MY VIEWS: Administration of the Religion of Islam (Federal Territories) Bill 2013

The subject of religion is a sensitive issue. For each and all, their religion is a way of life, a guide to good living and a believe that they hold dear to.

As such, Malaysia is a known liberal country where many religions are practiced and followed by all walks of life, with no harassment or restrictions. However, issues such as the recent right to choose the religion of a child keeps being a lingering torn in the flesh.

The "parent/parents" saga has drawn widespread attention, On a lighter note, parent/parents would probably yearn to ever gain this much of an attention from their children. 

With regards to this issue,many ideas,view have been exchanged albeit controvesially.

My take is that, it does not take a single parent to decide the future of a child. A bright future for a child is often a norm when both the parent take a hand in hand approach to their child's life. It is important that both the parent are happy, satisfied and content with the religion that their child is to adhere to for rest of his life.

In Mahabaratha, the Pandavas devotion to Kunti Devi, their mother is exampalery. Ramayana meanwhile shows the Lord Rama fulfilling his dad's word and going into exile.

The aforementioned scriptures show that both parent have equal importance. In Hinduism, it is known that these scriptures were written to indicate purpose in life and the role of each being. The wordings of the act seems to indicate that one parent has an upper hand over the other, which I presume is contradictory to teachings of all religion.

The government understands the complexity of the issue and will take into account the sentiments of all stakeholders before making a decision. The bill is in its early stages and from my understanding its a translation difference between the English and Malay language versions of the bill that is the cause of concern. While the English version clearly states the need for both parents to consent to conversion of a child the Malay language version states that either parent can make the decision for a child under 18 years of age. I'm sure this matter can be solved amicably and even the honorable Deputy Prime Minister YAB Tan Sri Muhiyiddin Yassin  has agreed that amendments would be made if the situation warrants it.

I personally hope that suitable amendments are made to ensure that when it comes to a choice of religion for a child, it has to be a collective decision and not a unilateral one.