The Reality In Malaysia

I have a summary of a report that was passed to me not too long. It's about the discriminatory practices meted out by the ruling majority against its own minority citizens. It's fairly accurate, so here goes nothing :

• Malaysia has all the hallmark of a racist and religious extreme state on the following foundation;
  

a) The Federal Constitution entrenched with a racist provision vide Article 153 ( Malaysian brand of apartheid)

b) The State sanctions racist and religious extreme laws and policies

c) State control of Government Administration by 1 race/religious group

d) State channel of most funds for economic/education/development programs and licenses, permits etc to 1 race

e) State control of Religious freedom to disadvantage of non-Muslims, imposition of Muslim religious laws and compelling jurisdiction of Syaria Courts on non-Muslims.

f) State sponsored violence/threat of violence both directly and outsource to other groups on objections by citizens

g) State sanction of draconian, punitive laws and the blank cheque given to Police to make arbitrary arrests on dissent.

h) State declaration that the Malays are the masters (Malay Supremacy) and sons of soil.

• Ethnic groups in Malaysia : Malay 53.3%, Chinese 26.0%, indigenous 11.8%, Indian 7.7%, others 1.2%.
• Religions: Islam (60.4%), Buddhism (19.2%), Christianity (9.1%), Hinduism (6.3%), other/none (5.0%). - US Department of State 2011

• Malaysia is a country based on a subtle, pervasive and increasingly aggressive form of racism. The conflict that lies just below this artificial calm state, is so well concealed, that to someone with just a cursory knowledge Malaysia would find it hard to believe and this is part of the problem.

• Malay supremacy or Malay dominance is the claim that the Malay Muslims are the tuan (masters) of Malaysia. The Chinese and Indians, who form a significant minority in Malaysia, are considered beholden to the Malays for granting them citizenship in return for special privileges as set out in Article 153 of the Malaysian Constitution.

• Article 153 is a deep-rooted racist provision in the Constitution which sanctions implementation of all racist policies in Malaysia to the disadvantage of the minority non-Malay/Muslim population. Questioning any matter, rights, status, privilege ect of Article 153 is considered a challenge to the Malay Supremacy, insulting the Royal Institution and Islam. It is also deemed a threat to National Security, an offence under the Internal Security Act which gives powers of arrest for unlimited period without trial and under the Sedition Act which provides for imprisonment between 3-5 years.

• Since the Democratic uprising of Hindraf in 2007 and the subsequent loss of its 2/3 Parliamentary mandate in the March 2008 elections, Government has outsourced its overt racist agenda to NGO’s in particular PERKASA. This is an NGO led by a Pro Government Parliamentarian who promotes the Malay Muslim supremacy agenda and has the explicit support of top Government leadership including the former Prime Ministers, ex Army officials and ex Inspector General of Police.

• PERKASA works intimately with a more militant group known as Pekida and another underworld Para- military group known as 3 LINE. Together they perpetuate racial hatred and cause fear among the non-Malays.

• Government budgetary allocations.

1. All Government projects are primarily given to Malay Muslim Bumiputra individuals and organizations.
2. All Government contractors have to be licensed by the Finance Ministry before being given any Government projects.
3. Malays have been promoted in the Civil service to assure that the highest policy-making positions will be filled by Malays regardless of objective performance standards.

• As of June 2005, more than 85% of the Civil Servants were Malay Muslims. This was an increase of close to 25% from 1971.

• The FELDA Scheme – Federal Land development Authority
• There is a systematic and wholesale exclusion of Non-Malays from this program. Indian plantation workers who were being actively displaced at the time of the growth of this FELDA scheme in the 1970s and 1980s were not considered part of the target group, because they were not categorized as being from the rural community. This was convenient way to exclude. An estimated 800,000 Indian plantation workers have been displaced from plantations without any alternative programs/compensation.
• FELDA, FELCRA, PERDA, KEDA, KETENGAH, KESEDAR, KEJORA and a host of other development agencies use procedural techniques of one form or another such as this to entirely exclude the deserving non-Malays.

• FELDA show a total turnover of RM 11.8 Billion. The profits before tax alone are RM804 million5.
• A RM 120 million residential school for FELDA children - a Maktab Rendah Sains Mara (MRSM) in Trolak, Perak. Compare this with the recent promise of an allocation of RM100 million by the Prime Minister for 523 Tamil schools in the country, for which there is no evidence of disbursement anyway. There are 42 MRSM schools like the one above in the country.
• In 1980, the World Bank raised concerns over the ethnic bias in FELDA settler selection by pointing out that if the government was serious “about increasing the non-Malay share in agriculture, some increase in the non-Malay share of settlers was warranted
• The Tekun Nasional scheme is a scheme to provide micro credit and to develop majority Malay Muslim entrepreneurs.
• For the year 2008 alone TEKUN Nasional has provided RM 182 million as loans to 19,000 entrepreneurs.
  
• That is close to RM1 Billion -not to mention almost all those loans went to Malay Muslim entrepreneurs. Participation in the Tekun program of Indians is miniscule - a total of 93 Indian entrepreneurs received loans amounting to RM761,000 on July 24, 2009 in a ceremony.8 That is less than 0.1% of that disbursed to the Malay Muslim entrepreneurs.
  
• The collusion of the various arms of the Government to keep dissent in check

Some of the key ones are :

1. Government Linked Companies

2. Government Investment Companies

3. Economic Planning Unit

4. The Federal Cabinet of Ministers

5. The various Ministries

6. The Royal Malaysian Police

7. The Attorney general’s Office

8. The Judiciary

9. The Government Administrative Services

10. The Government owned Banks

11. The Government controlled media

• The Government has used suppressive laws like the Internal Security Act, the Official Secrets Act, Printing Presses and Publications Act, the Seditions Act during this period to implement these terribly racially lopsided development plans while allowing the racist system to grow

• Given the need to maintain a racist regime, the Police have become a primary instrument of control for the majority Malay Muslim party in Government –UMNO. Police violence, abuse of power and human rights abuses occur very regularly. Cases of death in custody, partial handling of criminal disturbances, violent dispersal of peaceful protestors and other form of human rights violation continue. This has created a climate of impunity and normalization of violence, abuse of power and violation of human rights in Malaysia.

