Malaysians Say The Darndest Things!

Malaysians Suffering From Foot In Mouth Syndrome

December 31, 2007

Over the past 2 weeks, there has been so much broo-ha-ha over the potential banning of the BM section of the Herald, a Catholic publication. This was because the publication used the term “Allah”, and this has caught the attention of the Internal Security Ministry and its officials who wanted the Herald to discontinue the BM section, else no printing permit for next year.

Arguments went back and forth, with people debating what Allah meant, and most of it were reasonable arguments on both sides. Malaysians should commend themselves for being able to partake in such a discussion, albeit in cyberspace. We all know that the Government still treats all of us like children and rather sweep such discussions under the carpet.

However, where there were reasonable arguments, there will always be unreasonable arguments as well. Some of the more inane statements that I’ve read on this issue were the following:

Only Muslims can use ‘Allah’. It’s a Muslim word, you see. It’s from (the Arabic (language). We cannot let other religions use it because it will confuse people.
- Johari Baharum, Deputy Internal Security Minister

If you want to use Allah in BM, ok. But will you be fine if we change the Rukunegara to become “Kepercayaan Kepada Allah” instead of “Kepercayaan Kepada Tuhan”.
- Various commenters on certain blogs and also in a letter to Malaysiakini

The only logical explanation as to why the Church and Christians in Malaysia want to use ‘Allah’ instead of ‘Tuhan’ in its Malay translation is to cause confusion and to be mischievous.
…
I question the motivation of Herald and the Catholic Church in using this term. It is used with bad intentions to confuse Malays and others. If they used the word ‘Tuhan’, I doubt the message will be ambiguous or less clear.
…
The use of ‘Allah’ by Christians is certainly new.
- In a letter to Malaysiakini

If Allah is a general word then why does Herald use the word “Allah” only in its Bahasa Malaysia section? Why not refer to God as Allah in their English, Tamil and Chinese sections the same way the Arab Christians refer to God? Clearly this is being done to proselytise to Muslims, which is clearly against the constitution.
- In another letter to Malaysiakini

Having talked to various bloggers and read various websites, I can conclude that the fact is, there are Malaysian Christians who use BM as their first language, especially in East Malaysia. These Malaysians have referred to their god as Allah for DECADES, and possibly before this country even attained independence.

Read Tanak Wagu’s excellent letter to Malaysiakini, titled In East Malaysia, it has always been Allah.
In another first-hand account of a friend, she told me that in certain churches in East Malaysia, even the word Allah is written on the walls (I would love to see some pictures of that). In fact, my friend’s grandma says her graces in BM and uses Allah.

So, admit it, especially if you’re from the peninsular side of Malaysia. We really don’t know that much about East Malaysians, and how they live their lives. Fortunately, most of us manage to hide our ignorance from public view by not jumping to conclusions. Unfortunately as well, the inane statements above can be attributed to those who prefer jumping the gun and advertising their ignorance about their fellow Malaysians in East Malaysia. Foot in mouth anyone?

But there’s hope still. Perhaps the Internal Security Ministry finally paid a visit to Sabah or Sarawak and the light dawned upon them that Christians there do use Allah, and have been using Allah for decades. Yesterday, The Internal Security Ministry finally listened to the various voices of reason, when it finally agreed to allow the Herald to continue its publication without any conditions attached. That’s a positive move, but one must question why there wasn’t enough research done first before threatening to shut down a publication.

Will Johari Baharum and the various letter writers to Malaysiakini slamming the use of Allah in BM have the gumption to admit their mistake, and apologize to the Christians who use BM?

Peninsular Malaysians say the darndest things!

Other views on the blogosphere:
at last! herald permit granted and… (Lucia Lai)
Good news: Herald receives it new publishing permit!  (anilnetto.com)
Herald: Malaysians prove their reasonablness  (Nat Tan)
Herald’s permit: Abdullah flip-flops again  (Jeff Ooi)
“Malaysia reverses Allah paper ban” (Rocky’s Bru)

You Might Find These Interesting

• Johari: “Allah” For Muslims Only
• Allah, God, Yahweh? What’s In A Name?
• Top 5 Darndest Things Said In December 2007
• Hindraf Roses Set To Be Ignored By Acting PM Badawi
• Arrested For Bringing Letter?

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