THOU SHALL NOT LEAK IN VAIN

 Howl Pillai

All you guys out there, who have been castigated in the past by your wife, spouse,lover,boss or friend for indulging in ‘pointless beer talk’,’endless tepi jalan discussions’ or ‘baseless cakap kedai kopi sessions’ - TAKE HEART !

It appears that over the years and for a very long time now, you (yes, humble you and that includes me!) have actually been talking our heads off  like diplomats, politicians and world leaders while having our beers in various states of inebriation. Would you believe that ? We actually were ! Surely we must arrive at this conclusion on the basis of the recent release of secret diplomatic cables by the oddly appropriate and biblical sounding Revelations: Wikileaks. What is even more clear is that bow ties and pin stripped suites notwithstanding, diplomats, politicians, world leaders and even that odd category with a global membership of one, Minister Mentor express ill-informed, biased, nonsensical and self-serving opinions in a language that is patently mean, vicious, ungracious, uncouth and arrogant. It begs the question :If they cannot outdo us at the local long bar, can we entrust this crass lot with the task of making the world a better place ?

So we now walk with a jaunt, feeling both exonerated and exuberant.  Indeed we are a better lot   than this bunch of goons! They have exhibited neither fairness nor fairplay. Or shown wit and wisdom. On the other hand we vouch unabashedly that our beer talk has exceeded by far the quality and contents of the wikileaked diplomatic cables in relation to subject matter, topicality,analysis, arguments for and against, levelheadedness, overall quality of discussion  and for wit and wisdom as well ! We have not had the advantage of travel at the State’s expense. But we have every faith that our view of the world from the vantage point of the long bar is unsurpassed. Ask the barman, if you will !

And yet there is also disappointment. Sadness even. What we deride most as revealed in these leaks is the lack of goodwill, cheer and entertainment. A diplomat said this of President Theodor Roosevelt some one hundred years ago :”If he could, he would want to be the bridegroom at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral “. At least this is entertaining. Compare this with crap that “so and so is tubby tucker and he likes prancing around stadiums”  or words to this effect. This is not our idea of a leader who is composed or compos mentis. There are still many such clowns around seemingly leading the world to a better place. It therefore should not surprise anyone if the next release of wikileaks includes the following samplers:

“At least I am not simian looking “

(Kim Jong-Il on Lee kuan Yew)                                              

“Julia in profile looks like a stork ready to strike for fish in murky waters”

(Kevin Rudd on Julia Gillard)

“Bapa borek, anak rintek”

(Najib on Hsien Loong)

“The bigger the father the lesser the son. I know”

(Hsien Loong on Najib)

“I think he is a Chinaman in ill-fitting and tight Thai costume”

(Goh Chok Tong on Takshin Shinawatra)

“In his youth he was shown the back door in Singapore. He has spent a lifetime now showing others the front door”

(Lee Kuan Yew on Mahathir)

“Well, he had ambitions of being PM of Malaysia. He is still upset that he is only the Mayor of a city”

(Mahathir on Lee Kuan Yew )

“Why me ? I am only a small fish. What about the big sharks?”

(Toyo on being charged)

“This place ain’t big enough for two sharks”

(Najib on Toyo’s complaint)

“ Whatever happens don’t let the Chinese buy the Ascot. We don’t want them putting up signs that say ‘ Ings And Dogs Not Allowed’

(Cameron on China)

All said we will give away a million beers to know what else politicians say  privately and in good taste about their electorate and fellow citizens. What do they say about their political bedfellows? What does the current Prime Minister or President think of his predecessor ? Does Berlusconi brainstorm the state of the Italian economy in brothels? There are , you will easily notice a thousand reasons to drink beer with friends and indulge in diplomatic talk  and take leaks all night. The next time someone who has gone to high places makes a point in high falutin language, just tell them to cut out the crap and give it to you in straight forward diplomatic cables language ala wikileaks. As for me: “Barman, one more beer for me. I feel a great release “

EGYPT - A SUCCESSFULL REVOLUTION?

Image via Wikipedia

Its time for Egyptians to take stock, they have to ask themselves if this was a successful revolution?

Was getting rid of Mubarak the be all and the end all of the revolution?

If it was it was a very shallow objective, the question is now who succeeds Mubarak?

From the look of events that led to the downfall of Mubarak its going to be another General, remember the army indicated it was breaking ranks with him the day before, when the Army's supremem council met without Mubarak. That was the writing on the wall and everyone was so expectant that he would resign, instead he came out and reiterated that he would remain till September. the people wanted him out who succeeded did not really matter till now.

It is quite clear that the Army decided that Mubarak had to go, and he actually has handed power to the military, so who is going to be President and supreme leader now.

In every revolution it is the revolutionaries that becomes its first victims and, the Egyptian revolution will be no exception. Egypt has loss tremendous amounts of money as a result of this revolution, so who is going to get them back on their feet?

Iran? It does not have that kind of funds, moreover they are Shites and Egyptians are mainly Sunni. Then  will it be China, well China may,or  will it be the USA, yes maybe if the Army continues with its current foreign policy the USA may.

Like I said earlier  the Revolutionary will become the victim of the revolution, it has happened the world over, beginning from the French Revolution right to this day. The Philippines is a classic present day example, and Egypt will be no different.