• More than 77% of the Government administration members are of Malay Muslim ethnicity. About 20% the Indian members and about 60% of the Chinese members of the Government administration are teachers in the Government Vernacular schools. If they are excluded from the numbers employed by the Government administration, the picture that emerges is about an overall participation of 85% Malays in the administration

• The Malay Muslim employees of the administration go through special programs of training called National Civics Bureau where they are all educated on how to keep “the wealth of the family within the family” in short how to operationalize the racist policies of the Government. This is a much criticized activity, but the Government continues with impunity as it is a key approach in recreating that racist bureaucracy.

• The Mainstream media blocks out, demonizes and distorts information of any organization that speaks out against this racist system in a coordinated fashion. The Government uses the Printing Presses and Publications Act and limiting ownership to known allies to control the Media to do this.

• There are an estimated 150,000 – 200,000 Indian children who are stateless due to the States’ reluctance to recognize them as Malaysians. This is operationalized by the racist state bureaucracy. As result they are not admitted in Schools, enjoy health care and other benefits a child enjoys.

• The racial bias in the educational system is the area where racism is most blatant – all the way from pre-school and primary education up to Tertiary levels.

• There are 42 fully residential elite Maktab Rendah Sains Mara (MRSM) (Mara junior Science College) (NST 5/4/08) with 12,440 places also in the fully residential schools (BH 21/11/09 at page 7). These schools have been almost exclusively for Malay Muslim students

• Non-Malays are also almost 100% excluded in other elite schools like the Royal Military College, Aminuddin Baki Institution, Matriculation courses and the Malay College Kuala Kangsar.

• There are two streams for entry into the Public Universities. One is through the Matriculation 12 month program specifically tailored for the Malay Muslim students and the other is through the 18 month and much more stringent STPM program

• Admissions into public Universities is more than 80% reserved for the Malays Muslims. One university with a student population of 170,000 in 2011(UiTM) is for Malay Muslims only. The other 19 public Universities with about 170,000 enrolments in all have a 60% Malay Muslim students making it 80% for Malay Muslims in all Public Universities. This does not even talk about the composition in the various courses offered.

• There are 62,000 diploma places and 60,000 degree places for 2010 at 27 Polytechnics in Malaysia. These are exclusively for the Malay Muslim students.

There are 163,779 students studying at the 19 other Public Universities nationwide at an annual expenditure cost of RM 2.6 Billion15. Our estimate is a mere 5 % of this expenditure will accrue to non-Malay students.

• RM 2.8 Billion is allocated for the 2010 National Budget for student’s assistance scholarships. Most of the funds go for scholarships to Malay Muslim Students.
  
• 1,266,671 students (estimated 90% Malay Muslims) have benefited from the government PTPTN (Government Higher Education Loan Fund) study loans till 2009. 147,441 such loans were approved at RM 17.0 Billion (UM 25/3/08 at page 31).
  
• The constitution provides for freedom of religion; however, the constitution and the government placed restrictions on this right. The constitution defines all ethnic Malays as Muslims at birth and stipulates that Islam is the "religion of the Federation."
  
• Civil courts continued to concede jurisdiction to Sharia courts on cases concerning conversion from Islam and certain areas of family law involving disputes between Muslims and non-Muslims.
  
• Forced religious conversions and religious intolerance are evidence of creeping Islamization in Malaysia. Whenever there is a conflict between Muslim and non-Muslims, the tendency is for Muslim Laws to prevail over the non-Muslim issues regardless of the merits of the case.
• The decision of the Court of Appeal on 21st August 2010 in the case of Maniam Moorthy is a disturbing trend in the role of the Judiciary which has abdicated its powers to the inferior Sharia Courts which was meant to serve the Muslims only on matters (personal) pertaining to marriage, divorce, property distribution ect.
  
• Lina Joy, 42, who was born to a Malay Muslim couple, became a Christian when she was 26.
  
• She lost her final round of appeal when the Federal Court dismissed her appeal on 30th May 2007 against a ruling that the National Registration Department was right not to allow her to remove the word "Islam" from her identity card.
  
• In August 2010 The newspaper of the Catholic Church in Malaysia, The Herald, filed a legal suit at following warnings that its permit could be revoked if it did not cease use of the word "Allah" in the Malay language section of its newspaper.

• Several Malaysian churches have been attacked and fire bombed, leaving at least one badly damaged, in an escalating dispute over the use of the word "Allah" by Christians.

• A religious edict (fatwa) by a Muslim cleric in the state of Sabah caused the Sabah state government to cancel the construction of a 108 feet Goddess of Sea Mazu statue by the Taoist in 2008.

• In August 2011 The Selangor Religious Department raided a Church dinner function organised by an NGO on allegation of Christian proselytizing campaign.
  
• According to the government, it allocated 428 million ringgit (approximately $125.9 million) to build Islamic places of worship and 8.1 million ringgit ($2.4 million) to build Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, and other minority religions' places of worship between 2005 and the end of 2008. (in answer to a Parliamentary question)
  
• Throughout the years since Malaysian independence in 1957, the government has been disregardful of the systematic destruction of Hindu places of worship, which previously stood on estates and state owned estates and land. An estimate of about 10,000 Hindu places of worship have been demolished.

• The government justifies the demolition of the places of worship on the grounds that they were illegally constructed or were occupying government land. Planning and building laws never existed at the time of the construction of these places of worships.
  
  
  
  

The full report titled, ”Institutional Racism and Religious Freedom in Malaysia” can be downloaded by clicking on the link.

Deepavali Kolam 2011

 Shot taken from the floor above the kolam

 Also from the floor above

 Close-up shot 1

  Close-up shot 2

  Close-up shot 3 : can you see the coloured rice grain?

Pre-Islamic Hindu Statue Excavated From Bujang Valley

This Is So Fucking Embarassing

"On July 9, 20,000 Malaysians gathered in Kuala Lumpur to demand more transparency in electoral laws in connection with next year's national elections.

Police unleashed tear gas and chemical-laced water on the demonstrators and temporarily detained nearly 1,700 of them. According to reports, authorities also detained six opposition activists without trial and accused them of trying to use the rally to spread communism. Police said they found T-shirts and other materials linked to communist figures.

Apparently, these measures didn't suffice for some of Malaysia's nervous ruling elite. The editors of Utusan Malaysia, owned by Prime Minister Najib Razak's United Malays National Organization ruling party (UMNO), defaulted to a time-tested maneuver: When in doubt, blame the Jews!

