Sultan Nazrin commends Sarawak Anglican bishop for promoting peace and unity

KUCHING (Aug 8): Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah, has commended Bishop of the Anglican Church in Sarawak and Brunei, the Rt Revd Datuk Danald Jute, for advocating universal human dignity and working to build inclusive, cohesive societies through both words and actions.

In his speech at the Regional Southeast Asia Human Dignity Conference 2024 on Tuesday, Sultan Nazrin recounted three real world stories, including one shared by Danald during a conference organised by the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (Ikim) last year.

“Last year at a conference organised by Ikim, the Bishop of Kuching Reverend Donald Jute recounted an incident in 2010 at his church. This was a time of tension between Muslims and Christians, and on the morning of Jan 10, 2010, the Reverend awoke to see that bricks had been thrown at the church, breaking a stained-glass window.

“When the press assembled, they expected Reverend Jute to blame Muslims for the violence; but instead of inflaming the situation he simply responded: ‘We really don’t want to speculate on the incident and we don’t want to blame anybody as we don’t know who is behind this’,” related the Sultan.

Sultan Nazrin said Danald’s only wish was not for retribution but for peace.

He then quoted Danald as saying: “We hope and pray that the incident will not become worse and spread to other churches and other houses of worship in Miri and elsewhere in Sarawak.”

His Royal Highness pointed out that by defusing the situation and offering a voice of calm, the the Good Shepherd Church in Lutong, where Danald was then vicar, was able to continue its longstanding friendly relationship with the An-Naim Mosque located next door.

“As the mosque’s chairperson had commented only a few months previously: ‘When we heard the church’s bell ring we know it’s their time to pray and when they hear the azan (call to prayer) they know it’s our time. We’ve had a long good neighbourliness’.

“If Reverend Jute had responded with anger and blame, he might have further destabilised the situation increasing the risk of violence at other houses of worship. This good relationship between the mosque and the church might well have been destroyed.

“Instead, by simply calling for calm, Reverend Jute protected the essential human dignity of all those in the wider community,” said Sultan Nazrin.

The 2024 conference was held by Ikim’s International Centre for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS), Brigham Young University, and Religious Freedom Institute (RFI).