Although challenged by DAP MPs to substantiate his allegation, Lau had failed to do so.
Despite his claims both inside and outside Parliament that he has the evidence and his preparedness to produce the evidence in Sibu, I am still waiting for Lau to produce the evidence in Parliament or in Sibu.
I am prepared to be in Sibu to be present if Lau dares to name the place, date and time to produce the evidence to substantiate his baseless allegation against me.
If Lau cannot produce any such evidence, he must be responsible and humble enough to apologise in Parliament and to the people of Sibu, Sarawak and Malaysia for such despicable parliamentary behaviour.
It is completely unthinkable that I would have made such a rash and reckless statement that I would build a “Chrisitian University” in Sibu if the DAP won the Sibu seat. The whole notion is so outrageous that I have not even bothered to waste time to check the old files in the early eighties as to what actually transpired.
What I had done was to express support for the establishment of a Christian University in Sibu.
When the International Islamic University was set up in Kuala Lumpur in 1982, I called for the establishment of Christian, Buddhist and Hindu universities for Malaysia to be a model of inter-religious harmony and co-existence to the world and that an ideal place for the establishment of such a Christian University would be Sibu. I stand by what I had said.
This year 2001 is the United Nations Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations for all countries, governments, international organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to promote the concept of inter-civilizational dialogue.
What better way for Malaysia to promote the Year of Inter-Civilizational Dialogue and to make a signal contribution to fostering inter-civilisational communication and build the bridges to foster mutual understanding among the different civilisations than to proclaim that Malaysia shall be the home to the highest seats of learning for the different great religions to be found in the country - that Malaysia will not only have an International Islamic University, but also an International Christian University, International Buddhist University, International Hindu University, etc.
As Robert Lau is also the Sibu Municipal Council President, I challenge him as well as his party, the SUPP, to declare whether they support the establishment of a Christian University in Sibu and whether he would spearhead a campaign starting in Sibu for the government’s approval for the establishment of a Chrisitian University in Sibu.
(4/5/2001)