The Jews? Most citizens of the overwhelmingly Asian economic giant have never and will likely never meet a Jew in their lifetime. And yet the folks at Utusan Malaysia, which is influential among Muslims in rural areas who rely on government-linked media to shape their worldview, are apparently confident warnings about a "Jewish plot" would resonate in a land without Jews.

To understand why, you need only look at the track record of the man who dominated his nation for a quarter of a century, Malaysia's fourth prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad.

Mahathir was credited with engineering Malaysia's rapid modernization and spectacular economic growth. He was a dominant political figure, winning five consecutive general elections. He also used his political clout and controversial laws to detain activists and political opponents.

And Mahathir is an anti-Semite.

Back in 1970, in his treatise on Malay identity, "The Malay Dilemma," he wrote: "The Jews are not only hooked-nosed ... but understand money instinctively. ... Jewish stinginess and financial wizardry gained them the economic control of Europe and provoked antisemitism which waxed and waned throughout Europe through the ages."

In August 1984, a visit by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra was canceled when his Information Minister demanded that music by composer Ernst Bloch be deleted from the program. His crime? He was a Jew and the selection chosen was based on Hebrew melodies.

In 1986, Mahathir charged "Zionists" and Jews with attempting to destabilize the country through allegedly Jewish-controlled media. He subsequently banned The Asia Wall Street Journal for three months describing the publication as "Jewish owned." In the 1990s, Mahathir used the Malaysian news agency, Bernama, to accuse Australian Jewry of conspiring to topple him.

Mahathir, who made Islam a central component of Malaysian identity, made this chilling charge in 1997: "We are Moslems, and the Jews are not happy to see Moslems progress."

Perhaps that would help explain the resounding ovation which greeted his screed at a Islamic Leadership Conference in 2003: "The Europeans killed 6 million Jews out of 12 million ... but today, the Jews rule the world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them."

And just last year the elder statesman of anti-Semites said this at a conference: "Jews had always been a problem in European countries. They had been confined in ghettos and periodically massacred. But they still remained and still thrived and held whole governments to ransom. ... Even after their massacre by the Nazis in Germany, they survived to be a source of even greater problems to the world."

All this may help explain why Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and the infamous "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" are on prominent display at the Malaysian capital's International Airport.

But there are some signs that in 2011 not everyone is drinking Mahathir's toxic Kool-Aid. Maria Chin Abdullah, one of the organizers of the mass rally that sought to prevent electoral fraud, charged that Utusan Malaysia's warning of an alleged Jewish conspiracy was "nonsense that is being spread in very bad taste," adding, "To rely on this claim of Jewish support is to insult the people's good intentions of seeking important reforms."

Perhaps Kuala Lumpur hasn't paid much attention to the Arab Spring. Maybe its time they did, especially since it was inspired by Muslims demanding more freedom and democracy. It isn't world Jewry that is driving members of minorities to the streets of Kuala Lumpur, but the failure of a democratic government to provide equal rights and opportunities to all their citizens. It's time for Malaysian leaders to grow up. Relying on big-lie Jewish conspiracies is no substitute for honest and transparent governance".

Original post can be found here.

I hate to say this but a vast majority of Malaysians of the Muslim faith IN MALAYSIA are full blown anti-semites. I suppose it shouldn't come as a surprise with all the indoctrination they've been subjected to at their homes and/or religious schools. I think they should free their minds and get rid of the hate. Jews are the easy targets here as there are no Jews in Malaysia to defend themselves. Unfortunately, Christians are also their favourite target of discrimination. This is too damn depressing, I can't go on. Give me a holler if you want to discuss this.

Message For Today

Did you feel His presence?

Making a Dung Heap out of a Mole Hill

A group of 100 Malay protesters congregated in front of Masjid al-Ikhlasiah in Kampung Kerinchi here today to protest against a lawyer from MCA who purportedly applied pressure to stop the mosque from using loudspeakers to play the Muslim call to prayer.

The group consisting of members from Muslim welfare group Pekida and Malay rights NGO Perkasa claimed that a “Chinese lawyer” had demanded the mosque stop the “azan” (call to prayer) recital.

The demonstrators also held posters naming the lawyer and displaying what they claim to be his home address in Pantai Hill Park condominium.

At the protest, chairman of Pekida’s Lembah Pantai chapter, Zakaria Awang, demanded that the man be arrested for sedition.

“We want him to be arrested under the Internal Security Act for threatening national harmony or he can change his citizenship to a nationality of his own liking,” he said.

He added that the “lawyer” should also make an open apology to the Muslim community in the country.

The group also distributed copies of a fax purportedly from the man, and said to have been sent to the Prime Minister’s Office asking for the volume of the mosque’s loudspeakers to be lowered.

by Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani
themalaysianinsider.com




These are my observations :

1. why are they burning their pillows?

2. there's no specific mention of this bogeyman/MCA lawyer. Who is he? Reminds me of the time in Perak where a mob stormed a church in Perak trying to stop a mass conversion of muslims to christianity. Turned out to be false. And the lying Perak Mufti got away scot-free for nearly plunging the country into some form of nasty extremism.

3. I am quite sure during the Prophet's time, there wasn't a need for loudspeakers. So what's the beef? That's a hadith right there. Like a lot of other hadiths, this one is unauthenticated too.

4. I think it's just UMNO (United Malays National Organisation) trying to galvanise the Malays to prepare for the coming General Elections. Let the siege mentality begin. 'You are either with us or against us'

5. the banners were written in red ink, I suppose it was to denote blood. I see 'peace' written all over it

The Same Bullshit Replayed (And Yes I Think We Are Sliding into Dhimmitude)

Tan Yi Min is now Eilliyah Foong Abdullah. This child is Tan Cheow Hong's daughter. She was born into the Tan family. Her grandfather belonged to the 'Tan' clan, as did her great grandfather and her great, great grandfather. Her mother Fatimah Foong Abdullah has with cold calculation misused Islam to deprive 'Eilliyah Foong Abdullah' of her birthright - the 'Tan' surname.

The Malaysiakini report said Fatimah converted Yi Min on Nov 9 at the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department. She snatched her from school on Nov 8. This time-line indicates that Fatimah converted Yi Min the very next day.

Remember that the child has lived with her father these past three years. She has never been taught Islam and knows next to nothing about the religion. Yet barely 24 hours after being snatched with the help of the police and the Islamic officials, this little girl could miraculously declare - before another different set of Islamic bureaucrats - that she wishes to embrace Islam.

