He said today the new exco was formed in conjunction with the United Nations’ Interfaith Harmony Week last week.
“Unlike the federal government’s Committee for the Promotion of Inter-religious Understanding and Harmony, this is not a committee but a full exco portfolio and reflects the state government’s genuine concerns on all religious matters,” Lim said in a statement today.
The Cabinet had set up a national interfaith panel in April last year to deal with religious disputes following a series of attacks against places of worship nationwide.
Religious tensions among Malaysia’s multicultural population erupted after a High Court ruled in favour of the Catholic Church in a dispute over the word “Allah”.
Churches were firebombed, and mosques, suraus and a gurdwara were desecrated.
The portfolio was presented by Deputy Chief Minister II Professor Dr P. Ramasamy at the state exco’s meeting last week and approved then.
Ramasamy will also be act as deputy chairman for the state interfaith council.
Lim said Penang is willing to work with the the Najib administration to stamp out religious extremism.
He said the state “has been under siege” by extremist groups and labelled “anti-Malay even if it only involves only 10 per cent Malays or one Malay out of 10 affected parties”.
Religion and race are tightly linked in Malaysia where Muslims are constitutionally categorised as being also Malay.
Lim said that despite differences, Malaysians are “united by our common aspirations for good practices and universal moral values of peace,justice, moderation and harmony”.
“Co-operation not confrontation, mutual respect not tolerance, and understanding not ignorance will be the governing creed of this new Penang exco portfolio,” he added.
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