PAS leaders meet Catholic Church reps to discuss Act 355

GEORGE TOWN: Several PAS leaders on Sunday met with representatives of the Catholic Church and NGOs over the proposed amendments to Act 355 and to strengthen interfaith ties.
Penang PAS Interfaith Coordinator Abdul Rahman Kassim said the hour-long meeting was held at the St Anne's Church in Bukit Mertajam.
He said the meeting was attended by party deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man and Penang Bishop Sebastian Francis and each faith was represented by 12 persons.
He said Tuan Ibrahim spoke on the proposed amendments to the Syariah Courts (CriminalJurisdiction) Act 1965 (Act 355).
Tuan Ibrahim, he added, also touched upon was the similar history shared by the two faiths and described the meeting as "baik" (good) and "bermanfaat" (beneficial).
He said the aim was to foster stronger relationships and create mutual respect among the faiths.
"This is good for all Malaysians, let us show to (the) whole nation the good ambiance, joy that we have among people of different faiths," he told theSun via text.
As part of efforts to strengthen interfaith ties, an interfaith bowling tournament between PAS and other religious communities is scheduled to be held on Feb 12 at the Giant Mall in Kulim, Kedah.
A dialogue sessions is also set to be held on Feb 25 at the YMCA in Penang.
The Islamist party is to hold a rally in support of amending the law on Feb 18 at Dataran Merdeka.
If Parliament passes the law, the present punishment cap will be raised to 30 years jail, RM100,000 fine and 100 strokes of the cane.