“Bagaimana budak Cina tujuh tahun boleh mengucap dua kalimah syahadah?” This question was the first thing to cross the mind of Sharifuddin Abdul Latiff, administrator of the mediawatch group Hartal MSM.

You try saying this: 'ašhadu an la ilaha illa (A)llah, wa ašhadu anna Muhammada(n) rasulu (A)llah'. Now imagine a traumatised little girl who had just been kidnapped and driven pell-mell from Penang to Selangor reciting the syahadah in a language she'd never spoken a word of before; and doing it twice correctly (a procedural convention) in the presence of intimidating strangers in an alien environment a long distance from home.

When Yi Min ostensibly bore witness as a 'Muslim', she would have had no conception of who the Prophet Muhammad was. Sharifuddin further points out that when the Prophet received his calling, he was a mature man 40 years in age.

It's impossible that an immature child grasped the message of Islam in the matter of a mere 24 hours. How could the officer-in-charge then proceed to stamp approval without first ascertaining that the conditions for conversion were properly fulfilled?

Fatimah Foong holds no 'sijil perkahwinan' (Muslim marriage certificate). Yi Min was not conceived in Muslim wedlock. Yi Min's father was not present to give his consent. This makes the conversion of his daughter, a minor, against civil law.

That Fatimah's mockery of justice was entertained by ketuanan Islam is beyond a dereliction of duty; it is criminal mala fide.

If this sick, shotgun conversion is not immediately voided, Yi Min is doomed to Hotel California - you “can check out but never leave”. Like Banggarma (below), remember her? Like Revathi. Remember her too?
It's high time that Malays here do some deep soul-searching and ask yourselves what kind of saudara baru you're all acquiring in droves.

Parental duty is a shared responsibility. As a Malay man or woman, how would you feel if your estranged Malay spouse was to snatch and decide alone to convert your little boy to Hinduism in a Hindu-predominant country, or to Christianity in a Christian-predominant country?



Helen Ang
Jan 6, 2011
Malaysiakini

Landslide at Bukit Gasing (Again)

This is quite a big one for such a small hill. Apparently it is related to extension works on the temple which was started in 2006. Scary as it is there plans to further develop the hill with an upcoming project (Sanctuary Ridge Kuala Lumpur City) comprising 70 bungalows on a 15.5ha site.

Let's hope nothing untoward happens and if it does, let's not blame God and say it's an act of God. We all know it's an act of Greed

Merry Christmas Folks

It's that time of the year again. To all my friends and and family I wish you nothing but joy and happiness.May the Lord continue to bless you with good health and shield you from harm.

To those of us who have lost a loved one, may their memories live on in us forever.

I miss you Stephen Lee

Bible Giving Ceremony

Just a short post. The kids received their first bibles last Sunday for newly promoted Standard 1 students.

"If the elections happen, we will show them (the government) we are serious about Allah."

I found this article while browsing through the online version of the Boston Globe. It showcases UMNO's handiwork in decimating unity within the country. Of course UMNO's bitches (read MCA & MIC) are muted on this issue. How in the world are we to achieve this thing called Bangsa Malaysia when non-issues like this are exploited to the full by these politicians. And it doesn't help matters when there are those who feel Allah is exclusive only to their religion. (that's why it is so important to be able to read and learn a bit of history). Anyway read on

KENINGAU, Malaysia (Reuters) - Reciting the Catholic Creed, the 1,800-strong congregation attending mass at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral on Borneo island intones in Malay: "We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of Allah."

These Malaysian Catholics, like their brethren in Indonesia, have used the word "Allah" in place of "God" since converting to Christianity in the 19th century.

But now the government in this mostly Muslim Southeast Asian nation of 27 million people wants to prevent "Allah" being used by Christians, saying it is subversive and aims to convert Muslims.

Christians fear this is just the thin edge of the wedge.

"The government of West Malaysia has an infection of religious hatred. We have to fight back so it does not spread," said Bishop Cornelius Piong after Sunday Mass at the cathedral in the heart of a rice-growing district in eastern Sabah state.

Christianity is practiced by 9.1 percent of the Malaysian population, according to the 2000 census, the most recently available figures. Many of them, like Bishop Piong, come from ethnic groups such as the Kadazandusun, Dayaks, Ibans and Bidayuh who live in the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak.

"Our worship of Allah is so natural, it is part and parcel of the Kadazandusun people here," Piong said.

The row over the use of Allah to describe the Christian God feeds into a long-running feud over conversions between the government of a country where all Malays must be Muslims and other faiths, such as Hinduism and Buddhism that are practiced by ethnic Indians and Chinese.

MALAYS FRET OVER CONVERSION

It is illegal in Malaysia to convert from Islam to any other religion although conversions to Islam are allowed.

One of the biggest cases involved Lina Joy, a woman who wanted to convert to Christianity to marry her partner, who was baptized and applied to have her conversion legally recognized by the Malaysian state.

She lost a court battle two years ago to have the word "Islam" removed from her identity card. All Malaysian identity cards carry a person's race and religion.

It is cases such as these that worry Malaysian Muslim activists and officials and they see using the word Allah in Christian publications including bibles as attempts to proselytize.

Those concerns led to the ban on the Catholic Herald newspaper's use of "Allah" to denote God. The Herald is now suing the government to overturn the ruling, made after it appeared the paper would be allowed to use "Allah" provided it stamped "For Christians" on the front page of the paper.

"Allowing Christians to use the word is dangerous because it's attacking the sole religion of the Malays," said Yusri Mohamad, president of the influential Muslim Youth Movement.

"We have to question Christians' motive for wanting to use this obviously Muslim word. It appears to be for conversions. All Muslim Malays in Malaysia are against this."

Some leading Muslim scholars here say the issue is being blown out of proportion and that the risk of conversions among the 60 percent Muslim population is tiny.

They see it as an attempt by the government that has ruled Malaysia uninterrupted for 51 years since independence from Britain to hold on to power by identifying ethnicity with religion.

The main ruling party in Malaysia is called the United Malay National Organization, and like its allies from Chinese and Indian parties, it is ethnically based.

"It is an irrational fear (of conversions) but a very powerful one," said Osman Bakar, the deputy head of the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies Malaysia. "Now the government has moved to setting up demarcations around the national language."

SPILLING INTO POLITICS

While the Kadazandusun and other indigenous people on Borneo hold the same privileges as Malays in preferential access to areas such education, loans and housing, the resource-rich states of Sabah and Sarawak are far poorer than peninsular Malaysia.

