<![CDATA[REV. DEACON PROF. DR SHERMAN KUEK

<![CDATA[REV. DEACON PROF. DR SHERMAN KUEK - Blog]]>Mon, 20 Apr 2026 03:54:41 +0800Weebly<![CDATA[2021: THE YEAR OF HOPEFUL DEVASTATION]]>Sun, 26 Dec 2021 06:22:42 GMThttps://www.shermankuek.com/blog/2021-the-year-of-hopeful-devastation

As many of you know, I tend to be rather busy and have little time to write about myself. Even when I can find time to write, I'd much rather write on matters that relate to the teachings of the Church than about myself. But it's usually a custom for me, as we approach the end of each year, to write something on the year that has been. The purpose of this exercise is to evaluate the extent to which I have lived my life responsibly and fruitfully in service of God and neighbour; to discern if I have loved well with my life.

We are approaching the third year of a raging pandemic that has affected people in many different ways, good and bad. These past two years, despite the halt in my routine travels around the region and beyond, have been eventful, to say the least. To express my thoughts and feelings about my experiences in totality this past year would be to attempt the impossible. It might be best to just highlight some important milestones from various parts of the year leading to this Christmas season.

1) SYSTEMATIC WRITING ON THE CATHOLIC FAITH
In January and February of this year, I very quickly realised that this pandemic wasn't going to end as soon as we hoped it would. I was painfully aware of how many Catholics in our parishes were longing to be in touch with the practice of the faith, and for those who were accustomed to receiving faith formation, to continue receiving it. Many parents had their children confined in their homes with little or no resources to educate their children in their faith knowledge.

Knowing that I would get properly busy as we entered further into the year, I resolved to glue myself to my writing table and to produce a comprehensive tome of catechism lessons that could be used for both catechism students and RCIA candidates. But beyond that, I wanted to write out how the Catholic faith was structured in my mind all these years in a way that was most systematic and comprehensive. Besides, this had always been something I wanted to make sure I left behind for the People of God when I departed from this world one day.

As a result of two whole months (day and night) of writing - with a ridiculously little amount of sleep in between - I completed writing a series of 63 lessons on the Catholic faith. This comprehensive series can be used by parents to catechise themselves and their children in their homes, and also for catechists to teach students and RCIA candidates. It is accessible online to all people for downloading and use (click HERE).

Deacon Dr Sherman's book is excellent for your reference: for your own use or for your catechetical usage.

Nihil obstat

+ Right Reverend Paul Tan Chee Ing, SJ
Bishop Emeritus, Diocese of Melaka Johor
December 2021

This is not the end of the writing project. I'm currently in the midst of expanding and further elaborating this series into a properly published book that will consist of three volumes. I hope to complete the writing by the end of 2022, and I hope that it will be my magnum opus. I haven't yet decided on the title of the book.

2) TRAINING OF PARISH CATECHISTS
Throughout March and April, I kept busy with meeting the various groups of catechists in my parish (either online or in person) to orientate them in this new series of catechism lessons that I'd written and which was now available for their catechetical use as well as self-learning.

I'm proud of the catechists of my parish: their commitment to learning and serving inspires me to keep on being better. Their resilience of life and faith throughout this pandemic has been a great witness.

3) DEMISE OF MY SPIRITUAL FATHER
On the morning of May 29, I received a telephone call from a priest in Brunei: "Deacon, your spiritual father, our Cardinal, has passed away this morning".

I was in a state of shock. Cardinal Cornelius Sim had left for Taiwan together with his brother Fred several months prior to that to receive treatment for his cancer, and we were expecting his return to Brunei within about seven months. Only his remains returned.

His death has left an unspeakably gaping void in my life. The missing, the longing to talk to him again, has not stopped. If I could only have just one more hour to sit with him to have a casual chat the way we always did, a chat that would seem so ordinary and yet transform me so deeply.

For 100 days immediately following the demise of the late Cardinal, my companions and I mourned. We prayed every day for his repose and cried painfully. But we were aware that the late Cardinal wouldn't have wanted our mission to come to a halt because of his departure. Because of that, we resolved to continue with our mission and not stop on his account.

Dear Cardi, thank you for teaching me what it means to live and to love in the way of Christ. May everything that you have strived to be and do find its extension in my life. I look forward to the day when we will once again eat together; until then, I will continue to meet you at the altar of the Eucharist.

On September 16, in tribute to Cardinal Sim (on what would have been his 70th birthday), I was installed as the Cornelius Cardinal Sim Professor of Theology and Dialogue at the Christian Institute for Theological Engagement (CHRISTE), an ecumenical and cross-disciplinary theological research institute chartered by way of a United Nations treaty. This professorial chair comes with a substantial endowment that is used to award research grants in the name of the late Cardinal each year to fund research on theology and dialogue. I also operate academically in the name of this professorial chair by delivering private and public academic lectures as well as writing academically.

The academic stole specially designed and tailored for this professorial chair

4) EDITING AND PUBLISHING OF AN E-BOOK
On October 19, after months of working on a second book project with my colleagues at CHRISTE, we launched the electronic book online via a well-attended Zoom event. The book, edited by me, was entitled The Digital Continent: Responsible Communication in a Pandemicised World. During the said event, the authors of the book briefly presented the contents of each of their contributions and took questions from some 50 participants attending the event.

My colleagues and I at CHRISTE have had very meaningful collaborations thus far, and we are excited as we witness the fruits of our scholarly labours unfold. The year to come will be even more exciting as greater collaborations are in the pipeline with other institutions at an ecumenical level.

For more information on CHRISTE, visit www.christeonline.org. The book can also be downloaded free of charge from there.

5) TEACHING SPIRITUALITY AND THEOLOGY
In the months of July, October, and November, I was visiting lecturer for Saint Paul's Theological College (SPTC), an Anglican theological college in Kuala Lumpur that is affiliated to Saint Mellitus College in England. I taught modules on Christian Spirituality and Ecclesiology. In view of the pandemic, lectures took place online.

I've found the ethos of teaching and learning by way of conversation at SPTC to be amazing. I thoroughly enjoyed every lesson with the students of the college. They're mature adults who've had plenty of experience in life, secular work, and ministry. As a result, I found myself deeply enriched by our conversations.

6) BRINGING JESUS TO THE HOMES
From August to November, a good number of Catholics expressed to me their longing for the Eucharist, rightly reminding me that participating in televised Masses was inadequate. Upon discussion with the priest in charge of my parish, I began making visits to homes of families who could not attend Masses physically because they still had family members who were not yet fully vaccinated.

Outside each home, I exposed the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance for several minutes as family members knelt in worship before Christ in the Eucharist. After that, I would lead the families in prayer and give Holy Communion to those who requested for it. Blessings of sacred objects were also given upon request.

These are just some highlights that roughly reflect how my year has been spent. The year is just about over. In the person of the late Cardinal Sim, I have shared in the devastations of those who have experienced loss in various forms throughout the year.

We are on the verge of stepping into 2022, another year of struggling with realities of the pandemic. I am pensive: grateful to the Lord for bringing me and my family and companions through a fruitful year, and for ensuring that our needs were provided for sufficiently. I'm also thankful to the Lord for the companions He has brought into my life to help, strengthen, and enable me to do what He invites me to do for His People. At the same time, I'm concerned (albeit not worried) if we will witness the end of the ongoing pandemic in the coming year. Whatever the case may be, there must be confidence that He never leaves us unaided.

The Lord has brought us through these past two pandemicised years, and He will faithfully bring us through the next year. Our work remains to be faithful to the little portions He has set aside for us to do. My plans for 2022 have been laid out as I prayed and reflected contemplatively in the past week: and I am ready to begin the new year. But first, I need a short break after this long post.

]]><![CDATA[2020: THE YEAR THAT ALTERED HUMANITY]]>Tue, 29 Dec 2020 09:33:40 GMThttps://www.shermankuek.com/blog/2020-the-year-that-altered-humanity

The novel coronavirus intruded into human space in 2019 (hence the abbreviation Covid-19), but the threat that it was became truly alarmingly apparent only in 2020. It was this year that changed the course of human history in many ways.