Image via Wikipedia

Maximilien Marie Isidore de Robespierre, know this name? If  not I guess you had better look it up, and Egypt had better be vary, for from this new found freedom may arise another Robespierre. The equivalent of Robespierre has been seen in other revolutions that followed, there was Madam Chiang Jin the wife of Mao Tze Dong of China and her infamous "gang of four,"  there was Stalin in Russia, and if you have forgotten names like Pol Pot and Hun Sen, and in Egypt there will be no difference.

Why is it necessary for Egypt to have a Robespierre type of personality?

Egypt is made up of peoples with different ideologies, the secular Egyptians, there there are the Coptics, the mooderate Muslim, the Shite and the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Brotherhood is bent on a singular idea of how and where Egypt should head for now, very much like Communists of  The Soviet Union and China, they will face pockets of resistance from the groups mentioned earlier,the brotherhood is not prepared to share power with anyone who are  of a different ideological realm, and this reign of terror that will engulf Egypt will come from this the Muslim brotherhood.

IT'S A 'HARD ON' ON THE RAKYAT

Howl Pillai

10 February 2011

No people on Earth have experienced hard ons like us Malaysians. After every horrific accident, despicable crime, monumentally embarrassing cock-up or massive scam, there is a public outcry. Then someone in authority - minister, heads of government department, chief minister, state level official, top cop, supremo of excise and customs, immigration chief or city council chairperson jumps to the fore vowing to ‘come down hard on.......’ . Such statements are given much emphasis and coverage in our daily newspapers. As a consequence every Malaysian knows that the operative words in such statements are ‘hard on’ taken together.

Now while no Malaysian will deny that a ‘hard on’ is a good thing they tend to be wary of it. Especially when it announces itself boldly. When confronted with an impending ‘hard on’ the first reaction is to go immediately into lie-low mode. “Lie-low” properly pronounced in Cantonese translates to “coming”. So it all dovetails in quite nicely. We react this way because we know that when persons in authority have a ‘hard on’ something, then someone is going to get screwed. Often a selection process precedes the screwing. And if you find all this screwing painful you can just pay a bribe without moaning and groaning to avoid the ‘hard on’. When the ‘hard on’ is massive, you will find express bus operators, wild life smugglers, illegal loggers, pirated DVD distributors, counterfeiters, drug peddlers, contraband smugglers, brothel operators, sleazy massage parlours womanned by foreigners, bookies, crooked developers, errant contractors, china dolls and even demonstrators without permits all go into lie-low mode until the heat of the ‘hard on’ passes them by. This begs the question: Should we run a country with ‘hard ons’ ?

If ‘hard ons’ are properly managed and monitored, then some good will surely come out of it. For example, it will be good if our ministers and others in authority can sustain their ‘hard ons’. If possible all year around. It is of little use having ‘hard ons’ just before the festive period when half the population is stuck in a balek kampong crawl. It is equally pointless to have a ‘hard on’ after a speeding bus with a driver high on ganja ploughs into a school bus which itself is ferrying students in excess of the permited number, killing 20. We don’t think it right to come down hard on china dolls just before CNY. Surely they are Chinese ! Or to get ‘hard on’ wildlife poachers after 10 species become extinct. Or to get ‘hard on’ rogue elements of the police force after the whole force is corrupt to the core. We don’t want our government to come down ‘hard on’ on corrupt officials after the Treasury is empty. Therefore like everything else, the timing of ‘hard ons’ is important.

We also think it improper to announce a ‘hard on’ to all the world. It is also very unwise. Bad hats and law breakers are perfectly aware that no ‘hard on’ can last forever. Besides they know that there always new things for our ministers and officials to get ‘hard on’ about. Ask the Chief Minister of Sarawak if you will! Reportedly the state is coming down ‘hard on’ illegal gold digging. And whatever else said about Malaysia in the foreign media, the people remain resourceful. They have even figured out how the ‘hard on’ cycle works :- citizens  get excited to the point they are screaming for some kind of action; then minister as if on cue gets ‘hard on’ ; enforcement agencies and authorities are directed to stiffen up their act ; then one law-breaker out of a thousand gets screwed amidst much publicity ; matter goes to court and case is thrown out for lack of , would you believe it, hard evidence! ; things go limp ; the hubbub dies down ; nothing stirs ; normalcy returns to our land until the next ‘hard on’. At times, shamelessly, old ‘hard ons’ are passed off as new ones with changes in government.

We are also not happy about ‘hard ons’ because there is this widely held belief that the government and the MACC are soft on nepotism, cronyism, racism, religious extremism and very high level corruption . We still don’t know how submarines, jet fighters and warships are actually purchased. Surely these are issues they should be ‘hard on’. Malaysians long for sincere and sustainable ‘hard ons’ from those in authority. Above all , for once, we want them to be hard on themselves. Otherwise they should get off !

 

IN A NEUROTIC STATE

 By Howl Murale


I’ll be honest. Of late I have not been well, in my head mostly. Often times I feel confused,  I feel let down,  see no future and  hope hangs by the proverbial thread. 

The only time I feel good is when I feel funny about things and events happening in this country, especially the paradoxes.

The satirical content in almost everything I see and hear in the news keeps me going,  yes,  I must also confess  I have not given my best on the job these past months and years and  Can you blame me ?

I feel listless, my appetite is poor, recently I have been struggling to digest a large corporate disaster, how do you  contend with the fact that a corporate big-wig went overboard without being above board with the Board? 

