Malaysian Insider By Debra Chong
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 8 — Former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today added his voice to a small but growing section of leaders straddling the political divide who have come out to openly condemn the anonymous attacks on several churches in the Klang Valley.
"Two incidents happened last night, which were attempts to burn a church in Taman Melawati and Petaling Jaya, are very regretful. The act to pollute and desecrate any houses of worship must be strongly condemned by all parties," he said in a statement.
"The police and all levels of society must jointly take responsibility and work together so that such incidents do not spread and jeopardise the stability and security of the country," he added.
Abdullah, who is better known by his moniker Pak Lah, urged all citizens to work together and "protect and preserve freedom of religion as it is stated in the Federal Constitution."
"We must always safeguard the harmony and good relations among the races and religions," he said.
The former premier, whose father-in-law was Catholic and whose funeral service had taken place at the Church of the Assumption next to the Assunta Hospital in Petaling Jaya barely a week ago, was very upset with the spate of attacks.
A Molotov cocktail was lobbed into the Assumption grounds at about 4am today but failed to explode, police officials confirmed.
Two other churches were not as fortunate. The Metro Tabernacle in Desa Melawati here and the Live Chapel in Section 17, Petaling Jaya, were torched.
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