Sabah and Sarawak have voted solidly for parties from the governing National Front coalition since the start of democratic rule in Malaysia.

That hegemony is now under threat after the opposition scored its best-ever election result in 2008 when it deprived the government of its two-thirds parliamentary majority and ended up in control of five of Malaysia's 13 states.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is now targeting the voters of Borneo in an effort to keep up pressure on the government and the first test will come in a state assembly by-election in Sarawak in early April.

There may also be a chance for voters in a constituency near to St Francis Xavier to flex their muscles depending on a court decision on whether a move to disqualify three non-government parliamentary candidates was valid.

For the people of Bishop Piong's congregation what happens in the battle over the use of "Allah" will certainly be an issue if the election is re-run.

"If the government wants to be nasty and stop people from using Allah, it can. But it may not work here. It's God's country here," said 28-year-old Teresa Palikat, a tailor, after attending Sunday Mass in Keningau district.

"If the elections happen, we will show them (the government) we are serious about Allah."

I Don't Understand, Therefore I Ban

The Associated Press

Malaysian clerics are considering an edict to ban yoga for Muslims because it might contain religious elements that violate Islamic teachings, an official said Thursday.

The National Fatwa Council, the main grouping of clerics, will likely issue a ruling by February on whether the ancient practice of yoga is permitted for Muslims, said Harussani Idris Zakaria, the mufti of northern Perak state.

The clerics were studying the issue because some Malaysian Muslims have voiced concerns that yoga might promote Hinduism or religious beliefs that contradict Islam, Harussani said.

"If it's something that is against our beliefs, of course we cannot practice it," Harussani told The Associated Press.

The Fatwa Council's decisions are not legally binding on Muslims, who comprise nearly two-thirds of Malaysia's 27 million people, unless they are enshrined in national or Shariah laws. However, many Muslims abide by the edicts out of deference.

Social activist Marina Mahathir criticized the council for considering a yoga ban, saying it could be "a classic case of reacting out of fear and ignorance."

"Yoga may have spiritual roots but most of us do it for the exercise, both for the mind and body," Marina wrote on her blog.

The clerics drew criticism from some Malaysians last week when they issued an edict banning tomboys, ruling that girls who act like boys violate the tenets of Islam.

Aiyo! Open minded sikit lah.

Once Upon A Time

I was in Malacca this morning attending to a matter at the Melaka High Court. With a little bit of spare time, I thought I'd go for some sight-seeing with my handy Leica.

Well as you can see the photos here are of the places of worship of the various races in Malaysia. The 1st picture is the one of the Christ Church built in 1753, followed by pictures 2 & 3 of Masjid Kampung Kling. No. 4 is the Cheng Hoon Teng temple dedicated to the goddess Kwan Yin. It was built in 1673 and is supposedly the nation's oldest functioning temple. No. 5 is the Chetty temple.

The beauty of these places of worship is not that they are buildings of religious & historical value but that they are virtually built next to each other and are in close proximity. Perhaps once upon a time in Malaysia people were more tolerant and respectful towards each others' religious beliefs.

Leader of all Malaysians? Errrr.....Ok!

Reproduced from the Malaysian Insider

The leader of all Malaysians. Once it captured the spirit of optimism that accompanied Abdullah Ahmad Badawi into office as the country's fifth prime minister.

Today, it is a reminder of what should have been; what could have been; another unfulfilled promise by a politician who promised to blur the racial and religious lines but ended up delivering an even more polarized nation five years on. The leader of all Malaysians.

Once it offered the umbrella of comfort for non-Muslims, planting hope among the 45 per cent of the country's population that the difficult issues of conversion, places of worship and freedom of religion would be tackled.Today, these five words have been buried by a community feeling increasingly despondent about their place here and the ability of important institutions to protect the rights of all Malaysians.

The numbers tell the story. A comprehensive survey on political developments since Election 2008 show that only 18 per cent of the 3,000 people polled identified Abdullah as the leader of all Malaysians, with only 7.3 per cent Chinese believing that he had done enough to deserve the moniker. Generally, more Indians and Chinese feel that he protects the interests of Malays more than he looks after the other races.

Even the anecdotal evidence suggests that the despair is coursing through the veins of many non-Muslims. Datuk A. Vaithalingam has always been a straight-talker. He never fudged or hedged when he was a top official in the golden era of the Malaysian sports scene, the days when the country's football team was a source of national pride and Isthiaq Mubarak was clearing hurdles at the Olympics.

But he outdid himself last Wednesday. Speaking as the president of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism, he gave a candid appraisal of the non-Muslim sentiment in the country to Abdullah.

"I must report to you that many non-Muslims feel marginalised in today's Malaysia. There is growing discomfort with the rapid Islamisation of our society. Universal values of ethical conduct and good governance, values which are shared by all religions, are appropriated by some to be only "Islamic", '' he said at the 25th anniversary of the council.

He cautioned the Prime Minister - the guest-of-honour - that unless concrete steps were taken to assure 45 per cent of Malaysia's population of fair treatment, the outflow of talent from the country would continue unabated.

Abdullah thanked him for his honesty and made the usual sounds on the need to be fair to all races. But even the PM knows that his government has not come close to delivering on any promises to non-Muslims since he came to power in October 2003.

Questions of body snatching or the status of burial rights for non-Muslims whose conversion to Islam was unknown to the dead person's family remain unresolved.

Abdullah promised to put in place a mechanism after the nastiness surrounding the burial of Everest hero Moorthy in 2006.

Little has changed since then. Similarly, there has been some disquiet over the plight of mothers whose husbands convert to Islam and then, avoid their commitments under the civil law to their former family. Non Muslims are unhappy that the courts are allowing one parent to convert children to Islam even if the other parent does not consent.

Vaithilingam also noted: "In schools, our children are not permitted to and do not get education in their own religion. Moral lessons are reportedly vetted by the Islamic authorities.''

His litany of complaints on Wednesday was long.

This is not the first time that the council has voiced their displeasure at the state of neglect over the interests of non-Muslims. Deep down, they know that Abdullah is not prepared to champion these issues, not when his own position in the country is precarious.

But they cannot keep the lid on the percolating discontent among the non-Muslims. That is why many of the religious groups backed the move by the Bar Council to proceed with its controversial public forum on conversion to Islam on Saturday.

The forum was eventually stopped by the organizers on the advice of police and threats by Muslim non-governmental groups.