It eventually gets resolved in my mind as  I figure out  that ‘board’ can refer to a piece of flat wood, and a board translated into Bahasa is a “kayu”. 

Everyone was a kayu and that's why it happened, millions of ringgit gone up in expensive Cuban cigar smoke ! and so amidst events and happenings like this I have taken to frequenting the coffee shops of my neighbourhood  morning, day and night.

I find a measure of comfort sitting down alone pretending to read the papers while sipping  coffee, I must say that pretending to read our papers is an easy thing because it is the same as actually reading it. The national dailies pretend to publish news and as loyal citizens we pretend to read it. But in the nation’s coffee shops it is a different matter. 

You can overhear all the news that is fit to be heard,  so in the coffee shops it is not my eyes that rove and read,it is my ears! I can overhear everything within earshot and a little beyond,  my trained ears are multi-lingual, and what folks say in coffee shops make a lot more sense than the news on TV or the stories in the papers. 

The news on TV, you will agree, is full of ‘ Minister did this and he wants you to do that ‘ or of horrific express bus accidents and other vehicular crashes, sometimes they also report vernacular clashes, it  makes me wonder what will be news if we improve on road safety and all of us become fluent in English,  maybe then, minister’s wives went shopping or Minister got new wife from outside “1 Malaysia “ will be reported as news.  

If you haven't  noticed topics and issues raging in the Internet for days and weeks on end are eventually and agonisingly reported as fresh news in our papers, ah ! Stale internet news is passed off to those without connections as ‘berita hangat’. In my country if you have no connections it is hard to do business and if you are unconnected you remain ignorant, recently an old friend dropped by, we spoke of many things, before parting he said very quietly : “we must continue to read the papers, at least we can keep abreast of our own ignorance”.

In the coffee shops it is a different proposition altogether, people in coffee shops try so hard to steer our country in the right direction, I envy their enthusiasm, I envy their energy and their animation, one hundred percent for effort. 

Me? I am an old man, well beyond ISA age and merely living in a neurotic state, all I can do for King and country is report what they say,  I must report accurately what I overhear in  coffee shops,  I take this new endeavour seriously,  do it in the national interests and that is  important to me personally, you know,  it helps me keep my sanity, after all, in countries that are dysfunctional,real and important issues of the day are not debated or discussed in Parliament, fortunately these important  issues and matters are taken up by this alternative and honest ‘Parliament of the Coffee Shops ‘. 

Three outstanding features of this ‘Parliament’ are equal opportunity, unlimited talk time without Speaker’s biased involvement and any motion can be coffeetabled and debated by all and sundry without having to toe the party line, so what does this ‘Parliament’ say of the most recent open verdict in ‘le affair Teoh Beng Hock’ ? The overheard ‘Parliamentary’ debate  centers on a few core issues.

Let me start by saying there is unanimity in calling this open verdict the “ngor imchee lor” verdict. From the Cantonese tongue it loosely translates in Bahasa to “Gua ta tau “. 

Speaker after speaker in this ‘Parliament’ felt aggrieved that the coroner had resorted to this old Chinese stratagem. Clearly they felt he was feigning ignorance. He was, they felt, playing the ‘Great Pretender’. I distinctly heard one night a voice two tables away from where I was pretending to read the business section of the national daily say :”Ya lor ! If you bump into your wife when you are out shopping with your new girlfriend  then you have no choice but to pretend you cannot recognise your wife lor. So it is important to know who is the po-ten-tial new life partner of the coroner. Is it the Government or the money ? You tell lor.” Then another voice said in agitation: “ This coloner or whatever you call him is part of the Judiciary system. His  job is to determine the cause of death of this poor innocent fella. Instead the coloner or whatever you call him got the cheek to say “ I dunno la “. Like dat I also can be coloner mah !x@$%#&*^"

Then one afternoon I heard a   sober voice: “Peng Yaw, listen la ! a  coroner’s job is to dig and dig and dig until they find the truth ma, whats the problem ? 

Money is not the problem, government where got broke wan, no money take more from us lor, Time aso not the problem, where got  other job  to do ? Coroner is full time job mah,  not like us,  three contracts at the same time you think easy orh ? So maybe this coroner is a che-kai one and dunno how to dig wan. Not the best wan. Maybe he know how to dig but he dunno what he is looking for, Hai Mai ? Yes or not ?”

“No”, said another voice late one evening.” You got it all wrong la. Let me tell you, friends. In this country now everybody behave like he is the government. They say one thing and do another.  Hai Mai?  Also remember my friends, in this country now, the people who are asked to dig are also told to car-ver the hole.If they cannot car-ver the hole, tomorrow they have no job lor, don’t pray pray with the powerful people, you never kena you can talk, you kena then everything and your life can become  kan-toi,. then you know. 


Actually now uh, everybody very clever to car-ver up lor, everybody ! government, business, judiciary,press ,ordinary people, everybody ! What you get by being honest?. You think you get a datuk for that uh, only my stupid dog clever to dig a hole but bodoh to cover up, actually it is my wife’s dog, what  to do, hai mai ? “

“Talk only easy” said yet another late one night.” nyiamah ! the whole bloody thing is just a show la, for your entertainment,you think I dunno wan,  you think we are all soh- chye ah ,they make a show to tell you got rule of law in this country. 


