Introduction by CPI
The Federal Court this coming Wednesday (March 5) will hear the appeal by the Catholic weekly, Herald, against the decision of the Appeal Court on the 'Allah' case handed down on Oct 14 last year.
The application for leave filed by the former Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, Archbishop Emeritus Murphy Pakiam has caught the attention of international media including the Economist in an article headlined ' Getting along in the name of God' (28 Feb 2014).
Writing recently in the Asia Sentinel is former American ambassador to Malaysia, John R. Malott, who has been following the controversy over the use of the 'Allah' word with great concern.
Malott rightly warns that if left unchecked this issue has the potential to tear Malaysia apart.
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Malaysia’s Allah Issue Seen from Afar
John R. Malott
Excerpt:To continue reading Malott's article, please go to http://www.asiasentinel.com/politics/malaysia-allah-issue/... While there are racial and religious issues in every society, what makes the situation in Malaysia different is that it is the government that has condoned and even provoked these tensions for its own political purposes.
For years, UMNO justified its existence by saying that the Malays are under threat, and that only UMNO could defend “the Malay race”.
After the 13th general election, in which UMNO candidates received only 30 percent of the national vote – and in which BN as a whole got only 47 percent – it had two choices. It could broaden its appeal or it could narrow it by trying to appeal to the PAS voter base, for whom religion rather than race is a more important concern.
Unfortunately, UMNO chose the latter course and started to play the "Muslim" card. Now, according to the government and UMNO, it is not just Malays, it is also Islam that is under threat. As for the "Malay" card, UMNO increasingly has gone to the extreme, pandering to extreme racist elements, starting with PERKASA.
The irony of the “Malays/Islam under threat” claim, of course, is that in Malaysia, both Malays and Muslims are the majority. And UMNO controls the government. So how can the Malay race and the Muslim religion in Malaysia be under threat?