Amidst the fiery debate over laws pertaining to religious conversion, a young Muslim convert is seeking the freedom to renounce her religion.

About 10 years ago, the convert who only wished to be identified as Wong fell in love with a Muslim man. She left her Buddhist faith and embraced Islam in order for their marriage to be solemnised.

The couple had several children but they eventually divorced four years ago.

That is when Wong's ordeal began. The syariah courts decided that she had no grounds of custody because there are no other Muslims in her family. She can only visit her children once a month, subjected to her ex-husband's permission.

"My rights as a mother has been denied [..] but above all, I want my freedom back," said Wong at a press conference organised by DAP central committee member Ronnie Liu in Petaling Jaya yesterday.

Later, she began seeking ways to return to her Buddhist faith, but hit a brick wall. She had repeatedly sought the help of her imam, the Selangor state religious department and Malaysian Muslim Welfare Organisation (Perkim) but she was giving the run-around.

"I even asked my syariah lawyer for help, but he said that there has been no successful cases of renunciation," said Wong, who said she was aged around 30.

Although apostasy is punishable by death under syariah law, apostates in Malaysia are often jailed and given counselling by religious authorities.

A mistake

Wong admits that she made a mistake by marrying the wrong man. She also regrets her conversion because she was unaware of the consequences.

"I made mistakes. Isn't there a way to reverse the situation? If I had known how converting to Islam would affect me today, I would not have converted," she said as she broke into tears, adding that she has nothing against the religion.

She believes that religion should be a personal matter, and thus she should be given the freedom to practice her religion of choice.

Presently, she refuses to obtain a new identity card as required by the government because she does not want her religion to be stated in it. Her present identity card bears her Muslim name.

"I am only a Muslim by name. What is the purpose of that? When I die, the religious authorities will fight over my body [...] I can imagine how Moorthy's family feel," said Wong when asked if recent furore over religious conversions has motivated her to share her story.

Deceased Everest hero M Moorthy's family was embroiled in tussle with religious authorities last month, after the syariah court ruled that he was a Muslim. His family insists that he was a practising Hindu and should be buried as such.

Question of remarrying

Given her situation, Wong said that should she now marry a non-Muslim, her husband-to-be must either be a Muslim, or become a Muslim convert.

"But given what I have gone through, do you (reporters) think I would allow another person to go through what I have experienced?" she said.

Liu said later that the purpose of Wong sharing her experience was to encourage others facing similar predicaments or those who were successful in renouncing their religion, to come forward.

He said that the DAP will bring up such cases to create awareness among the public and lobby for amendments to the necessary laws so that such problems would not recur.