I ask you, this law is for whom ? Come-on brother ! Lets use our head. We are old a-ready. We have seen poor people hang for less evidence than this. I tell you the truth today. I am convinced. To hang a gardener or a mee-soup seller you only need , say thousand ringgit worth of evidence, but when big short minister go to court you need to show one million ringgit worth of evidence lor, how to show ? All the money the bugger keep in Switzerland or Singapore. The poor mee-seller, where he know how to open foreign account, open his mouth and eat, he know la. Nyiamah “

“Of course la”,said another voice one evening. It came from a table full of empty beer bottles being watched over by a few heads. “ What is the use saying you are powerful if you have no connections to help you out when you are in all sorts of trouble ? Hai Mai ? Connection is only part of the story, you see . When a powerful man fall, the force of the fall is so great that it will also harm people close to him. So people in power are practical and clever. They don’t let powerful people fall lor. That also cannot understand ! Why so difficult to think ? 


But Teoh Beng Hock case, the paper and the news all bull shit wan. This Teoh Beng Hock  case is not about falling. Hai Mai ? His case is about pushing not falling ! What nonsen they are talking. The coroner and all the witness talk so much about falling. Nobody ask who push him. Stupid la. Who was with him that can push him ? Hai Mai ? Nyiamah ! 


Coroner himself open his mouth and say Teoh Beng Hock never push himself out of the window. So who is it ? Tell me ? Whoa ! Today myself very angry lor. The coroner dare open his mouth and say open verdict. If I see him, I say to him, please brother at least open your two big eyes if you cannot open your small little heart. Aiyah ! Kek Sum lor ! Lets go back “

Then this morning amidst steaming cups of freshly brewed coffee, loh mai kai and hot pows I overhead an authoritarian voice say purposefully : “What to talk some more. The coroner give new meaning to the term ‘open and shut case’. It is so obvious. He takes seventeen months to not come to the obvious conclusion. He thinks ‘open and shut case’  means he keep it open and  the public shut the case ! Never mind. Election just around the corner. We know what to do. Come, lets go. Work mah !”

I did not even look up from pretending to read this morning’s paper. I continued pretending.

LADIES: FIRST, FAST AND FURIOUS

 Howl Pillai (as he prefers to be known) is a an old friend of mine, we worked together for a while in 1976. When you meet a gem like this howling Pillai its difficult to forget him. Howl  writes and he writes some really classic articles. Here is one I wish to share with you, and he has promised to be featured more often on my blog.

By Howl!!! Pillai

08/02/11

Without a doubt, Malaysia is truly Asia! And so when it comes to a quick survey of First Ladies we will stick to Asia. Better still, South East Asia, in the spirit of ASEAN

Poor Myanmar. She does not have a First Lady. The Head of State is a senior general, whatever that means (perhaps it means general-mentor). Besides the wife of the junta chief does not qualify as one. 

And so on to Thailand. She is a constitutional monarchy with a king, a queen and a naughty crown prince. It will be insulting to Queen Sirikit to call her a First Lady. She is better than that. The wife of the prime minister of Thailand is called the wife of the prime minister. 

Now to Laos. No First Ladies here. And if perchance there were any, they would be as rare as sighting the legendary white elephant. 

Singapore ? They have a President as Head of State, so they should have a First Lady. But when one cannot even remember the president’s name why bother the First Lady ? 

Brunei is a sultanate in the old tradition. Changes in wife are more frequent than changes in government. And then there are favourite queens and consorts. No identifiable First Ladies here. 

Cambodia is a constitutional monarchy in theory but not always in practice. The current King, Siharmony is a bachelor. Well,six down and four to go.....

Indonesia’s Head of State is the President. They have a First Lady. She, like her predecessors, stays in the shadows although they can be a pillar of strength to the President and the nation in  strange ways. 

A prominent Indonesian social historian said this of Tien Suharto, the wife of the late strongman: “When Suharto rose to power, people believed that his wife had the ‘wahyu’, the flaming womb, and whoever united with her would get the ‘wahyu’. After her death the wahyu has gone”. 

Now to Vietnam. The First Lady here is extremely discreet perhaps on account of a notorious predecessor, Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu. She was the wife of the brother of the President of the Republic of Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem, a bachelor and a devout Catholic circa the 1950s and early 60s. 

She and her husband, Ngo Dinh Nhu moved into the Presidential Palace. The government than was a family business- the brothers, wives and relatives of the president held plum ministerial posts and appointments. 

In this milieu, Madame Nhu first passed herself off as First Lady-in -law. Later like our UMNO baru saga, the inconveniently attached words were dropped. Madame Nhu once famously said : “Power is wonderful. And total power is totally wonderful”. 

Later still when the Buddhist monk Thich carried out an act of self-immolation in protest against the persecution of Buddhists, she called his act a “barbeque”.

Next. We can always count on the Philippines to add real colour to anything including this quick survey of ASEAN First Ladies. The current President Aquino is a bachelor but who can ever forget Imelda Marcos. 

