I refer to the Malaysiakini report Syariah Court allows convert to renounce Islam .

This Syariah High Court ruling to allow a Muslim convert to return to Buddhism should be applauded. It should be an individual's right to choose whatever belief or religion the person wishes to follow, and it should not be forced on by any religious institution or the government itself.

As a 50-year-old government, our government should act maturely when it comes to individual choice. The government should treat everybody as an equal citizen. As we are able to vote, so too we should be allowed to have the right to choose whatever religious path our soul prefers to follow. The matter of an individual's 'soul' and the 'after life' is none of the government’s business - it is between God and the individual person only.

The Syariah Court can exist in a country but then again Syariah rule should not be allowed to overrule civil rule. This country is run by a civil law and not by religious law. Thus, it is the government who has the final say on all matters involving all her citizens.

If any citizen, be it a Muslim or a non-Muslim, wishes to be judged in a civil court then it is the civil law that should take precedence.

Yes, Syariah law can be implemented by the government, but let it be only for those who wish to accept it. Let us be practical here. Not every Muslim is a practicing Muslim. One may be a born Muslim, but as an adult, one could be a non-practicing Muslim, and it should be the individual's choice and right to do so. No government nor any Syariah Court could force a citizen into 'believing' without infringing the equal right to choose of that citizen.

Seriously, as a mature country, we all should have the right to have our own individual choice of belief/religion. A country would not collapse just because an individual changes his or her religion. One has to believe or has to have a commitment in order to embrace another religion, be it Islam, Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhism or any other religion.

I truly wish to see Malaysia as ‘Truly Asia’ and not simply as the lyrics of some singsong. Who are we trying to fool here?