Malaysia's Allah

Catholic's Allah, Islam's Allah. And so Justice Lau Bee Lan of the KL High Court ruled today that it was illegal for the Home Ministry to prohibit the Catholic Herald from using the word Allah. See story below.

SatD, in Demi Allah, demanded why the sitting judge was a non-Muslim. Like him, I'm taken aback by the judgment. But if the sitting judge had been a Muslim and he had ruled the same, it would have been worse.

To bro SatD and others like him, let's wait for the Appeals Court.

In the meantime, if the rest of you feel like celebrating ... Happy New Year. I'm suddenly feeling a little under the weather ...

General

December 31, 2009 17:15 PM

Catholic Magazine Herald Can Use Word "Allah"

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 31 (Bernama) -- The Catholic weekly magazine, Herald, can use the word "Allah" in its publications, the High Court here ruled on Thursday. Justice Datuk Lau Bee Lan, in her oral decision, held that the Herald had the constitutional right to use the word in the magazine to propagate the Christian religion but not Islam. She said that pursuant to Article 11(4) of the Federal Constitution, it was an offence for non-Muslims to use the word "Allah" to Muslims to propagate the religion. But it was not an offence for non-Muslims to use the word to the non-Muslims for the purpose of religion, she added. Pursuant to Articles 11 and 12 of the Federal Constitution, the Herald had the constitutional right to use the word in respect of instruction and education of the congregation in the Christian religion. Article 10 allowed it to use the word in the exercise of its right to freedom of speech and expression, she said. Lau said the decision by the Home Minister prohibiting Herald publications from using the word "Allah" in the magazine was illegal, null and void. She said the minister had also failed to adduce evidence that the use of word would threaten national security and create misunderstanding and confusion among Muslims. On Feb 16, Archbishop Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam filed for a judicial review on the usage of the word "Allah" in the church's publications, naming the Home Ministry and the government as respondents. He claimed that the word 'Allah' was not exclusive to the religion of Islam. On Jan 7, the Home Minister approved the Herald's publishing permit for the period Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2009, on condition that the word "Allah" was not used in it and the words "Restricted" must be printed on the weekly's front page whereby it could only be circulated to Christians and at churches only. The Home Minister had justified the ban on grounds of national security and to avoid misunderstanding and confusion among Muslims. -- BERNAMA

What next, now that Najib has said NO to Royal Commission on Dr M?

"Sikit-sikit nak Royal Commission, lu orang ni." Begitulah lebih kurang kata Perdana Menteri, bukan saya. Betul jugak. Takkanlah sebab seorang "operatif" Singapura tulis buku dan bikin tuduhan, kita satu Malaysia terus melatah.

[Yang saya tak setuju ialah pandangan Najib dalam perenggan akhir di bawah. Saya terjemahkan, kata PM: "Setiap perdana menteri kita ada banyak buat jasa, kalau tak kita tak cium apa yang kita ada sekarang ni". Tak semua, YAB. Tak semua PM berjada. Tak perlu kita ubah sejarah.]

Dah tentu ramai jugak yang tak senang dengan pendirian Najib (sila baca komentar di blog Lim Kit Siang kat sini). Saya tak tahu macamana nak tolong. Mungkin Kit Siang boleh fail saman terhadap Dr Mahathir di atas kehilangan RM100 billion tu. Operatif Singapura Barry Wain yang membuat tuduhan tersebut dalam bukunya sudah tentu punya bukti yang banyak dan bernas.




p.s. Bila nak halalkan buku Malaysian Maverick di Malaysia, Hisham? Biarlah rakyat kita baca sendiri dan buat penilaian sendiri.

Sleeping together now

Kalimullah and RPK? Kali the source of moolah for Raja Petra Kamaruddin to operate comfortably from a Bayswater apartment (pic, source Utusan/the Star*) London? I've heard whispers but didn't think that someone would blog about it. Stuff for fiction, mate.

But I'm humbly reminded that stranger stuff have been written in blogs and statutory declarations in Malaysia - eg Rosmah Mansor supervising the killing of Altantuya. Sometimes it's NOT about whether a claim is true or not, or whether or not anyone would believe that claim. It's about casting one aspersion after another to destroy someone's name.

Find out how much Kali would have to fork to in Big Dog's Dec 26 posting "Who is paying RPK's bills in London?" h e r e. If the rumor is true, that is.

Among Malaysian socio-political bloggers, Big Dog and RPK were known to be very close to each other as "insiders" in Dr Mahathir camp at a time when Kalimullah was busy using the media he controlled to demonize the former PM. Big Dog and RPK were united by a common desire to bring down the government of Pak Lah but after the March 08 general election, when RPK made it clear he was supporting Anwar Ibrahim and not Najib Razak as the next PM, the two friends drifted apart.

I don't know if Big Dog knows Kalimullah personally but I know that there's a sudden spike in blogosphere interest in the former NSTP boss. Jebat Must Die, in his Dec 26 posting "Malaysian Insider playing the fiddle" h e r e, attributed the latest attempt by "the Opposition-aligned Malaysian Insider" to Kalimullah.

More on the subject over the Xmas weekend:
The Unspinners' "Mystery: Siapa sponsor Raja Petra?" here
Malaysian Instinct's "Rumour has it Kalimullah may be one of those funding RPK's stay in London" here

*Pic/article by the Star here and Utusan here on Dec 27