This brief weblog post is not so much about the coronavirus itself or how selfish politicians are mismanaging the circumstances. It is rather about how pitiable grassroots people like us can still HOPE and WORK to inject goodness into our own lives and the lives of others despite the misfortunes the year has inflicted upon us.

At the end of each calendar year, I make it a point to list down the fruits that my life has produced during the year that is ending. It is not an assessment of how efficient my life has been or how many new feathers I have added to my cap. If anything, the pandemic year that has been has taught me that achievements count for nothing in this life if there are many people around me who are struggling to simply make a decent living.

My "key performance index", if you like, is about how much goodness I have strived to bring into the lives of others in our human society. Right at the outset of the pandemic, I had made a choice to not allow myself to assume the role of a policeman by judging how little other people are doing to respond to the current situation confronting humanity. I resolved to focus on putting all my effort into actually doing something myself -- anything -- that might be helpful to ease the sufferings of others and to help others find hope amidst their trials.

With a deeply grateful heart, I acknowledge that the Lord has kindly showered His favour upon my efforts throughout the year, resulting in the blessedness of the endeavours below. All this work has been done in addition to (not in place of) my usual official duties inherent to my vocation as a deacon, such as assisting at Eucharistic celebrations, parish catechetical ministry, pastoral home and hospital visits, as well as pastoral care over those other communities put under my charge:

1) MISSION TRIP TO NORTHEAST INDIA
In January, I went for a third mission trip to Northeast India. The privilege of spending several days with hundreds of people who gather from various interior villages to listen to the Gospel being preached to them (for hours at one go!) is one that I always cherish.

I have found that beginning each year with a mission trip sets a good tone to the year, as it reminds me of the mandate given to me in my life as a Christian and vocation as a deacon.

2) RUNNING TWO PILGRIMAGES FOR 2020
In February and March, my companions and I organised and ran two pilgrimage trips, one to the Holy Land and another to the state of Nagaland in Northeast India. Of course, it is unusual for us to have only two trips in a year. But as soon as the pandemic was announced and the entire world was under threat, all overseas travels were halted with immediate effect. We have no idea when we will once again be able to travel to visit our wonderful friends in faraway lands, but we will not be doing it until such time we are certain that such travels will not pose unnecessary risks to our pilgrims. All the same, our two trips early in the year were extremely fruitful.

3) PUBLICATION OF THREE E-BOOKLETS
In March and April, I wrote and published three electronic booklets. As soon as the pandemic hit, I felt rather lost for several weeks (as did everyone else, I reckon). But in the midst of trying to find peace with the new uncertainties, my eyes and ears were open to what was going on in the world. I quickly realised that I had to be strong about the situation, and that I had to be introspective and reflective in my response to the effects of the pandemic for the sake of others. In my realisation that many other people were bewildered by this historic experience, I began sitting down for hours on end to write down some thoughts and reflections that eventually became three e-booklets that were published and circulated to help people gain proper perspective on how they should respond to it.

4) GIVING FORMATION TALKS ON ZOOM
From June onwards, I began giving formation talks on the Zoom platform. Believe me, prior to this pandemic, I had absolutely no idea what Zoom was. It was just that, being prodded by a dear brother (who also offered to make available his Zoom account for our use), I decided something needed to be done to keep in touch with the many friends who had in previous years been regularly receiving faith formation during my annual conferences in their towns/cities. The very first talk given on Zoom was experimental in the sense that I need to test if it was sufficiently effective for its purpose. These talks continue until now. To-date, I have given more than eight formation talks on Zoom between June and December this year.

In addition to that, I have also been giving talks to RCIA groups in several different parishes using the Zoom platform. There have also been several sessions of lectures being delivered via Zoom to the students of an Anglican theological college in Kuala Lumpur. It would seem that despite the limitations of Zoom as a communication platform, it is what is needed for now.

5) LAUNCHING INTO E-LEARNING
From June onwards, I have also been regularly recording and publishing formation talks on an e-learning interface in order to make available faith learning resources for friends who wish to deepen themselves in various aspects of the Catholic faith. Up until now, more than ten one-hour videos of my talks have been recorded and published on the Splendour e-learning interface.

I readily admit that these long-drawn recording sessions are utterly tormenting for me. I have no problems speaking to crowds of people who are able to interact with me spontaneously, but speaking to a camera that does not reciprocate what I say is one of the most difficult tasks I've had to deal with throughout this pandemic. What keeps me going in this effort is the constant thought that there are friends out there who desire to continue being fed with the Word of God and the teachings of our faith.

6) ESTABLISHING A THEOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE
In September, with the help of some friends and like-minded contacts, I established an ecumenical theological research institute called the Christian Institute for Theological Engagement (CHRISTE). CHRISTE, being a research institute chartered under the prerogative of the United Nations Treaty Series 49006/49007, is made up of academic scholars and experienced industry practitioners from various parts of the world. The Research Fellows and Practitioners of CHRISTE work across cultures, geographical boundaries, and research disciplines, but always with reference to the Christian faith that we share in common within an ecumenical framework. It is our sincere hope that CHRISTE will be able to help Christians from various backgrounds to think more theologically about societal issues and to respond in thoughtful ways.

7) EDITING AND PUBLISHING A BOOK
Throughout September and October, I was working hard to edit a book to be published by CHRISTE. This book was a result of contributions from the various Research Fellows of CHRISTE who were specialists in different fields of study. I was utterly delighted with the results of this publication, as it provided some very concrete and beneficial guidelines to help readers respond appropriately to the pandemic.

Of course, all this work is never attributed to the efforts and energies of one man alone. I am surrounded by an incredibly loving community of family members, companions, and friends who exude an unbelievable magnitude of energy and compassion for others. It is they who have synergised their efforts and intelligence with mine to emerge with these outbursts of goodness for the Church and larger society.

If anyone asks me, I would certainly say the year could have been better. But I would not say that the year has been wasted. Much goodness has come out of it, and much has been achieved by those who, like me, refused to allow the year to be characterised by bewilderment and idleness. Even in the midst of a pandemic such as this, we can continue working hard to communicate life to the world.

The above projects that I have embarked on throughout this year are by no means the only things that have kept me busy. They account for only about a third of the work that occupies me routinely. As a teacher, preacher, theologian, and pastoral worker, I have spent many, many hours in study, research, writing, preparation, conversations, hosting visitors, conducting meetings, doing administrative work, and a host of other unspoken and unenviable tasks. I do all this with deep joy, always staying true to the principle "what must be done, must be done!"

I am happy with all that I have been privileged to achieve this year, inspired and strengthened by the Holy Spirit and aided by friends and comrades. Next year may or may not be an easier year. Either way, I am resolved to step into 2021 with the same desire and determination to work for the glory of God and the good of my neighbours. I wish all of you a blessed 2021, and assure you that my daily prayers will accompany you throughout the year.

]]><![CDATA[KITAB SUCI ORANG KRISTIAN: TERPESONG?]]>Sat, 29 Aug 2020 15:36:37 GMThttps://www.shermankuek.com/blog/kitab-suci-orang-kristian-terpesongADAKAH KITAB SUCI ORANG KRISTIAN TELAH DIPESONGKAN ATAU DIUBAH?

Surat terbuka ini ditujukan dengan penuh hormat kepada:

YB Dr Nik Muhammad Zawawi bin Haji Salleh
Ahli Parlimen Pasir Puteh

Yang Berhormat,

Saya merujuk kepada kenyataan Yang Berhormat dalam Dewan Rakyat pada tanggal 26 Ogos 2020 bahawa Kitab Injil, iaitu Kitab Suci Umat Kristian, telah dipesongkan atau diubah. Kenyataan yang telah diucapkan oleh Yang Berhormat telah melukakan perasaan orang-orang Kristian di negara kita. Tetapi apa yang lebih penting lagi adalah hakikat bahawa kenyataan Yang Berhormat itu sebenarnya salah dan tidak sesuai dengan fakta sejarah.

