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Malaysia Defends ‘Allah’ Ban As Ninth Church is Attacked
January 12, 2010

Malaysian Christians attend a Sunday service inside a church in Petaling Jaya near Kuala Lumpur . (AFP Photo/Saeed Khan) Malaysian Christians attend a Sunday service inside a church in Petaling Jaya near Kuala Lumpur . (AFP Photo/Saeed Khan)
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peterR
6:09pm Jan 12, 2010

yozeir....sorry mate but you have lost me again. You are just too cryptic for my brain.

To me they are just a bunch of Nazis.

Jules
5:34pm Jan 12, 2010

I think what is happening in Malaysia is sad. Politicians never learn. They only look at power. And no one will willingly give up power. After being bumiputra, why would anyone give up access to power and privilege? But again and again, history has shown that when favouritism is shown, at some point it will come back and bite you in the ass.

'Allah' is used not only by the Malays in Malaysia, but also in Egypt, Indonesia and other countries. Why would Malaysian Malays think only they can use the word? Because for decades, the bumiputra government has encouraged them. They made them think, 'the Malays are better. The Malays must always have the privilege.' Just late last year, the Deputy Education minister came out to say, 'Malaysians must stick to Malay and not learn English'. The very element that would put Malaysia in touch with the world to understand how the world is changing.

So Malaysia has to live with the consequences. They will always be shouting, 'Malays in Malaysia are different, we are bumiputra.' So bumiputra in Malaysia does not have to be reasonable. They are special and have special rights, including rights to own words that the world is using and put their own meaning to the words. They can make their own laws, issue fatwas as and when they like, in the name of Allah, even if it is ridiculous to the world and does not benefit Malaysia, as long as it keeps the status of the bumiputra.

yozeir
10:36am Jan 12, 2010

The One and Only Allah is totally different from the 3 in 1 Allah.

Different fields, different rules. Are Malaysia, Indonesia or perhaps

Switzerland are playing the same rule of the world order? Guess not.

Dear Padt, it is not democracy we are lacking now.

It is the power of globalization slowly swallowing us as the new world order.

Whatever happens in other man's house does not necessary to happen in his neighbor's too.

But no matter what, they are still living in the same place and smile to each other everyday (maybe a fake one) and try to avoid any conflicts.


padt
5:58pm Jan 11, 2010

Quote: " (Malaysian) Home Ministry secretary-general Mahmood said,

“..... Malays here are different from (Muslims in) other countries.

“The landscape here is different from Indonesia so we can’t compare,” he said.

Well, yes? And exactly what is the difference, Sir. You forgot to say.

That can only leave us to make some conclusions for ourselves. And they aren't very positive.

Of course, this is just a cynical, self-serving government aiding and abetting an intolerant minority of ignoramuses.

When will real democracy ever get established in Asia?


Valkyrie
5:01pm Jan 11, 2010

Money isn't only the root of all evils. Something else is missing.........POLITICS.

Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia on Monday defended its refusal to allow non-Muslims to use the word “Allah” as a dispute over the issue saw a ninth church attacked in a spate of fire-bombings and vandalism.

The Sidang Injil Borneo Church in the central state of Negri Sembilan was the latest to be targeted amid anger over a court ruling that overturned a government ban on non-Muslims using “Allah” as a translation for “God.”

The church attacks, which erupted last Friday, have sent tensions soaring in the multicultural nation, where the Muslim Malay majority lives alongside ethnic Chinese and Indians.

Home Ministry secretary general Mahmood Adam, who briefed foreign diplomats on the crisis on Monday, said they had asked why the term was off-limits when it is widely used by Christians in Indonesia and the Middle East.

“They don’t understand the situation here, they just want to know why it can be allowed in other countries and not here,” he told reporters. “Be fair, you have to compare apples to apples, oranges to oranges. Our landscape is different from other countries.”

The controversy flared after the High Court on Dec. 31 ruled in favor of the Catholic newspaper The Herald, which argued for the right to use “Allah” in its Malay-language section. Malaysian Christians say they have used the word without incident for centuries but the ruling party — which is vying for popularity among Muslims with the opposition Islamic party — insists it must be used only by Muslims.

It says that the use of “Allah” by Christians could cause confusion among Muslims and encourage religious conversion, which is illegal in Malaysia.

The ruling in the Catholic newspaper’s favor was suspended last week pending an appeal, after the government argued the decision could cause racial conflict.

Since Friday, churches have been pelted with Molotov cocktails, splashed with paint and attacked with stones, triggering tighter security at churches.

The latest attack targeted the Sidang Injil Borneo Church which conducts services in the national language, Malay. Its door was left blackened by fire, which filled the building with smoke.

“We have been using the word ‘Allah’ during the service as most of our church members speak Malay,” senior pastor Eddy Marson Yasir said of the congregation, which mostly hails from Sabah and Sarawak states in Borneo.

Prime Minister Najib Razak called for calm and said the government will not tolerate threats to racial harmony. Mahmood reiterated the government’s condemnation of the violence and said Malaysia would do “all in our power” to protect religious freedom.

The issue is one of a string of religious disputes in recent years that have strained relations between Muslim Malays and ethnic Chinese and Indians who fear the country is being Islamicized.

About 9 percent of Malaysia’s 28 million people are Christians, including some 850,000 Catholics. More than half of Malaysia’s Catholics are from indigenous groups, mostly from Borneo.

Azmi Sharom from the Universiti Malaya criticized the ruling United Malays National Organisation for stoking Malay nationalism in order to protect its voter base, after 2008 elections where it lost unprecedented ground to the opposition.



Agence France-Presse