The one and only ! Over a span of some 50 years she was ASEAN's longest running soap opera. Compared to her, ‘Desperate Housewives’ is tame stuff indeed. She famously and variously said the following:

“Win or lose, we go shopping after the election”

“I am First Lady by accident. I was not elected by the people but here I am”

“I was born ostentatious. They will list my name in the dictionary. They will use ‘Imeldific’ to mean ostentatious extravagance”

“Never dress down for the poor. They won’t respect you for it. They want their First Ladies to look like a million dollars”

“The Philippines is in a strategic position. It is both East and West, Right and Left, rich and poor. We are neither here nor there”

“They call me corrupt, frivolous. I am not at all privileged. Maybe the only privileged thing is my face. And corrupt ? God ! I would not look like this if I was corrupt. Some ugliness would settle down in my system”

“I am like Robin Hood. I rob the rich to make these projects come alive.....not really rob. It is done with a smile”

And I must end with this exquisite gem:

“If Imelda can make it, everybody else can “

Oh dear ! That's  only nine out of the Asean Ten. 

I have left out Malaysia ! I am getting old and unpatriotic! And forgetful too. Do we really need to talk about our ‘First Lady’ ? We leave that to our free and unfettered press.

 

Egypt a lesson for all Malaysians

Toffeesturn
Feb 5, 11
4:02pm
My predictions were wrong. Hosni Mubarak still clings on to the illegitimate power he wields in Egypt through the power of the gun.

Having said that, one can have nothing but admiration for the Egyptians, a peaceful protest by one million people. We have had the same in our country, with 10,000 people at one of our rallies, peaceful but disrupted by the police.

We were beaten, had chemically-laced water sprayed on us and chased from one corner of Kuala Lumpur to another, but do not forget the Egyptians had that too, till their numbers began to swell on the streets.

The Egyptians threatened for a while yesterday to march to the Presidential Palace, but I think others in the crowd asked them to keep it peaceful for the time being at least. That was about 11pm yesterday - a peaceful crowd exercising their democratic rights.

Imagine Egypt is transparent about the fact that it is not a democracy, and yet today it has allowed its people the right of peaceful demonstrations, and this is only because the people decided enough is enough.

Peaceful demonstrations is a basic human right as basic as the right to breathe, to eat, and if that right is taken away from a person, he is being downgraded to a level below that of a human being, and that is what this government has done to us.

We are supposedly a democracy with free and fair elections, but where they can dabble with the composition of the electoral constituencies, where known opposition constituencies have as much as 50,000 voters and the BN strongholds have as little as 5,000, and sometimes even less. That is our democracy.

In our democracy, the Elections Commission will not listen to the opposition, the speaker of the state assembly declares a seat vacant and the EC decides it will "investigate", which simply means waiting for order from the top. That is our democracy, a kind of crazy democracy.

Corruption is so widespread even the PM's wife can assume official positions although she has not received a single vote for office. She has her own staff and office in Putrajaya, she travels the world speaking to ministers and others, and sometimes making decisions that effect the national purse.

We have multi-billion dollar scandals swept under the carpet and not investigated because those involved are politicians and their cronies.

Children of ministers become millionaires, as though the position of minster automatically makes children of ministers millionaires.

Ling Liong Sik once told us that his 26 -year- old son at that time became a millionaire because he worked hard. This was an insult to ordinary Malaysians who slog day and night and are unable to make even the tiniest fraction of what he had earned by then. Today, that minister is charged, but I am sure he will come out free. Implicating him will open a bag of worms this government is not prepared to do.

The Mahathir boys have come out very rich. Well, I suppose they did a lot of hard work and their father did nothing to help them even in the 1997 financial crisis.

This beloved country of ours is going to the dogs. Only yesterday, I received a message from a Malaysian in Canada, responding to my Chinese New Year weather forecast, she complained how cold it gets there.

Now I am sure you do not want your children to be driven there by hopelessness, so the next time you have the opportunity do something go out there and be counted. Numbers do matter.

We can't just sit on our backsides and hope for change, for us, more so for our children and our childrens children. We owe them at least that much. 

An ancient Latin-Malay Dictionary is the litmus test to allow Christians to use the word “Allah”

Muslims seek to prohibit Christians to refer to the Supreme Deity as 'Allah,' despite its use by Christians for centuries. A Latin-Malay dictionary of 1631 serves as proof.

 This article has been taken from Spero Newz.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

By Speroforum

An ancient Latin-Malay Dictionary, edited by a bureau of the Catholic Church called the Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith in 1631, represents for the worldwide communion in Malaysia “the litmus test” in the question of the use of the term “Allah” for Christians”, explained Father Lawrence Andrew. Father Andrew is a priest in Kuala Lumpur and Director of the Herald Weekly, the Catholic weekly in the diocese of Kuala Lumpur which, just one year ago, was at the centre of a legal battle over the use of the word Allah to refer to God in worship, in the Liturgy and in Christian publications.
The weekly publication and the Church in Malaysia began a legal battle before  the High Court after the pronouncement by the Malaysian Government that Malaysian Christians were prohibited from using the term “Allah” to refer to God.
Allah, said the decree, must remain the prerogative of the Muslim faithful so as not to create confusion. On the other hand, Christians argued that the use was ingrained centuries ago and had never generated conflicts. The High Court ruled in favor of the Church and the verdict issued in January 2010 set off a wave of violence against Christian Churches across the country by radical Muslims.
The Malaysian Government nevertheless filed an appeal and the sentence was suspended: at present, therefore, “we cannot use the word Allah. We wait patiently, but it seems that the new process will take a long time,” notes Father Andrew.
In this situation, the priest sees as a “Godsend from Heaven”, the new publication of the “Dictionarium Malaico-Latin et Latin Malaico”, which came about after a painstaking 11 years of historical research and editing, thanks to the backing and interest of Archbishop Luigi Bressan of Trento, who was the Apostolic Delegate to Malaysia from 1993 to 1999.
The precious original copy of the Dictionary is now in the library of the Pontifical Urban University. In the new, modern edition, Archbishop Bressan wrote a preface to the Dictionary, which is “a historical text and incontrovertible evidence that centuries ago the missionaries worked for cultural and language exchange, and that the Christian community in Malaysia already used the term Allah in 1600,” said Fr. Andrew. “We submit this latest, new evidence to the court, noting that it is historical heritage acquired for the Malay Christian communities,” he adds.
The Malaysian government and some Muslim groups, the priest explained, would like to put aside the issue on a theological level, but “for us there remains the problem of a linguistic nature and and we want to stay in this area.”
At this time, concludes Fr Andrew, “We continue in our peaceful campaign, accompanying this process with prayer, because it gives us the right to pray and turn to God with the name that we have always used, which our fathers have used, and which has never created any problem.”