1)   Seperti Yang Berhormat, saya juga menceburi bidang pengajian dialog antara agama. Setahu saya, Al-Quran memperakui kesahihan semua Kitab Suci yang telah disampaikan kepada para nabi dan Yesus sebagaimana yang diwahyukan oleh Allah SWT untuk mengesahkan kesemua Kitab Suci itu (Al-‘Imran ayat 3, Fatir ayat 31, Yunus ayat 37, Al-Baqarah ayat 97 & 285, Al-Nisa ayat 47). Sangat logik untuk difikirkan jika terdapat sebarang korupsi di dalam Injil Kristian sebelum kedatangan Nabi Muhammad SAW, Allah SWT sudah tentunya memberi amaran kepada Rasulullah SAW tentang kepalsuan yang akan berlaku. Namun demikian, apa yang kita lihat daripada Al-Quran adalah pengiktirafan kepada kebenaran Kitab Suci orang Kristian.

2)   Nabi Muhammad SAW sendiri, ketika masa hidupnya sebagai nabi kepada umat Islam, tidak pernah meragui kebenaran Kitab Injil. Beliau menegaskan bahwa Kitab Taurat (yang menjadi Kitab bagi orang Yahudi) dan Injil (Kitab bagi orang Kristian) adalah alat yang boleh dipercayai untuk membuktikan kebenaran ajaran-ajaran beliau. Beberapa petikan daripada Quran secara tersirat dan dengan jelas mengesahkan bahawa umat Kristian dan Yahudi, juga dikenali oleh umat Islam pada zaman itu sebagai “Ahli Kitab”, supaya mengkaji dan mengamalkan kandungan daripada setiap kitab-kitab suci (Al-Baqarah ayat 41 & 79, Al-‘Imran ayat 71, Al-Maidah ayat 47, Al-Nisa ayat 47).

Sebenarnya, terdapat tuduhan di dalam Al-Quran bahawa orang Yahudi telah mengubah ayat-ayat Kitab Suci mereka (Al-Baqarah ayat 59, Al-‘Araf ayat 162). Akan tetapi, tuduhan sebegitu terhadap penganut Kristian tidak wujud sama sekali. Malah, kesahihan terjemahan Alkitab kita tidak pernah dipersoalkan sehinggalah tahun 1046 Masihi, iaitu lebih 400 tahun selepas kewafatan Rasulullah SAW.

3. Pada tahun 1046 Masihi, setelah menjumpai percanggahan antara kandungan Alkitab dan Al-Quran, Ibn-Hazm menuduh bahawa Alkitab telah diubah dan dipesongkan: “Memandangkan Quran adalah semestinya benar, tulisan Injil yang bercanggah itu adalah palsu. Namun Muhammad memberitahu kita untuk menghormati Injil. Oleh itu, teks yang ada pada masa sekarang tentulah telah dipalsukan oleh orang Kristian selepas zaman Muhammad.”[1]

Ibn-Hazm berpendapat sedemikian: “Jika kita membuktikan kepalsuan dalam buku-buku mereka, mereka akan kalah dalam hujah-hujah yang diambil daripada mereka.”[2] Malahan, beliau mempropagandakan bahwa “orang-orang Kristian telah kehilangan Injil yang diturunkan kecuali sedikit jejak-jejak yang ditinggalkan oleh Allah sebagai bantahan terhadap mereka.”[3]

Akan tetapi, pandangan Ibn-Hazm tidak mendapat sokongan sebulat suara di kalangan para sarjana Islam. Ramai sarjana Islam lain yang tidak berpegang kepada pendapat beliau. Sarjana-sarjana Islam berikut adalah mereka yang menerima ketulenan teks Injil: Ali al-Tabari (meninggal pada 855 Masihi), Amr al-Ghakhiz (869 Masihi), Bukhari (810-870 Masihi), Al-Mas’udi (956 Masihi), Abu Ali Husain Bin Sina (1037 Masihi), Al-Ghazzali (1111 Masihi), Ibn-Khaldun (1406 Masihi), Tuan Sayyid Ahmad Khan (Pengasas Kolej Aligarh), dan Fakhruddin Razi.

4.   Sebagai seorang ahli akademik, saya pasti Yang Berhormat sedar bahawa walaupun tuduhan sering dibuat tentang bagaimana umat Kristian telah mengubah Kitab Injil, tidak ada sebarang bukti kukuh yang memihak kepada tanggapan ini.

Lagipun, adalah sukar untuk melihat kemungkinan bahawa kedua-dua orang-orang Yahudi dan Kristian, yang mana memegang Kitab Suci mereka sebagai penjaga simpanan yang sangat penting dalam keimanan, akan pula merosakkan kandungan Kitab Suci mereka yang bertujuan untuk diturunkan kepada anak-anak dan cucu-cicit mereka supaya keturunan mereka akan menerima simpanan iman kepercayaan yang sudah tercemar. Malah, Alkitab Kristian mengandungi petikan yang menunjukkan bagaimana orang Yahudi serta orang-orang Kristian tidak dibenarkan untuk mengubah Kitab sesuka hati mereka (Ulangan 4:2, 13:1; Amsal 30:5, 6; Wahyu 22:18,19).

Sebagai tambahan, bermulanya kemunculan Islam, Alkitab telah pun disebarkan ke seluruh dunia sehinggakan cubaan untuk mencemarkan kandungannya untuk tujuan penterjemahan sebenarnya amatlah mustahil. Orang Yahudi dan Kristian telah menduduki kebanyakan penempatan di Eropah, India, Parsi, Mesopotamia, Armenia, Asia Kecil, Palestine, tanah Arab, Ethiopia, Mesir dan seluruh Afrika Utara. Selain itu, orang-orang Yahudi dan Kristian ini juga bertentangan dengan satu sama lain menjadikan sebarang percubaan oleh salah satu pihak untuk merosakkan Kitab Suci pastinya mendapat reaksi provokasi oleh pihak bertentangan. Namun, sehingga hari ini, orang-orang Yahudi terus memegang kitab Perjanjian Lama dalam bahasa Ibrani manakala orang Kristian terus menyanjungi kitab Perjanjian Baru dalam bahasa Yunani.

Perlu diingatkan juga bahawa pada zaman awal perkembangan Islam, agak banyak bilangan orang Yahudi dan Kristian yang telah memeluk agama Islam. Golongan yang baru bertukar agama inilah yang terbaik untuk membuka pekung orang Yahudi dan Kristian jika terdapat kerosakan penggubahan Kitab Suci mereka. Namun demikian, sehingga kini tidak terdapat sebarang rekod salinan sama ada kitab Taurat ataupun Injil telah dibuktikan tuduhannya bahawa telah dipinda.

5.   Pada tahun 1947, seorang gembala Badwi yang bernama Muhammad (Ahmed el-Dhib) sedang mencari kambingnya yang hilang dan terjumpa bukaan kecil sebuah gua di sepanjang Laut Mati. Peristiwa kecil ini akhirnya membawa kepada penemuan sejumlah besar skrol – salinan Kitab Perjanjian Lama – dibuat dan tersembunyi di sana oleh mazhab Yahudi yang dipanggil Essenes yang mana telah berundur ke padang pasir Qumran dari seawal abad ketiga Sebelum Masihi. Diantara tahun 1952 dan 1956, penyelidikan selanjutnya telah mendedahkan ribuan manuskrip lain yang berharga di dalam sepuluh gua berlainan yang berdekatan. Ini juga dikenali sebagai Skrol Laut Mati. Para sarjana telah menggunakan pelbagai alat dan kaedah untuk mengetahui tarikh usia sesuatu benda telah mencapai kesimpulan sebulat suara bahwa skrol-skrol ini adalah bertarikh antara abad ketiga Sebelum Masihi dan abad pertama Masihi. Walaupun kebanyakan teks-teks ini ditulis dalam bahasa Ibrani, terdapat juga skrol yang ditulis dalam bahasa Aramaik dan Yunani.

