted from Unifor’s equal sharing basis.

“Unifor is such organisation at the heartbeat of religious harmony and unity. Today Unifor continues under Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah as the minister-in-charge and is placed immediately under the Chief Minister’s Department. He added Sarawakians have fought for such rights and their dreams came true when Unifor was formed by the former Chief Minister, the late Pehin Sri Adenan Satem (Tok Nan). He said this is in line with the freedom of religion guaranteed under Article 11 of the Federal Constitution, a fundamental right which the Sarawak government has given full emphasis to. Shankar said it is important that the people of Sarawak understand the significance of Unifor where there is a 14-member ad hoc council within Unifor (with Sri Maha Mariamman Temple Association Kuching being a key member as well as other mainstream organisations that Unifor has forged ties with) to help grow and flourish as well as promote other religions and communities in Sarawak.

To Shankar Ram, the accusations and allegations made by Baru in the article “are misconceived and misinformed”.

In the article, Baru questioned the distribution of aid to churches by Unifor.

“All communities and other religious organisations have expressed their appreciation for the initiative of our Sarawak government, and we hope that it can be emulated by other states across the South China Sea,” said Shankar Ram in a statement today in response to a news report titled “Baru Raises Red Flags Over Govt Donations to Sarawak Churches” carried by a national online news portal on Dec 12, 2021.

Mariamman images