Uthaya, save the Indians, go for self-immolation

Uthayakumar has to wake up to the reasons for Tamil marginalisation and then see if he is really a champion of the marginalised or is he trying to be the champion of Indian marginalisers, attempting to outdo Samy Vellu and the BN.

Uthaya is no better than Samy Vellu. In the first place he is not in Pakatan so how can he make demands? He is threatening to play spoiler with his racial party, the very kind of politics that Pakatan is trying to get rid off.

I think parties in the HRP mould should be discarded; let them go to BN, or go on their own and let them face the brunt of their own folly.

The problems of the Indian community lie within the community itself, every Samy, Subramaniam, and Uthaya can claim to represent the community, and they come out with numbers of 'supporters', and each of them espouses to champion the "Indian cause."

The funny thing is many of Samy's supporters are Subramaniam's supporters and also Uthaya's supporters too, and to understand this better you have to take a close look at what happened in Kampung Buah Pala. These so-called politicians thrive on the ignorance of the Tamils.

Uthaya demands that the Indians be given the same kind of rights that were accorded to the Malays by the NEP, I say Malay and not bumiputera because if one takes a close look at the native population of this country, the natives (asli) seem to be in worse shape than the Malaysian Indians.

It is not only the Indians who are marginalised, the Senoi, the Jakun, the Negrito, the Dayak, the Iban, the Kadazan and all the other real natives of this country are far more marginalised than the Indians so what is this marginalisation that these champions of the Indian cause are talking about?

I am not saying that there is no marginalisation amongst the Indians, there is, but are they the only ones marginalised?

In the first place will Uthaya show me one constituency where the Indians make a majority? There is none, and knowing this the Tamils should be the last people wanting to play the racial card. This is plain stupid.

Never before in the history of this country have so many Indians turned up as state assemblymen and Parliamentarians than after the last election as members of Pakatan-based parties.

They were chosen on merit not on their race, and they won, and instead of seeing the light here Uthaya decides he will be Samy Vellu's successor in screwing up the Tamils.

I keep saying Tamil, because he cannot expect to represent anyone else other than the Tamils. I have talked about this before, the reasons for Tamil marginalisation, and it is so clear that,  it is the type of Uthaya/Samy politics that is the cause of this.

Uthaya is not keen on a united Malaysia; he can't get one with these kinds of race based demands. He is only bent on demanding and disturbing, I think he needs the MIC and the BN and that is where he should be. Go suck up to them again, let them whip the hell out of his community, because he knows that that is what will happen if he decides to go it alone. To him it looks like a, "never mind as long as I land up with the goodies it is okay," that seems to be his mentality.

If the Tamils can't read the game, blame yourselves and only yourselves. Probably you should not bring them out to be killed and maimed, you should opt for self-immolation, Uthaya.

What is your opinion regarding the issue in Malaysia regarding the use of the word ‘Allah’ in their newspaper?
 What is your opinion regarding the issue in Malaysia regarding the use of the word, 'Allah' in their newspaper?

Imran N Hosein 

No one should ever be prohibited from using this name. Anyone and all of mankind must have the freedom to call upon Allah by His name.

Allah issue in Court of Appeal for too long.

 It's been ages  since the name of God - Allah became an issue in Malaysia.

The Court had ruled in favor of the fact that  Allah was not exclusively for the Muslims, ans so too, did Nik Aziz when he said "Allah is for All."

The Court ruled and the Government got the Catholics to stop, and have since appealed. This appeal which is an urgent issue is taking too long and the Church itself has decided to remain  calm and wait for the decision of this appeal.


I do this because it may noit seem urgent to others but to us who have a duty to protect our rights it is urgent. Its not a matter of tolerance it is our rights that are being trampled here by this government.


The attempts by Syed Hamid the former minister of home affairs  the person who turned this into an issue, and the statements by the present minister of home affairs have been ridiculed by Muslim scholars themselves. There seems to a loud cry from the entire Muslim world that this is a non issue, so why make an issue of it just for political mileage.

This court is taking a bit too long on such an issue, in cases where Anwar Ibrahim makes an appeal it is dispensed with at almost lightening speed, in fact sometimes I tend to think faster, so why the delay here?