Sehinggalah pencarian di Qumran ini, manuskrip Perjanjian Lama yang tertua yang ada dalam pegangan kita adalah salinan-salinan daripada manuskrip dari abad kesembilan dan kesepuluh Masihi. Namun dengan skrol dari Qumran ini, kita sekarang mempunyai manuskrip yang berusia lebih daripada ribuan tahun. Fakta yang menakjubkan adalah bahawa semua manuskrip dari kedua-dua era tersebut telah dikaji dan dikenalpasti mempunyai perbezaan yang begitu kecil, oleh kerana faktor salinan, sehingga langsung tidak mempengaruhi maksud kepada teks-teks asal.

Manuskrip terawal yang lain daripada Alkitab yang ada pada tangan kita pada hari ini merupakan kelangsungan konsistensi yang berterusan sesuai dengan penterjemahan yang terbaru. Manuskrip purba ini telah ditulis di atas kertas kulit dan kesahihannya disokong sebulat suara oleh kedua-dua golongan ulama dan ilmuwan sekular.

A) Siniatik (Codex Sinaiticus) telah ditulis pada pertengahan abad keempat, lebih kurang 270 tahun sebelum kemunculan Islam. Manuskrip ini mengandungi kesemua Perjanjian Baru dan sebahagian besar daripada Perjanjian Lama. Ia dipelihara dengan baik di Muzium British di London.

B) Aleksandria (Codex Alexandrinus) telah ditulis pada awal abad kelima, lebih dari 200 tahun sebelum kemunculan Islam. Manuskrip ini mengandungi keseluruhan alkitab kecuali beberapa muka surat yang telah tercicir dan hilang. Ia juga dipelihara dengan baik di Muzium British di London.

C) Vatikan (Codex Vaticanus) telah ditulis pada awal abad keempat, lebih 200 tahun sebelum kemunculan Islam. Ia mengandungi keseluruhan kandungan Alkitab meskipun bahagian daripada Ibrani 4:14 dan selebihnya hanya ditulis oleh pakar agama kemudiannya. Ia disimpan di dalam Perpustakaan Vatikan di Roma.

D) Codex Ephraemi pula telah ditulis diawal abad kelima, lebih kurang 200 tahun sebelum munculnya Islam. Ia wujud dalam bentuk serpihan, mengandungi muka surat dari setiap buku daripada Alkitab. Ia disimpan rapi di dalam Perpustakaan Nasional di Paris.

Dengan mengambil kira semua yang telah dibentangkan, ini adalah bukti bahwa Alkitab yang digunakan oleh orang Kristian bukan saja bebas daripada sebarang kerosakan, malah lebih lagi, kesinambungan mesej dari versi terawal kepada yang lain sangat menakjubkan dan dipelihara dengan begitu teliti sekali di sepanjang zamannya.

Yang Berhormat, fakta-fakta yang saya kemukakan di atas bukan bermaksud untuk memburukkan kepercayaan agama lain atau memujuk orang lain untuk menukar agama mereka. Sebagai rakyat Malaysia, kita harus saling menghormati kebudayaan dan kepercayaan antara sesama agar masyarakat kita dapat wujud secara berharmoni. Tetapi, sebagai seorang umat Kristian dan ahli akademik, ia juga menjadi tanggungjawab saya untuk menjelaskan fakta-fakta yang salah mengenai agama saya yang disebarkan secara terbuka, kerana ucapan-ucapan sebegini berpotensi untuk mempengaruhi persepsi orang-orang yang kurang pemahaman. Seperti Yang Berhormat, ini adalah bidang pengajian saya, dan saya sama sekali tidak berhasrat untuk memburukkan mana-mana agama.

Saya dan semua umat Kristian di Malaysia akan terus berdoa agar masyarakat kita dapat mencapai kebahagiaan dan kedamaian yang kita idamkan. Sekian sahaja. Terima kasih.

Yang benar,

DR SHERMAN KUEK OFS
Leading Research Fellow
Christian Institute for Theological Engagement

Notes:
[1]       I. Di Matteo, `Il "takhrif" od alterazione della Bibbia secondo i musulmani', Bessarione 38 (1922) 64-111; 223-260; `Le preteze contradizzioni della S. Scrittura secondo Ibn-Hazm', Bessarione 39 (1923) 77-127.
[2]       Ibn Hazm, Kitab al-fasl fi'l-milah wa'l ahwa'l nikhal, II,6.
[3]       Ibn Hazm, Kitab al-fasl fi'l-milah wa'l ahwa'l nikhal, II,6.

]]><![CDATA[Theological Method: An Old Friend]]>Mon, 18 May 2020 06:35:47 GMThttps://www.shermankuek.com/blog/theological-method-an-old-friend

It is the time of the pandemic. For those of us whose daily work and busyness have come to a sudden halt, it seems a good time for us to be visiting some "old friends". In my case, I have been cultivating long internal conversations with my old companion: academic theology. For the past ten years of my ordained life, my focus has been placed so much on the intellectual faith of others, I have hardly had time to explore my own intellectual deepening. This time of study and exploration has been exciting and I don't long for it to stop.

Part of my little adventure in theological exploration this season has pertained to getting a feel of the state of Western theology is in its method and approach and extent today. In fact, there is something in me that actually "longs" to undertake a postgraduate course of study with an institution in the West for this purpose, but insisting on that would be unwise. As a result of these little explorations and internal conversations, I have drawn some very preliminary conclusions on theology in the West as it stands today.

Basically, not much has changed in the last twelve years since I last lost touch with my academic life. I used to find that the theological community of the West had somewhat lost its way. And I still do.

This is, firstly, because of the divide between ecclesial life and academia, which renders theology speculative and disconnected from the community of faith. Theology has become very much the language of an elite community, or in very brash terms, a bunch of experts. In other words, a man of deep faith can be listening to the discourse taking place within the theological community and emerge without any idea about what is being discussed because none of it seems relevant to his understanding and experience of God. Theology has become the God-talk of a category of people who are experts about God but who may not necessarily even believe in his existence let alone have an ecclesial participation.

Secondly, theology being speculative means there is a limit to how creative one can be before eventually running out of meaningful things to say. By this, I do not necessarily mean running out of things to say, but rather, meaningful things to say. I think the fact that theologians in the West can be publishing in peer-reviewed journals to no end and yet having none of the people from the faith communities reading their publications is indicative of a serious problem. Because when it comes to faith, all the people in the faith community are, in fact, our peers. Our task as theologians is to enunciate experiences and knowledge that emanate from their faith and practice, and that which we speak and teach finds meaning only from their validation as our peers in the faith. It is they whom we speak for. (So much for peer-reviewed journals.)

The above points does not in any way mean that I intend to depart from this theological exercise. I certainly intend to continue in this adventure of theological explorations, of course, for there is much to be learned and shared. But I cautiously proceed with this journey carrying two very crucial reminders in mind:

Firstly, theologians ought to be grounded in ecclesial life. We must be churchmen; not necessarily ordained men, but churchmen nevertheless. We cannot be theologians without being a part of the liturgical community. We must always be a part of the community, no matter how simple its faith is, for our theological pronouncements cannot be far from the very faith that we have imbibed through our participation in the community of prayer. No theologian is too qualified to pray and worship with the most simple-minded man of faith even if the latter may be illiterate. It is unfortunate that today one can be a theologian and have no faith except in his own language of philosophy. It is even sadder that his enterprise can be legitimately named "theology".

Secondly, theologians ought to be be grounded in the lives of our people, as this provides a context for us to theologise when we encounter their struggles. To be certain, the struggles of our people do not shape our theology. Human experience does not shape the truth, for truth comes from a knowing derived from divine revelation, which itself, enables us to understand that which is revealed. Nevertheless, human experience, together with its struggles, shape our responses as theologians so that we preach and teach meaningfully. We must be readers of life and society so that faith can be presented in a way that becomes relevant and roots itself in the experience of the people. There should be no fear that truth is irrelevant, or that truth must be shaped by and made to conform to human experience itself. Truth itself is the basis of human experience and makes itself known through it; this is a very fundamental aspect of incarnational theology. Truth does not need human experience to validate its veracity. Conversely, it is truth that casts light on human experience and gives it meaning. We need to constantly be aware of this epistemological approach lest we lose grasp of what our vocations stand for as theologians.

