Malaysia Orang Asli forced to convert to Islam

Indigenous groups in Malaysia are accusing the government of using religion as a condition for development aid.

The ethnic tribes say infrastructure is offered to them if they abandon their animistic ways and embrace Islam - a claim the government rejects.

Al Jazeera’s Gerald Tan spoke to tribes in the central peninsular Malaysian state of Pahang.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U47j2dS6C_I

Jungle church in Kelantan faces demolition

By Debra Chong
September 17, 2010

The new church in Pos Pasik is 70 per cent done but faces being torn down. - Pictures courtesy of Colin Nicholas from the COAC.


GUA MUSANG, Sept 17 — An Orang Asli church under construction in the Kelantan interior is at risk of being torn down by the local land office.
Temiar Christians in Pos Pasik, an Orang Asli village some 70km northeast of here, were earlier this month ordered by the Department of Orang Asli Affairs (JHEOA) to halt work on their concrete church house, its pastor, Moses Soo told The Malaysian Insider today.

The JHEOA had written a letter dated August 9 to the village chief, Setmen Bin Belungei, informing the latter his “application to build a church has not been approved”, Soo related.

A copy of the letter was made available to The Malaysian Insider. No reason was given for the rejection.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/jungle-church-in-kelantan-faces-demolition

“It’s not the first time they’ve done this. The first time was in Kampung Jias, near Gua Musang,” said the Raub-based Christian evangelist, representing an inter-denominational group called Gospel to the Poor.