Whilst the whole of Malaysia awaits the appeal, I have decided to share the thoughts of other Muslims on this issue. These Muslims come from countries where they are a minority, they do not have radio and TV programmes thrice or five times a day to teach the religion, the do not have as many mosques and yet they do not feel threatened or do not feel they'd get "confused" if others use the word Allah. 

I publish their views here for all to see, I shall publish one letter a day, so that Malaysian Muslims who are confused only, do not get confused.

Please note most of my Muslim friends are not confused, they are more confused with the Government's stand and Najibs's rhetoric over the matter.

Malaysia, Allah, and God

by Sheila Musaji

Back in 2007 when Malaysia The Malaysian Catholic Herald, a publication by and for Catholics in the country, was told that it could no longer use the word “Allah” to mean God because Allah was a “Muslim” term for God, The American Muslim (TAM) published a number of articles about this ridiculous non-issue. 
Backgrounder on the word “God” in Arabic and English, Joachim Martillo http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/allah/ 
Do Malaysian Muslims understand what ‘Allah’ means?, Farish A. Noor http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/do_malaysian_muslims_understand_what_allah_means/
Do Malaysian Muslims understand what ‘Allah’ means? Part 2, Farish A. Noor http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/do_malaysian_muslims_understand_what_allah_means_part_2/
Islamic Marcionism in Malaysia:  Is Allah Equivalent to God?, Joachim Martillo http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/islamic_marcionism_in_malaysia_is_allah_equivalent_to_god/
Just this week, this sad saga has a new chapter - The publisher of the Malaysian Catholic Herald has been told that it cannot challenge the home minister’s prohibition on the use of the word “Allah” in its publication, the High Court heard today.  It is amazing that both Muslim extremists and Islamophobes hold the same beliefs on so many issues including this one.  It seemed likely at that time that the government of Malaysia would be so embarrassed by the world reaction to this ban that the case would be dropped.  It is difficult to believe they do not understand: “And dispute not with the People of the Book but say “We believe in the Revelation which has come down to us and that which came down to you…our God [Allah] and your God [Allah] is One, and it is to Him we bow” (Qur’an, al-Ankabut, 29:46)
The Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) says it supports the Catholic Church’s fight to overturn a government ban on the use of the term ‘Allah’ to describe God in Christian texts.  “I personally believe and PAS as well believe the way forward for a mutually respecting religious relationship, especially in a plural, multi-racial and multicultural society like Malaysia, is not to deny the right of others to use the name of Allah,” Zulfikar Ahmad, a PAS official, said. 
The Malaysia High Court is to issue a final ruling on this Christian ‘Allah’ Case on December 30th.  The government of Malaysia needs to hear from as many American Muslims as possible to let them know that there is no justification for such a ban.  Please send them an email.
Embassy of Malaysia, Washington, D.C.  malwashdc@kln.gov.my 
Malaysian Consulate, NYC malnycg@kln.gov.my
Malaysian Consulate, LA mwla@pacbell.net 
Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the U.N. malnyun@kln.gov.my
UPDATE 12/31/2009
According to the Wall Street Journal the Malaysian high court has struck down the ban.  “The court overturned a three-year-old government ban that prevented the Catholic Church from using the term Allah as a translation for God in its local-language publications. The Arabic word has been used by various faiths in this predominantly Muslim nation for centuries, and the Church argues that it is the only suitable translation for God in the Malay language.”
UPDATE 1/3/2010
According to the Wall Street Journal this battle isn’t over yet.  “Government spokesman Tengku Sharifuddin Tengku Ahmad said Sunday the government will file an appeal against the ruling. Among other things, the verdict potentially upholds the constitutional right of the Church’s Herald newspaper to refer to Jesus Christ as the son of Allah—something that might inflame many Muslims here and set back Prime Minister Najib Razak’s efforts to bring Malaysia’s different religious groups closer together.”

UPDATE 1/5/2010
ISNA has now issued a statement on this issue:

ISNA Commends Malaysian Court Ruling that Affirms Religious Freedom of Christians
(Plainfield, IN – January 4, 2010) The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) commends the landmark ruling by a Malaysian Court on December 31, 2009, that affirms the religious freedom of Malaysian Christians. The ruling asserts that Christians have the right to use the word “Allah” to translate “God” into Bahasa Melayu, the Malaysian language. It strikes down a government ban that was placed in 2007 on the use of the term in Christian literature.
The opponents of the use of the word Allah in reference to God have argued that the term “God” is usually translated by Malaysians who follow faiths other than Islam as “Tuhan” in Bahasa Melayu, not “Allah.” They insist that “Allah” should only be used to refer to God in Islam. This argument is contrary to both Islamic understanding and practice.
The Qur’an is quite explicit that Muslims worship the same God recognized by Christians. The Qur’an commands Muslims to declare that the God they worship and the one worshiped by the followers of revealed books, including Christians, is one:  “… and say: We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you, and our God and your God is One, and to Him do we submit.” (Qur’an 29:46)
With regards to actual and historical practices, Christian Arabs have been using the word “Allah” to refer to God in their religious sources since the inception of Islam, and have never been challenged by private Muslims or Muslim governments on this ground. Islamic law is clear that followers of the Christian faith have the right to practice their religion according to their own religious teachings.
We call on the Malaysian government to uphold the religious freedom of Christians and to let the court ruling stand. We also urge Muslim NGOs to respect Islamic teachings and long-held Islamic traditions, and to withdraw their opposition to the use of the word “Allah” by their Christian compatriots.