Truth to be told, little good would have emerged from a forum not represented by major Muslim players such as Parti Islam SeMalaysia, Umno and Jakim. But in the absence of any meaningful moves by the government or political parties to resolve issues related to conversion, non-Muslims are prone to support any group willing to discussing these matters.

Abdullah and other Umno leaders have urged the Bar Council and other bodies to discuss sensitive matters behind closed doors but the Prime Minister will know from recent experience that this approach does not guarantee any progress. For example, he knows that many of his Umno colleagues in Cabinet are either against or ambivalent about promoting dialogue between Muslims and non-Muslims. That is why Datuk Shafie Apdal's proposal to have more dialogue on national unity was shot down vigorously by an Umno minister during a recent Cabinet meeting.

A cabinet minister, who declined to be identified, told the Malaysian Insider: "Shafie did not get much support.

Pak Lah did not say much and neither did Najib. It could because this is the Umno election season and nobody wants to do anything which will upset party members. But it could also be in-built mechanism against dealing with any difficult issue, whether judicial reform or other reforms.''

There is little doubt that the party grassroots is ambivalent about reform - and this is a charitable interpretation.

During recent branch meetings, Umno members were focused on Malay unity - specifically the need to stay as one and fight off demands from the increasingly vocal non-Malay population.

There was little discussion on the need to shed the party's perceived arrogance and refill the depleting bank of non-Malay support.

Against this backdrop and with the upcoming party elections in December, no national leader is going to champion the cause of non-Muslims and risk alienating the Muslim constituency.

Certainly not the man who once said that he was the leader of all Malaysians. That claim rings hollow among many non-Muslims today.

The Merit of Consistency

You can always depend on the powers that be to be consistent. Read on :

Renunciation of Islam: Woman’s appeal dismissed

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 5 — A woman who converted to Islam failed today in her appeal before the Court of Appeal against the High Court's refusal to allow her application for a declaration that she had the right to renounce Islam and embrace Christianity.

Justice Datuk Tengku Baharudin Shah Tengku Mahmud in a 2-1 majority decision said the appeal brought by the 35-year-old woman was incompetent before the court as the person (appellant) named in the originating summons at the High Court stage no longer existed — she had changed her name to a Muslim one.

Justice Tengku Baharudin, who presided over the hearing with Justices Datuk Vincent Ng and Datuk Sulong Mat Jeraie, dismissed the appeal with no costs.

In the originating summons at the High Court stage, she had stated her original Chinese name in the application, but the name had been changed to a Muslim name after she had converted to Islam.

On Feb 15, 2005, the woman in an amended originating summons sought, among others, declarations from the High Court that she had the right to renounce Islam and practise the Christian religion under Article 11 of the Federal Constitution and that she could delete her Muslim name and substitute it with her original name.

She named the Selangor Religious Affairs Council, Selangor Religious Affairs Department, Selangor government, the National Registration Department (NRD) director-general and Malaysian government as respondents.

On May 17, 2005, the Shah Alam High Court allowed the respondents' application to strike out her application on the basis that the High Court had no jurisdiction to hear and decide on the matter, and it also did not hear or adjudicate on the merits of the originating summons.

The woman in the summons said she embraced Islam in 1992 and changed her name to a Muslim name, and two years later she married a Malay man and was divorced in 1997.

She contended that after converting to Islam, she did not practise the tenets of the religion and her conversion was purely for the purpose of marrying the man.

On June 9, 2003, through a deed poll and statutory declaration (SD), she affirmed that she had embraced Christianity and had reverted to using her original Chinese name.

The woman then applied to the NRD to change the name in her identity card (IC) to her original name (Chinese name). However, the NRD on Sept 18, 2003, informed her that it had no jurisdiction to approve her application unless an order of renunciation of Islam was obtained from the Syariah court.

At today's proceeding, Justice Tengku Baharudin questioned the parties on whether the woman's appeal was competent before the court as two names – the Chinese and Muslim names – were stated in her appeal.

"The question before us is who is appearing in the appeal. Is it the Chinese name or the Muslim name?" added Justice Sulong.

Counsel Edmund Bon, representing the woman, submitted that the appeal was competent as the Chinese name and Muslim name were the same person in the appeal.

"There is no dispute as to the identity of the appellant. There is no confusion because the appellant is the same person as the name stated in the appeal application," he said.

Bon submitted that the appellant was a legal and natural person, and a Malaysian citizen who sought a legal remedy in the Court of Appeal.

Selangor legal advisor Datin Paduka Zauyah Be Loth Khan, representing the state, submitted that the appeal was incompetent because the appellant in her SD had used her Muslim name but when she signed the SD, she used her Chinese name.

Zauyah said even if the appellant used her Muslim name in the appeal, the appeal was also incompetent because in her SD and deed poll, she stated that she was not going to use her Muslim name anymore.

Senior federal counsel Arik Sanusi Yeop Johari, for the NRD and the government, submitted that the appellant had produced the documents with two names stated.

"The right authority to determine her legal entity is the NRD based on her IC. Therefore, the appellant must get approval from the NRD to change the Muslim name to her Chinese name, which was rejected by the NRD," he said.

A rising number of disputes about religious conversions have sparked anxiety among minorities — Buddhists, Christians and Hindus — because courts almost always rule against people seeking to leave Islam, which is Malaysia's official religion.

Heheheh...

Last thing I remember, I was

Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
'Relax,' said the night man,
'We are programmed to receive.
You can check-out any time you like,
But you can never leave!

(taken from Hotel California)

Here We Go Again : Return of the Body Snatchers

Here we go again :

The Associated Press

An Islamic court has declared a dead man a Muslim, preventing his Hindu family from cremating his body, in the latest dispute over religious conversions in Muslim-majority Malaysia, their lawyer said Monday. A Shariah court in northern Penang state ruled Friday that B. Elangesvaran, 34, who committed suicide last month, was a Muslim and his body should be released from the hospital for Muslim burial, lawyer R. Nethaji Rayer said.

In handing down the ruling, the Shariah court upheld the local Islamic Religious Affairs Department's claim that Elangesvaran had converted to Islam before his death. A civil court — the Penang High Court — dismissed the application by Elangesvaran's family Friday to have him declared a Hindu, Nethaji said. The court later Monday also refused to grant an injunction to stop the Islamic department from taking possession of Elangesvaran's body, Nethaji said.

"The body will be buried according to Muslim rites," Nethaji said. It was not immediately clear when the department would conduct the burial.

