Johor sultan, crown prince wish ‘Happy Christmas’, while Brunei ruler bans greetings

KUALA LUMPUR — The ruler of Malaysia’s southern state and his heir apparent both wished all Christians a joyful Christmas yesterday (Dec 25), in the same week that neighbouring Brunei announced it will enforce a public ban on non-Muslim festivities in the sultanate.

“I would like to wish all Christians a Happy Christmas and I hope they will have a wonderful time celebrating it together with their families and friends,” Johor’s Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar wrote on his official Facebook page.

He also added several hashtags ‪#‎sultanibrahimofficial, ‪#‎sultanjohor, ‪#‎luaskankuasamu, ‪#‎jdt, ‪#‎muafakatbangsajohor, ‪#‎royaljohor, ‪#‎sultanjohordanrakyatberpisahtiada to reinforce his royal message.

In a separate message on the Facebook page of the Johor Southern Tigers football team he head, Johor crown prince Brigadier-General Tunku Ismail Ibrahim also offered his season’s greetings to Christians.

“On behalf of Johor Football Association and all JDT players would like to take this opportunity to wish Merry Christmas to all our Christian fans.

“For all of Bangsa Johor, I wish you all a very happy new year. May the coming year be filled with success and blessings for all,” he wrote.

Christians form just under 10 per cent of Malaysia’s 30 million population, similar to Brunei, which has a population of 230,000.

On Wednesday, French news wire AFP reported Muslim religious leaders reminding Bruneians of the public ban on Christmas.

“Using religious symbols like crosses, lighting candles, putting up Christmas trees, singing religious songs, sending Christmas greetings... are against Islamic faith,” the imams were reported as saying in sermons published in Brunei’s press.

Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, one of the world’s richest men, announced the implementation of strict Shariah laws for the Muslim-majority country, sending ripples of unease across Southeast Asia, especially among non-Muslims in Malaysia who were apprehensive with  attempts to introduce similar laws by the PAS-led state government of Kelantan.

Punishment for violating the ban is a five-year jail sentence, and the government warned last year that Muslims would be committing an offence if they so much as wore “hats or clothes that resemble Santa Claus”. MALAY MAIL ONLINE