As an Asian theologian, I am of the personal view that there is much ground for us to offer to the world of theological explorations. I appreciate the attempts that have been made by many Asian theologians in the past decades to highlight the relevance of the local contexts in the exercise of theologising. A number of these endeavours went too far so as to more than accommodate the experiences of the people by reconstructing revelation in the image of human experience; these efforts failed to cast the light of truth on those who needed its illumination. Truth shall remain exactly what it is by the power of divine revelation, recognised and handed down by the Sacred Magisterium. But the task of a Catholic theologian is more than just being a teacher. His task is to empathise with human experience by demonstrating how the given truth accompanies humanity in our struggle to be more human, and that in accompanying humanity in its struggles, truth has the power to draw humanity deeper into divine life -- not despite its struggles, but precisely, in the light of its struggles.

]]><![CDATA[MAKING GOOD YOUR HUMAN LIFE]]>Sat, 08 Feb 2020 12:50:41 GMThttps://www.shermankuek.com/blog/making-good-your-human-life

There is something to be said of the call to be mindful of the plight of the poor among us. The point of the Catholic faith is more than just about giving food and money and clothing to the poor people. To be sure, these are important aspects of our faith. But more than that, the constant call of the Gospel is about making good our human lives. God created us to be human beings, not something less human because we are now the baptised "elite". If anything, being Catholic should make us more human than ever.

The call of baptism is hence not to be less human, but to be excellently human. And therefore, when our fellow humanity is in crisis, we as Christians must accompany humanity in its darkness by bringing light into the dilemma of human fallenness. When human life lacks tastefulness, then Catholics must take it upon ourselves to bring beauty (and therefore hope) into life. Obviously this involves more than just donating our 50 Ringgits or 100 Ringgits to make ourselves feel better because we think we have done our dues for society and therefore now it is somebody else's turn.

Being excellently Catholic means that we must be found useful, helpful, relevant to the human condition. Our Lord reminds us in the Holy Gospels that Catholics cannot be armchair philosophers and theologians. And worse still, we cannot mask our inaction with a facade of spirituality or holiness. There is such a thing as being too heavenly to be of any earthly use. This phenomenon stems from a wrong understanding of holiness and of human destiny.

There are those who think holiness is purely about following a litany of rules that they should never trespass under any circumstances, and they will make it a point to comply with these rules even at the expense of human dignity and love. And there are also those who think that the human being is destined to die and his soul departs from his decaying body, so saving the soul is all that matters. These misperceptions about holiness and human destiny drive us to an inaction that makes us as individuals irrelevant to the needs of humanity, as if believing in Jesus Christ inevitably leads us to deny human realities. When you see the dealings of Jesus with the crowds following him in the course of his ministry, he integrates the human reality with our experience of God: he feeds us, he talks to us about the necessity of finding rest, and he even talks a lot about money; he does and says whatever helps people to become truly human.

The Apostles speak in their epistles about the necessity of preaching the crucified Christ, the Christ who suffers with and for others. The crucifixion and suffering of Christ had always come as a scandal to the Jews during the time of the Early Church, and its scandal lies perhaps in the all-too-human excruciation suffered by Jesus. If our Lord subjected himself to such human an experience, then a version of Catholicism that is so sanitised and disconnected from human pain and need can only serve to contradict the nature of Jesus himself. As we preach the crucified Christ, we must also live the life of the crucified Christ by not just sharing our bread with the poor, but also being the very bread that is broken and fed to the needy. Only then can the notion of the crucified Christ be real to a humanity that needs to see icons of the crucified Christ fathomed by its mortal senses.

Our given mandate is clear. It is not one of passivity and inaction, or one of sedentary spirituality. The Catholicism of a Catholic who has no good works to show is in question. In all that we do as Catholics, "...your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven." (Mt 5:16).

]]><![CDATA[DOWNTON ABBEY]]>Thu, 31 Jan 2019 07:12:50 GMThttps://www.shermankuek.com/blog/downton-abbey

I'm not sure if many Malaysians have watched the Downton Abbey series before as it's not widely available to the masses here, except perhaps among those who are savvy in the downloading technology. It is simply the most magnificently cultured television show I have watched in many years.

This television series captures the life of a family of British aristocrats in the early 20th century together with their working class staff occupying the bottom level of their home as well as their society.

I don't mean this to be a review of, but rather, a reflection on the series. For those who mean to be following this series soon, I promise there will be no spoilers for you in this reflection. And seeing as this is the month of January, the new year into which we have just stepped, this reflection would perhaps offer a good footing for us to begin our new year.

The most apparent declaration of Downton Abbey, in my estimation, is that life offers its ups and downs equally to both the upper classes and the lower classes of society. When it rains and pours, both the rich and the poor, the resigned and the aspiring, the revelling and the defeated, get wet. The series does not paint a rosy picture about life for the upper class British of the era. While the working class face issues of economic insufficiency, relationship situations, and personal brokenness, the aristocrats are not spared from the same realities in their own life dynamics. When catastrophe strikes, both classes of people cry the same tears. And to drive the point across in the television series, the war fought against the German Empire showed itself to be a great leveller for the then feudalistic British society.

May we never be misguided by the delusion that wealth and social status are sure buffers from the trials of life. Many times, they are the very cause of struggles in one's life, and at other times, they prove to be nothing more than feeble antidotes to life's inevitabilities. In the course of my life as a minister, I have witnessed and often attempted to be a source of help for people from all walks of life suffering because of the dark clouds that pass through the same sky we all live under. I have been told more than once by some of the richest people I personally know that all the money they have in the world solves nothing of their predicaments. Rich or poor, we all have to struggle through life.

I am convinced that this observation is necessary because we live in a society that we all hope would be equal but for now is not yet. In the face of this inequality, we are often looking yonder, peering over to the other side of the fence and wishing we were there to enjoy the blandness of a "problemless" life. The grass, as they say, is always greener on the other side. Well, it isn't. The poor have to suffer to sustain their lives economically, but the rich too struggle to sustain their mental and emotional wellbeing. In my observational experience, first-world problems aren't necessarily less excruciating than third-world ones.

This brings me to a different but rather related matter, that is, the issue of dignity. Given that we live in an unequal society, even those of us who come from higher levels of society must uphold, even defend, the dignity of those perceived to be from lower classes of society. The Crawleys of Downton Abbey may be aristocrats and be often embroiled in the complications of their own upper-class lives, but it is shown all throughout the series that this has never been an impediment to their recognition of the dignity of their staff serving them. In defence of the dignity divinely accorded to each human person in society, Robert Crawley insisted, "We all have different parts to play, and we must all be allowed to play them".

The insistence of the Crawleys to, at times, risk their own reputation for the wellbeing and benefit of their workers, inspires me to better acknowledge the place of the less noticeable people in society. Their preservation of staff employment as an exercise of continuous wealth distribution and social responsibility rather than industrial productivity is honourable, and this they did to the best of their ability for as long as their economic standing would permit. To rob a man of his role in the larger scheme of society, regardless of whether his role is perceived to be needed or not, is to be an obstruction to life's recognition of his intrinsic dignity. This is perhaps one of the most common maladies of modern capitalism in our contemporary world that breeds alienation and discordance to people who live under the mercy of the capitalists today. There is grief for the loss of self-worth for which no severance package, no matter how large or attractive, can make up.

Of course, historians familiar with the feudal realities of 20th-century British society may rightly point out that I am moralising based on a romanticised version of what was an otherwise hideous feudalism, and they would be right. Still, if anything, Downton Abbey points out that the even when societal structure disfavours equality in status, it is the human heart that has the power to triumph in the perennial battle for a recognition of human dignity. Human civilisation is supposed to have overcome the social systems of caste discrimination and feudalism. While these are some victories of which history boasts, the human spirit continues to be tainted by the sin of discrimination and prejudice that no magnitude of societal restructuring can put right.