Religious conversion disputes often erupt in Malaysia, where Muslim Malays make up 60 percent of the population and mostly non-Muslim ethnic Chinese and Indians account for a third. The cases have put pressure on the government to guarantee the rights of religious minorities who increasingly complain they lose out in disputes involving Islam.

"This is not proper at all," said Nethaji. "Generally (the civil courts) always take the stand that they cannot interfere with the Shariah court."

Malaysia has a dual court system. While Shariah courts handle civil matters for Muslims, civil courts rule on the same for non-Muslims. It is unclear which court has the final word in conversion disputes.

Ghazali Saad, an official with the Penang Islamic department, said his office had proof that Elangesvaran had converted before his death. "We have the document that he converted to Islam," he said, but declined to comment further, pending the outcome of the case.

Nethaji said the purported proof was only a scribbled note allegedly written by Elangesvaran. The note was not signed, he said. He said the family was "distraught, very disappointed, completely broken down ... They are unable to go on with their lives. It's all hanging in the balance."

Personally I don't know why this country insists on mixing religion with politics. Islam (I've been told) is pure and politics is dirty. And of course politicians are a dirty lot and we are letting them set the tone on Islam in this country? That is symptomatic of what's wrong in this country.

Oh My Allah!

The Associated Press

Some 100 Islamic groups in Malaysia called Wednesday for wider powers for Shariah courts and stricter enforcement of religious and moral doctrines ahead of general elections next month.

In a list of election demands, the groups said the government should declare Malaysia an Islamic-majority nation and reject any attempt to make it a secular state.

The demands were made by the Defenders of Islam, a loose coalition of about 100 mostly conservative Islamic organizations representing students, professionals and others.

Yusri Mohamad, president of the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia, which leads the coalition, said recent racial and religious tensions stemmed from efforts by certain groups to challenge Islam's role in the multiracial country.

"We want to remind all Malaysians to preserve and maintain the status quo. The formula may not be perfect but it has worked reasonably well. It is acceptable and sustainable," he said.

The ruling National Front coalition, which has governed Malaysia since 1957, is led by the United Malays National Organization, which draws support from Malay Muslims and espouses a generally moderate form of Islam.

About 60 percent of Malaysia's 27 million people are ethnic Malay Muslims. The rest are Christians, Buddhists and Hindus from the Chinese and Indian communities.

The Islamic groups' demands follow a campaign by Malaysian churches urging Christians to choose candidates in the March 8 polls who champion religious freedom.

There are growing concerns among religious minorities that their rights are being eroded by a rise in Islamic fervor, which many blame on overzealous Muslim bureaucrats in Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's government.

The fears have been fueled by a recent government ban on the word "Allah" in Malay-language Christian literature, the demolition of Hindu temples, and court judgments favoring Muslims in disputes with non-Muslims.

Yusri said the Islamic demands, which will be distributed to all candidates and political parties, were aimed at highlighting Muslim needs, not countering the Christian campaign.

The groups' statement called for asserting "the significant role of Islam in the state."

It also called for the power of Islamic Shariah courts to be strengthened and new laws to block the propagation of other religions among Muslims, especially in states with large minority populations.

The groups sought more Islamic studies in schools, increased scholarships for Muslims and the implementation of Islamic practices, such as prayers during school assemblies. They also said television stations should ban Western entertainment programs such as reality shows and promote Islamic programming.

Malaysian Churches Campaign For Religious Freedom In Elections

The Associated PressPublished: February 18, 2008

Malaysia's churches are wading cautiously into politics by urging Christians to vote for candidates in next month's general elections who champion religious freedom in the Muslim-majority society.

The call illustrates growing concern among religious minorities who feel their rights are being eroded by a rise in Islamic fervor, which many blame on overzealous Muslim bureaucrats in Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's government.

Churches began handing out brochures last weekend urging Christians to examine the platforms and records of political parties on "freedom of religion, conscience and speech" before casting their ballots in March 8 national elections.

"We want to hold every politician accountable," Hermen Shastri, executive secretary of the Christian Federation of Malaysia, said Monday. "Many people may not vote for representatives who won't speak up" for religious rights, he said. The federation includes the Protestant Christian Council of Malaysia, Roman Catholics and the National Evangelical Fellowship.

Although some churches have made similar calls in the past, many Christians are particularly concerned about the outcome of these elections because of what they regard as "the trend of Islamization and how that is affecting other religious communities," Shastri said.


He stressed that churches remain nonpartisan, and that the campaign is not an endorsement of secular opposition parties, which accuse the government of allowing religious discrimination to strain decades of multiethnic harmony.

About 60 percent of Malaysia's 27 million people are ethnic Malay Muslims. The rest are mainly Christians, Buddhists and Hindus from the ethnic Chinese and Indian communities.

The Christian federation is working with its Buddhist and Hindu counterparts, which may distribute similar pamphlets at temples, Shastri said.

Minorities have been upset by recent developments such as a government ban on the word "Allah" in Malay-language Christian literature, the demolition of Hindu temples and court judgments favoring Muslims in disputes with non-Muslims.

Prime Minister Abdullah assured minorities Sunday he was "honest and fair" with all religions.

"Of course, there are minor misunderstandings," Abdullah said a speech to Chinese voters. "What is important is that we are willing to talk and solve our problems together."

Teresa Kok, a lawmaker representing the opposition Democratic Action Party, said the church initiative "will definitely help to create some political awareness," but may not swing large amounts of support to the opposition.

Many Christians, especially in urban, middle-class populations, traditionally support Abdullah's National Front coalition because they "don't want to rock the boat," Kok said.

The National Front consists of 14 parties representing various ethnic groups. The coalition, which has governed since 1957, is expected to easily retain power but with a lower parliamentary majority because of religious tensions and complaints over inflation, crime and corruption.

Is Allah A Name Or A Word? These Dumb UMNO Effers Article 2

By Farish A. Noor

At the time of writing this, I am in Cairo in the company of my Egyptian friends who are Muslims, Catholics and Copts. Eid has passed and I attended several dinners and celebrations where Muslims and Copts celebrated together, visiting each others' homes and ate til we could not eat any further.

What is worse, Christmas is upon us and so once again Muslims, Catholics and Copts will be heading for the communal table for the communal feast and there will be much licking of chops, munching of bread, gobbling of sweet deserts and drinking for everyone. It is all simply too pleasant to believe, yet it is real and this is what life is like for many in Cairo, the 'Mother of civilisation' and home to more than twenty million Egyptians from all walks of life.

