Adenan wows the Christians

> Long Panai residents charmed by CM’s recitation of scriptures

MULU: Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem, who visited a longhouse in Long Panai yesterday, charmed the Christian community there with his fluency with the scriptures.

He recited lines of the sacred text while giving his speech, receiving thunderous applause from the Kayan majority community.

“I am not a Christian, of course, but I am trying to be a good Muslim. I also studied the scriptures. I know about the Gospel of Luke, Matthew, John and James.

“I also know the Act of the Apostle, and I know the life history of Jesus ... In school I got a distinction for my (knowledge of the) scriptures, one of the few Malays who did so,” he said when meeting about 1,000 people at the 127-door longhouse.

The meet-and-greet session was also attended by the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for Mulu, Datuk Gerawat Gala.

Adenan, who is also defending his Tanjung Datu seat in the 11th state election, said freedom of religion was among the 53 principles of his government.

This freedom, he said, would be upheld as long as he was chief minister.

As for the May 7 election, Adenan said it was weird how the Opposition had rejected the creation of 11 new state seats, including Mulu, during the redelineation exercise but was now fielding a candidate for the seat.

“They even took us to court to nullify the new Mulu seat but we appealed. That is why I am surprised that the Opposition is contesting here,” he said.

Adenan said two of the new seats were allocated in the Orang Ulu area so that the state assembly could have more representatives from the community.

“Support my team, I can do things for you. This is not just a promise ... I have power. As chief minister I have power over land, natural resources, etc,” he said.

Mulu will see a four-cornered fight between Gala, Paul Raja (DAP), Pauls Baya (PKR) and Dr Roland Mattu (Independent). – Bernama