This brings me to the final, and perhaps the greatest, point of my reflection. In all aspects of the lives portrayed in the interwoven stories of Downton Abbey, we must be reminded that every life - both rich and poor, employer and worker, old and young - needs mercy. The richer, although being the source of sustenance for the working class, do not despise them, and in many instances, relate vulnerably to the poorer ones and receive wisdom from them which changes their very lives. The poorer likewise do not exalt the rich as if they are gods, and they implicitly acknowledge that even the richer persons are in need of their aid, and often, their understanding and counsel. Everyone needs to receive mercy and to offer mercy. There is not one life that isn't broken and isn't in need of mercy. And there is not one life that is too broken to offer mercy, if only the individual intentionally chooses this path of mercy.

I propose for myself and perhaps for you too, dear reader, that this be the theme of your life as you step into the new year: MERCY. We seek God for mercy and we seek others for mercy because we are acutely and painfully aware of our need of it. This need for mercy has nothing to do with our economic or social status, or positions that we occupy in our organisations of affiliation. We are human, weak and feeble, and we simply cannot make it on our own. A wealthy man cannot live solitarily in his palatial abode without the aid of other fellow human persons to care, to serve, to aid, and hopefully, to love him; fellow human persons who would otherwise not have their own means of sustenance. Mercy is a human transaction, a mutual exchange of the gift of the heart between two or more people.

In the same way, we also offer mercy to others who need it from us. Mercy is offered in many ways, from a simple kindly wave to the man who sweeps the roads outside our luxurious residences to the welcoming of the unpleasantly smelling hungry stranger into our kitchens to partake of our dietary supplies. It is offered to our superiors who have selfishly executed decisions with disinterest for our welfare, and also to people unlike us who have passed hurtful remarks out of prejudice towards our own kind.

The difficult thing about mercy is, it is inconvenient and sometimes seemingly self-injurious. The merciful pay a high price and bear a high cost. Being merciful is more than a willingness to be broken; it is being broken and then being fed to others for the life of the world. Being merciful is not an investment with any measure of returns in this present order of life. It can, in fact, be loss-incurring. What a wonderful prospect it holds for the one who has yet to understand what it means to be truly human! Let us walk along this path of mercy, but we must walk together because mercy requires a giver and a recipient. We must walk together also because the price of mercy becomes more bearable when it is offered together as one humanity.

If we dream of a better society as we enter into this new year, then we must step into the year in the company of mercy. Only with mercy can society, humanity, and the world, become better. A companion of mine recently commented, "Mercy is powerful". This was such a statement of comprehension, and in return, I had nothing much left to say.

]]><![CDATA[The Big 40]]>Fri, 17 Jun 2016 03:44:15 GMThttps://www.shermankuek.com/blog/the-big-40

In the past five days, I've been receiving numerous messages on my Facebook wall, through Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp messages, and in person, all being warm wishes and kind birthday greetings from friends whom I have known, some whom I have just got to know, and even many whom I don't really know. These greetings are a stark reminder that I have just hit a major milestone in my life: I have just completed a full four decades of my life. No matter how hard I try to tell myself it's just another birthday, no big deal, I can't shake the reality off that it's a 40th birthday, and that's what makes it significant.

A question that kept on lingering in my mind this past week has been, "Sherman, what have you done with your life?" Obviously, my conscience was rearing its head to make me account for how I have been living my life for the past 40 years.

Had I been a corporate executive, this question would have been easier to answer. Had I been an absolute necessity in society, holding a profession that was relevant to the socio-economic sector of society, I might have been able to present an impressive resume to my conscience. My success might have been measurable through the big house that I lived in, the ostentatious car that I wasn't driving (because I'd have a chauffeur), the high income that I was earning, and the many highly charged social events that I would have been gracing. But I have no such thing to boast about, and even less to show when it comes to measurable achievements.

Had I been an academician, I could have measured my performance by how many batches of students I had taught and raised, how many peer-reviewed journal articles and books I had published, how I had contributed to my university/college rankings, and how far I had come to be recognised as a legitimate authority in my field of research. But I never lasted for more than two years in a formal academic setting, and I found teaching in such a rigid setting quite unappetising as well. Besides, my field of study isn't even a marketable one like Engineering, or Law, or Medicine. I mean, these days, who in their right sense of mind spends five years of their lives studying for a doctorate degree in Theology and Social Theory?

Had I been a bishop or a priest, I could still have measured my achievements by how many years I had been in the priesthood, how many parishes I had pastored, and how many church buildings I had built, renovated, or restored. Or maybe, I could have measured my performance by how many Masses I had celebrated. But as it turns out, I'm just a humble deacon sitting right at the bottom of the Church hierarchy. The Holy Church has survived for centuries without lifelong deacons like myself, and it can continue in that manner if it wants to. Deacons are not an absolute necessity for the sustenance of the Church, so there is nothing to brag about.

So what have I done with my life? What achievements do I have to show or boast about after having had countless opportunities thrown my way in the past 40 years? To find the answer to that question, I accepted a request from the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception (FSIC) in Sabah to spend the afternoon with them yesterday as they too celebrated the 80th anniversary of their founding as a congregation on the exact same day of my birth.

Upon exposing Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, I led them in an hour-long reflection and prayer based on the diary of their founder, Msgr August Wachter. As it turned out, this reflection was not just valuable for them, but also for myself. It gave me the answer to the question of whether there was anything worth examining in my life.

As I clustered the words of their founder into three categories of expressions, I told these beautiful Sisters that if they could somehow capture these expressions of their founder in the living out of their vocation, they would be continuing with this precious legacy they had received from Msgr August Wachter.

The first type of expression I saw in the words of their founder was the expression of PASSION. Passion here refers to suffering (as in the Passion of Jesus Christ). I told the Sisters that suffering was to be an intrinsic part of their vocation, at least in the mind of their founder. Experiences of desolation in the form of poverty, abandonment, ingratitude, and betrayal, were expected to be a common daily experience of their Franciscan life. Here is a small part of what I said to them:

Joyful though you are called to be, you are to remember that this deep joy is accompanied by a willingness to suffer for Jesus, for His Church, and for the mission. In my experience, the most difficult part of suffering is when suffering comes from people who are supposed to be on your side. When suffering comes from other sources, it is easier to accept it. But when suffering comes from your own sisters, from priests and bishops (because they too are human), it is difficult to accept. However, this is part and parcel of this mission entrusted to you. After all, it was not the Romans who wanted to crucify Jesus; it was His own people whom He came to save.

It is difficult to welcome suffering into our lives, but suffering is necessary for our sanctification, which is actually the first purpose of your existence as a congregation (your own sanctification). A young postulant in your congregation cannot go on in this vocation without a willingness to suffer as an intrinsic part of her vocation. Msgr Wachter says, “The success is sure, but the crosses must be there. Success achieved by bearing the cross… Take the new cross, a new trial, a new occurrence of God's love.”

The second type of expression I saw in the words of their founder was the expression of PASTORAL CHARITY. Basically, this referred to a love for God's People. I explained to the Sisters that in everything they were called to do, whether it be administrative work or pastoral care or teaching, the basic motivation their founder had was love for the people. And love is never an easy thing to give others especially when it may not be reciprocated.

It is easy to love people who can love us back, people who can appreciate us and even reciprocate our love. It is always tempting to focus our efforts for such people because we can feel rewarded. It is easier to love our benefactors and people who can thank us for our sacrifices for them.

But people who really need our compassion are not always like that. Most of the time, they are ungrateful and will forget what we do for them. But the love of Jesus extends even to those who will crucify us, who hate us, who will never be grateful for what we do for them, who may even take advantage of us or even bring harm to us when we help them. Can we love these people? Because even they belong to Jesus.

The question presented to us today is not whether we have loved, or even whether we have loved enough, but whether we have loved with our everything. To love people sometimes is easy, but to keep on persisting in our love for others can be very tiring.

The third type of expression I saw in the words of Msgr August Wachter was the expression of PERSEVERENCE. Living in our God-given vocation is almost a guaranteed hardship, but we are called to a life of resilience. We must never have fantasies about a trouble-free life, because this life is not heaven. Yet.

The more we intend to do God's will for us, the more we should expect a life of discouraging problems and ongoing inconveniences as a daily reality. We cannot intend to do the will of God and yet expect the devil to leave us alone to participate in the building of God's Kingdom; he will most definitely be the foremost source of resistance in our lives.