What is most striking to the outside observer like me - though rather banal for the Egyptians themselves - is the fact that in all these celebrations ranging from Eid for the Muslims to Christmas for the Catholics and Copts the word 'Allah' is used to denote that supreme and singular divinity, God.

Catholics and Copts alike exclaim 'Masha-allah', 'Wallahi', 'ya-Rabbi', 'Wallah-u allam', and of course 'Allahuakbar' day in, day out, everywhere they go. The coptic taxi driver blares out 'By Allah, cant you see where you are parking??" as he dodges the obstable ahead. The Catholic shopkeeper bemoans "Ya Allah, ya Allah! You can only offer me two pounds for the scarf? Wallahi, my mother would die if she heard that! Ya-Rabbi, ya-Rabbi!"

Yet in Malaysia at the moment yet another non-issue has been brewed to a scandal for no reason: The Malaysian Catholic Herald, a publication by and for Catholics in the country, has been told that it can no longer publish its Malaysian language edition if it continues to use the word "Allah" to mean God. Worse still, the country's Deputy Internal Security Minister Johari Baharum recently stated that "Only Muslims can use the word Allah" ostensibly on the grounds that "Allah" is a Muslim word. The mind boggles at the confounding logic of such a non-argument, which speaks volumes about the individual's own ignorance of Muslim culture, history and the fundamental tenets of Islam itself.

For a start, the word 'Allah' predates the revelation to the Prophet Muhammad and goes way back to the pre-Islamic era. Christians had been using the word long before there were any Muslims, in fact. Furthermore the word is Arabic, and is thus common to all the peoples, cultures and societies where Arabic - in all its dialects - is spoken, and is understood by millions of Arabic speakers to mean God, and little else.

One could also add that as "Allah" is an Arabic word it therefore has more to do with the development and evolution of Arabic language and culture, and less to do with Islam. It is hard to understand how any religion can have a language to call its own, for languages emerge from a societal context and not a belief system. If one were to abide by the skewered logic of the Minister concerned, then presumably the language of Christianity (if it had one) would be Aramaic, or perhaps Latin.

The Minister's remark not only demonstrated his shallow understanding of Muslim culture and the clear distinction between Arab culture and Muslim theology, but it also demonstrated his own lack of understanding of the history of the Malays, who, like many non-Arabs, only converted to Islam much later from the 13th century onwards. Among the earliest pieces of evidence to indicate Islam's arrival to the Malay archipelago are the stone inscriptions found in Malay states like Pahang where the idea of God is described in the sanskrit words 'Dewata Mulia Raya'. As no Malay spoke or even understood Arabic then, it was natural for the earliest Malay-Muslims to continue using the Sanskrit-inspired language they spoke then. Surely this does not make them lesser Muslims as a result?

The ruckus that has resulted thanks to the threat not to allow the publication of the Malaysian language edition of the Christian Herald therefore forces observers to ask the simple question: Why has this issue erupted all of a sudden, when the word Allah was used for so long with narry a protest in sight? At a time when the Malaysian government is already getting flak as a result of the protests by Malaysian Hindus who insist that they remain at the bottom of the economic ladder despite fifty years of independence, now it would appear as if the Malaysian government cannot get enough bad publicity.

The administration of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi came to power on the promise that it would promote its own brand of moderate Islam that was pluralist and respectful of other cultures and religions. But time and again the Malaysian public - first Hindus and now Christians - have felt necessary to protest over what they regard as unfair, biased treatment and the furthering of an exclusive brand of Islam that is communitarian and divisive. The latest fiasco over the non-issue that is the name of God would suggest that Prime Minister's Badawi's grand vision of a moderate Islam has hit the rocks, and is now floundering. Just how the ministers and elite of this government is to regain their course is open to question, but what is clear is that some Ministers should get their basic knowledge of their own religion in order first.

Dr. Farish A. Noor is a Malaysian political scientist and historian based at the Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin; and one of the founders of the www.othermalaysia.org research site.

Is Allah A Name Or A Word? These Dumb UMNO Effers

Asia Sentinel

On the eve of the Christmas holidays, Malaysia’s authorities mistakenly decide Allah’s name isn’t God’s

The Malaysian authorities’ refusal to renew the publication of the weekly Catholic newspaper The Herald unless it stops using the word Allah as the word for God in the Malay language is a demonstration of racism and linguistic ignorance, not religious purity.

According to Deputy Internal Security Minister Johari Baharum, “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,” he was reported as saying. “We cannot allow this use of ‘Allah’ in non-Muslim publications, nobody except Muslims. The word ‘Allah’ is published by the Catholics. It’s not right.”

But what Johari revealed was his ignorance of his own professed religion, of the Arabic language in which the Koran is written, and of the history and culture of Muslims throughout most of the world. God and Allah mean the same in different languages.

Muslims, like Christians do not worship a person called Allah. They worship a single supreme being which the Arabic language denotes as Allah. The very word Allah derives from the singular nature of the monotheistic deity. In the Arab world Allah has always been used by Christians (a significant minority) and Jews (a smaller but important minority until the creation of Israel) to denote the one God which the religions share. Ditto in Farsi.

In Indonesia 100 million Muslims have no problem with their Christian brothers using Allah to denote the supreme being in Bahasa Indonesia, the Indonesian version of the Malay language. So why should a United Malays National Organisation politician unless for some reason to ramp up Malay prejudice against non-Muslims and reinforce the notion that all Malays are and always will be Muslims?

Likewise among the (Roman) Catholics, the word in Latin (lingua franca of the Roman church) for God is Deus and is used without discrimination between Christians Muslims and Jews.

The Johari version of the world displays the same kind of ignorance as found among Christian fundamentalists in the United States and elsewhere who insist on saying that Muslims worship Allah rather than the God (an English word) that the two religions share. An English Koran uses the words “In the name of God the compassionate and merciful,” not “In the name of Allah the compassionate and merciful.”

If Malaysian Malays are confused about the distinction between Islam and Christianity because they use the same word to describe the one God, clearly there is a lot wrong with the educational system. But if a minister is so ignorant, how can the rakyat – Malaysia’s citizenry - be expected to know better?

For Muslims, Jesus was a prophet of Islam. For Johari on the eve of the birthday of Jesus to make this astonishing decision is an insult to his own religion as well as to the Christian one from which Islam sprang.