Serdang MP moved by Muslim support, but won’t embrace Islam

Teo, dressed in a yellow baju kurung with her head covered by a matching scarf, made sure to sit outside the prayer hall during her visit to the Surau Tholabiah in Kampung Paya,Sungai Ramal Luar,Kajang late last night.- Picture by Choo Choy May

PETALING JAYA, Sept 4 — A devout Christian, Serdang MP Teo Nie Ching said she was moved by the outpouring of sympathy and moral support from the Muslim community after she was royally rebuked for entering the prayer hall in a surau last month, but maintained she would not convert to Islam.

The federal opposition lawmaker disclosed in an exclusive interview with The Malaysian Insider yesterday that some Muslims in her parliamentary constituency had asked her when she planned to convert, during her visits to deliver financial aid to the surau.

“When I go to the surau, some of them ask me: ‘So when are you going to become Muslim?’ I just smile,” Teo related.

She added that some of her non-Muslim acquaintances had expressed concern she may be pressured or hoodwinked “through black magic” into converting.

She noted it was common that most devout followers of a religion would want others to share their belief but did not feel pressured by the questions from her Muslim constituents.

“You have to have confidence in your own religion. If I think Jesus is so great, why would Jesus be defeated by black magic?” she pointed out.

Teo said she was learning more about Islam and its customs from her Muslim colleagues in the Pakatan Rakyat (PR), especially from PAS, and appreciated that the religion advocated the values to do good as other religions.

She slammed vocal Malay rights group Perkasa for its hardline Islamic stance calling for local syariah laws to be amended to bar non-Muslims from entering mosques and prayer rooms following her controversial visit to a surau last month.

She also denounced as “too narrow” the view that a sum of RM1,000 she had donated to the surau from out of her parliamentary funds was “unclean” money because she was an “infidel”.

“Their view is very narrow and will make non-Muslims fear Islam more,” Teo added.

The opposition lawmaker added that the strident group’s demands, if entertained, would go against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s efforts to bridge the religious divide and instead create more disharmony.

Teo pointed out that Najib had recently highlighted the growing “Islam-phobia” in the West and urged the Muslim community to help change the misrepresentation of the religion among non-Muslims.

“I think religion should not be made exclusive but inclusive,” she remarked.

The 29-year-old DAP politician recently caused an uproar after a national Malay daily, Utusan Malaysia front-paged a picture of her addressing a Muslim group from inside the dewan solat or prayer hall of the Surau Al-Huda in Kajang Sentral in its August 27 edition.

The inner hall is regarded as taboo to non-Muslims, especially women.

Conservative Muslim groups accused Teo of insulting Islam and the Sultan of Selangor, who is also the head of the religion in the state.

Teo was forced to issue a public apology, despite explaining she had only crossed the boundary of the room after being invited to speak by the surau committee after delivering a RM1,000 cheque.

The Selangor state Islamic Council (Mais) has also issued a stern warning to Teo not to enter the prayer hall of any mosque or surau in the state without its explicit permission.

The Malaysian Insider, however, understands the Council will not approve any request by Teo.

“Tak apalah (It doesn’t matter),” Teo responded to the news when it was conveyed. She seemed unperturbed.

The directive, however, has not stopped her from making her rounds to deliver financial aid to local mosques and surau.

But she makes sure to deliver the cheques and her well-wishes to the community outside the surau proper.

She also makes sure to wear a scarf on her head to cover her aurat whenever she enters the surau or mosque compound.