And yet despite knowing how difficult life can be, we must live with courage. But courage is a concept that is often misunderstood as an absence of fear, and that notion is a fallacy.

Courage does not mean there is no tendency to be afraid. But it means pressing on even when we may be afraid of the dangers that are ahead, trusting in God to accompany us on this mission.

Have courage also to always explore new ways to bring the Gospel to the people, and to do it with new ardour and excitement. It will bring you problems, but do not be afraid, God is with you.

Above: The three most recent Mothers General of the FSIC. From left, Mother Grace Deosing (5th Mother General), Mother Aquinas Voon (3rd Mother General), and Mother Cecilia Liew (4th Mother General).

I'm sure you can see how this reflection was totally relevant for me, for a man in my vocation. And perhaps for you as well.

I'm very comfortable with the fact that I will never be an absolute necessity to the existence of institutions. I will never be indispensable to the continuity of any established social mechanism in society. Even the Church that I serve will never need me. In that sense, I will never be great. But such manner of greatness would mean nothing to me anyway.

You see, greatness cannot always be measured numerically. Sometimes the depth of greatness is too infinite to be measured in numbers. Greatness is an attitude. It is not about achievements, but rather, about the depth with which we have lived our lives. It is about how much of our lives has been poured out for others, how much we have been broken and fed to others. Living our lives with an attitude of greatness is an antidote to mediocrity.

Many people have lists of achievements to boast about, but are yet stuck in the rut of mediocrity. A man can be sitting on the top rung of his organisational ladder and yet be little more than mediocre. Another man can be standing at the bottom of the ladder and be great, for he may be the very person holding the ladder upon which sits the mediocre man on the highest rung.

As I enter into the next phase of life, my heart is full of gratitude for all of you who have chosen to love me. Thank you for loving me, for knowing that I need to be loved. And thank you also for allowing me to love you and to journey with you in spiritual friendship. I have certainly not been perfect. I have lived my life very imperfectly, sometimes very disgracefully too. But you have accepted me with much grace. In various unspoken ways, many of you have been inspirations for me and have taught me what it means to be great.

I really doubt I will live for another 40 years, given the state of my health. But how shall I choose to live with the remaining time given to me? I will certainly not be striving for position, recognition, accolades, awards, and titles (my lengthy official title now is already more than I can manage). But I do want to walk the path of greatness: the path of passion, of pastoral charity, and of perseverance, until the day comes for me to say "I have run the race, I have fought the good fight".

Lord, give me strength in my frailty.

]]><![CDATA[To Be Great Again]]>Wed, 16 Dec 2015 14:49:53 GMThttps://www.shermankuek.com/blog/to-be-great-again

I have been away from Malaysia for almost a month, trotting through various countries beginning with the Middle-East and then on to some other European countries. This is the longest consecutive duration I had been away from my own country in the past 18 years. It was a great (and rather expensive) experience reading life, scrutinising cultures, observing faith.

But in all truth, as I write this article at the airport of my departure at the very end of my wandering, my heart is filled with gladness at the thought of returning. Home. Not just to my house, but to my homeland.

I realise that despite everything that has been happening in Malaysia recently, we come from a land of aplenty. We are, as the Christians would say, “a land flowing with milk and honey”. We enjoy an abundance of natural resources to keep the nation going, great talents among peoples of different ages and races, and fascinating diversity among peoples of various cultures. Coming from Malaysia, honestly, I have found the lack of diversity in Europe rather boring.

After having visited lands near and far over the years, I cannot help but conclude that Malaysia has everything it takes to be a great nation.

And yet, where are we now? Our journey as a nation is fraught with multiple allegations of corruption in national leadership, the struggle for economic survival as the cost of living oppressively escalates on a daily basis, and people of minority races and religions contesting for the right to exist as if there was insufficient space and resources in the country for everyone.

The add to the already heightened psychological and emotional stress of her peoples, the country suffers under the tyranny of leaders who continuously manipulate its sometimes naïve citizens by aggressively propagating the notion that our battle as a nation is a battle for the supremacy of one race and one religion above others, because all the existing minorities are a big threat to the existence and future of the majority. It would seem that peddling such fear among the majority would be the only way to remain in power.

My parents remember a very different Malaysia. It used to be that neighbours of all races and religions were truly neighbours. We actually shared our spaces and welcomed others into our homes even if they were different. We ate off one another’s tables because we all enjoyed being friends.

Today, minorities are made to feel like they have no right to occupy any space at all. Some of the majority have bought into the ideology that their existence, prosperity and future – their very rights – are under siege, while most of the majority who do not share the same sentiments would not dare to speak out against this erroneous notion. Because of the pressure to conform, it is easier to just sit back and remain a silent majority whilst the disenfranchised struggle helplessly for the right to be Malaysian simply because they have never known any other place to be home.

In all reality, there is no minority trying to dominate the right of anyone else. In the final analysis, I think we are all dreaming of the same thing: we want Malaysia to be beautiful and happy. But in order to fulfil that dream, there are two crucial aspects of our nation we need to restore.

The first aspect we need to restore is that of integrity in our national leadership. We used to never have to doubt that our national leaders were people who loved the country and were there in service of her people. They were national heroes. Even if mistakes were made, they were made with the best intentions. I do not know if we can believe that of our current leaders anymore. Inasmuch as present leaders may be attempting to restore a trust that is lost, the time has passed for that. There is such a thing as wrongs committed that render it too late for a leader to begin again as if our memories could be wiped out in an instance by annual gifts of RM500 coupled with positive lip service and empty assurances. The sufferings of and the irreversible repercussions upon the people as a result of leaders’ self-motivated indiscretions amount to much more than such petty tokens. It has been said again and again, but something concrete needs to be done about this: our country desperately needs a change of leadership if we desire to be a great nation again.

The second aspect we need to restore is that of the values we share in our sense of nationhood. Instead of buying into the hermeneutics of fear and suspicion that are peddled by philosophically immoral leaders, we need to believe that we as a nation are bigger and better than that. We need to collectively desire, as one people, one nation, all that is good, all that is true, and all that is beautiful. We need to embellish our life as a nation with aspirations that are noble and admirable. We need to wish one another well and be willing to toil together to see that everyone’s wellbeing is taken care of. If our leaders have betrayed us and have failed to lead us in this endeavour because of their mercenary motives, then we have to do this ourselves for the sake of our nation.

Oh Malaysia, you were once a great nation. But you are falling. You have fallen much lower than you ever have. But there is yet hope for us to be great again. To be great again, we must look beyond the false propaganda and misguided notion of supremacy upon which some national leaders try to build our nation. They are either terribly deluded, or else they are intentionally manipulating us. We must realise that we become really supreme only when we stand together. Together.

To be a great nation once again, we must build our society upon love and mutual respect that we share for one another. We must be a society in which every man and woman, every boy and girl, counts, regardless of religious confession or racial composition. It is not about supremacy, but about how we can accept – not just tolerate, but celebrate – the differences we have among us as Malaysians. This goes far beyond the mere negotiation of how much we are willing to tolerate one another or co-exist without stepping on one another’s toes. We must appreciate one another and be willing to help one another to attain this greatness. Together.

In all those countries that I have visited in the past month, wherever the perceived supremacy of one particular people became the foundation upon which their society was built, whether it was the perceived supremacy of a particular race or religion, and the existence of other members of their society became illegitimate and their dignity was threatened, everyone inevitably became “less human” than they would otherwise could have been. I beg you, this cannot be our future. Our Malaysia can be better than that.

I am coming home to the only nation I have ever known to be my own. But a challenge confronts me as I board the plane: my nation can be great again, but how much do I believe this and what am I willing to do to contribute to this pursuit of greatness for the nation I love?

]]><![CDATA[Open Letter to Alvin Tan]]>Wed, 22 Apr 2015 04:00:25 GMThttps://www.shermankuek.com/blog/open-letter-to-alvin-tan

Dear Mr Alvin,

I am writing to you because I am personally angered by what I consider to be a grossly disrespectful and utterly heinous act performed by you in bad will. Rather than speaking against your act in a way that condemns you disrespectfully behind your back, I have chosen to address you personally in what I hope to be a respectful way.

Like the rest of the Malaysian public, I am aware of your lack of regard for authority, social propriety and moral sobriety. I will therefore not be surprised if this open letter is retorted with blatant rudeness; perhaps the best thing you can do is to simply ignore it all together. But given the context in which we Malaysians are presently living, what you’ve done cannot be dismissed without a voice of dissent from a fellow Malaysian.

You may wonder why I, of all people, would choose to take the time to write this tedious response to the video you’ve posted of yourself chanting the Muslim Azan bare-bodied with the accompaniment of a keyboard. It may not have been your intention to disdain the idea of religious practice as a whole, but it is utterly offensive all the same because despite your mockery depicting a particular religion, the spirit of your practice constitutes a brutal assault against religion itself. Such mockery attacks, in a very personal way, not just our Muslim friends but also peoples of all religions in the world who have their unique ways of expressing their desire to reach for the Divine. Your mockery might as well be a depiction of the Catholic Latin chants or the Hindu chanting of the vedas, and either way, the fundamental principle of respect for the religious conscience of our fellow neighbours would have been severely violated. For this, your act makes me angry.

Further to that, if it was merely the Muslims in Malaysia you have sought to offend or despise, you are grossly mistaken in your reading of the Malaysian situation. I wish you had taken more time to analyse and understand what is going on in our country and sought to engage constructively rather than doing it in such an undignifed manner.

From a very young age, I’ve had deep respect for the vast majority of Muslims I’ve known. I’ve respected their love for God, their devotion to their families, and particularly, I’ve often admired the way Muslim children are taught to relate with their parents. In my personal life and faith today, I make it a point to practise what I have come to understand from my Muslim friends about the importance of reverence towards God and our elders, and also the vitality of community living. I believe that living among Muslims all these years has made me a much better Christian than I would otherwise have been.

I don’t think you meant to mock the kind of well-meaning Muslims I’ve just described. Perhaps you were reacting towards the politicisation of religion in Malaysia and meant to spite the select few who have misused religion for certain political agendas. In the first place, the way you have done it brings no good to the cause of many of us who have staked our lives in choosing to stay on in this country to participate in the rebuilding of the nation in a constructive and positive way. In the second place, your act has attacked not just the perpetrators of political religion but also the vast majority of Malaysians who are peacefully simply loving God or practising their religions in the best ways they know how.

Despite the many alleged prospects of a better life for us and for our next generation had we moved out of the country, many of us have chosen to stay because this is where we were born and this is where we want our children to grow up. We choose this, not because there are no perils confronting us in the country, but because we want to be committed to a hope for a better Malaysia. Because of this, we have chosen to engage in the most constructive possible ways and not cause further social and political damage to our fellow Malaysians only to seek asylum elsewhere while leaving everyone else back home to face the mess we’ve created. You have mocked everything that we stand for with our lives.

Freedom of expression is necessary indeed for a society to progress, as it allows for society to be imbued with a mechanism of self-critique and self-reflection. But there can also be such a thing as an irresponsible and immature freedom of expression that exploits this virtuous principle by bringing damage to truth, beauty and goodness that can be found in a civilisation. I respectfully but truthfully submit that you are guilty of the latter moral crime. For this, I feel sorry that you have chosen to showcase such a grossly disrespectful act against our Muslim friends.

In a personal capacity and as a Malaysian, I strongly renounce every such act that you have committed and may continue to commit. And I affirm my deep reverence for all well-meaning Malaysians who hold on fast to teachings that are true and holy in their religious beliefs and practices. And I pray that one day, you too will come to this awareness in your conscience that the last thing Malaysia needs right now is another source of division, and a very unnecessary one at that. Your video recording, which is more narcissistic than it is funny or entertaining, is a spite on all our efforts to build a better society for our children of all religions.

All this notwithstanding, I wish you a good life in America where your expression can be truly free. But ultimately, it is not the exercise of such privileges and rights that determines the quality of a man. The kind of people we are, or become, is determined by little choices we make every day to seek peace, love, and friendship with our neighbours even when there is no advantage to be gained for ourselves.

The Rev. Deacon Dr Sherman Kuek OFS
A Deacon of the Catholic Church in Malaysia

Note: This letter is written on my own accord and represents neither the Catholic Church nor any other institution affiliated with me.

]]><![CDATA[When Feet-washing is No Longer Noble]]>Thu, 02 Apr 2015 11:12:23 GMThttps://www.shermankuek.com/blog/when-feet-washing-is-no-longer-nobleA Holy Thursday Reflection

Holy Thursday. On this night, we see our priests performing perhaps one of the most humble priestly actions we get to observe in an entire liturgical year, that is, the liturgical action of washing the feet of twelve men seated before him. It is not just the man who performs this action, for he does it in the person of Christ. It is not just a pretend drama, for it is mean to be a real reenactment of the very same action that our Lord performed in the Upper Room on the night of the Holy Passover. Christ washes our feet again.

This washing of feet recounted in the Gospel of John replaces the account of the institution of the Eucharist because the holy Apostle seeks to inform his readers, whom he presumes are already well-acquainted with the institution of the Eucharist in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), that the other side of the same Eucharistic coin is the element of being broken and fed to others for the life of the world. St John wants very much for us to know, that to live the Eucharistic life is to live a life of service.

But yet, in serving God’s People and the world at large, we must be very prudent about our own intentions and motivations. No one is spared the dangers of presumptuously serving the Church with the notion that the Church needs us, or that God needs us to save His Church for Him, or that the world needs us to save it. As soon as we entertain such a notion, knowingly or otherwise, the value of our service is nullified because it becomes a work of erecting our own monuments to stroke our own need for self-assurance and affirmation. We must not serve out of a need to be needed or wanted.

Had Jesus served based on a need to be needed or wanted, or even to be welcomed, His journey would not have led Him to the cross. Conversely, His journey would most likely have led Him to the throne of a palace from where He would rule over the land in human glory and earthly power. It was not His style to build such monuments of power unto Himself. His sole focus was to glorify His Father, and He left it to His Father to glorify Him in His own day and time.

Let us consider the reality of the earthly Church. The Institution of the Church has never been very efficient despite arguably having one of the best, if not the best, legal and administrative systems in existence. And what we largely consider to be a failure in the system often takes place not because of systemic failure, but rather, the failure of man. No matter how perfect the system is, man continues to fail and fall short of the perfection that the system tries to propagate.

And yet, despite the shortcomings of the incumbents of various holy offices in the hierarchy of the Church, the Church continues to stand today in effective attestation to the presence of the Living God Whom she represents. This is not the work of man, for God has shown Himself to never fail despite the shortcomings of humanity. The Church as an entity, both human and divine, stands in proclamation of Her Lord’s sovereignty, surely not of any man’s success.

But here lies the irony of it all: every so often, there arises a man who thinks that it is his divine duty to save the Church, to save God’s People, and to save the world. Perhaps, even to save God Himself. Such a man exists in every office, in every parish, and in every diocese. Such a man exists in every one of us. How many times have we caught ourselves doing something because we think if we didn’t do it, that nobody else would be capable of doing it? Or that our parish would be doomed without us? Or that our catechetical ministry would be doomed without us? Or that our liturgical team would be doomed without us? We strangely entertain such notions in the back of our minds, forgetting that the Church has preceded us for centuries before we even existed to “save” it.

When we begin our service for the Church based on the premise that we are so needed (even if our other co-workers don’t realise it yet), we eventually end up being bitter workers who are disillusioned by the incompetence of the Church and the unwelcoming attitudes of our co-workers. Worse still, many turn out to be relentless political animals who fight their ways to the top at all costs in order to push their self-established agendas through because they think they know better than anybody else how things ought to be.

On the outside, all we who are serving the Church may look like we are doing the same things, but our motivations surely differ. One imperative for those who consider ourselves to be servants of the Church is to constantly examine our deepest motives in what we do and how we do it. Holy Thursday is an opportune time. Does our washing of others’ feet have a place in God’s Kingdom, or is it merely a stepping stone for some other purpose we have set for ourselves?

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