UPDATE January 9, 2010
It is tragic that this story only gets worse.  According to the AFP:  “Two Malaysian churches have been attacked, leaving one badly damaged, in an escalating dispute over the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims.  ...  The ground floor of the three-storey Metro Tabernacle church, part of the Assemblies of God movement, was destroyed in the attack.  ...  Several hours later, the Catholic Church of the Assumption in Kuala Lumpur’s southwest was targeted, parish priest Philip Muthu said.”  Reuters is now reporting that four churches have been attacked.  The PAS Islamic Party has condemned the attacks.  I pray that they go beyond just condemning, and that the perpetrators of these crimes are prosecuted, hat Muslims help the victims to rebuild, and that the Muslim leadership in Malaysia works hard to educate people on the meaning of Allah, and of Islam.  If there are Muslims in Malaysia who do understand Islam, they should be protecting every church in the country.  Such actions are crimes against fellow human beings, against fellow citizens, and against Islam.  This is hirabah and terrorism.
UPDATE January 10, 2010
It has now been reported that “Eight churches have been attacked over three days amid a dispute over the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims, sparking fresh political instability that is denting Malaysia’s image as a moderate and stable Muslim-majority nation.”
UPDATE January 11, 2010
Anwar Ibrahim has issued a Statement on Malaysian Church Bombings http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/statement_on_malaysian_church_bombings/0017840
Marina binti Mahathir, who is the daughter and eldest child of the 4th Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Mahathir Mohammad, has a petition, hosted by http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Msia0801/, that now has more than 600 signatures.  (Note:  only Malaysian citizens can sign.) 
UPDATE January 12, 2010
There are now nine churches that have been attacked http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/world/asia/12malaysia.html
CAIR Establishes Spirit of Islam Fund to Help Rebuild Malaysian Churches http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/cair_establishes_spirit_of_islam_fund_to_help_rebuild_malaysian_churches/0017843 

— IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED:
Demonstrate your desire to reclaim Islamic values and to promote the true spirit of Islam by protecting all houses of worship.
Go to http://www.cair.com to donate securely to the “CAIR Spirit of Islam Fund.” One hundred percent of the donations will be turned over to the Malaysian embassy for use in repairing the churches.
Checks may be made payable to “CAIR” and mailed to:  CAIR Spirit of Islam Fund, 453 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, D.C. 20003
(Put “Spirit of Islam Fund” in the memo area of the check.)

UPDATE January 14, 2009
Muslim groups in Malaysia are offering their help to prevent any further attacks on Christian places of worship amid a spree of attacks on churches in the multi-ethnic, Muslim-majority Asian country, The Star reported on Sunday, January 10.  http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1262372217702&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout#ixzz0cbJeDsYZ
SEE ALSO:
The Allah-God controversy in Malaysia, Eric Munir Winkel http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/the_allah_god_controversy_in_malaysia/
CAIR Establishes Spirit of Islam Fund to Help Rebuild Malaysian Churches http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/cair_establishes_spirit_of_islam_fund_to_help_rebuild_malaysian_churches/0017843
Can Allah Be Monopolised By Any Community?, Asghar Ali Engineer http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/can_allah_be_monopolised_by_any_community/0017853 
Church Bombings in Malaysia:  The Politics Behind the Dilemma, Dr. Robert D. Crane http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/church_bombings_in_malaysia_the_politics_behind_the_dilemma/0017842
Combating Muslim Intolerance, John L. Esposito http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-l-esposito/combating-muslim-intolera_b_417319.html
Malaysia, Allah, and God, Sheila Musaji http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/malaysia_allah_and_god/
Malaysia, Allah, and God, Part II, Dr. Robert D. Crane http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/malaysia_allah_and_god_part_ii/
Malaysia Catholics allowed to call God ‘Allah’ again. Why the fuss?  http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2010/0104/Malaysia-Catholics-allowed-to-call-God-Allah-again.-Why-the-fuss 
Malaysia: Government Appeals Ruling on ‘Allah’ Use http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/05/world/asia/05briefs-Malaysia.html
North American Muslims Determined to Counter Violence and Terrorism, Sheila Musaji http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/north_american_muslims_determined_to_counter_violence_and_terrorism/0017836 
Protecting Houses of Worship a Duty for Muslims, Sheila Musaji http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/protecting_houses_of_worship_a_duty_for_muslims/0017844
Statement on Malaysian Church Bombings, Anwar Ibrahim http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/statement_on_malaysian_church_bombings/0017840
Zaid calls for inter-faith council in wake of church attacks http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/49169-zaid-calls-for-inter-faith-council-in-wake-of-church-attacks-
Our Responses to Extremism Section has the following listing on incidents in Malaysia: — Malaysian judge ordering Christian paper to stop referring to God as Allah - [1] (Ali Eteraz) - [2] (Farish A. Noor), [3][4] (Eric Winkel), [5] (Dr. Robert Crane)  — Malaysian Bible confiscation incident [1]1] (Farish A. Noor). — Malaysian fatwa against Yoga [1],  [2] (Farish Noor).  — Malaysian sentencing of Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarnor to a fine and lashes for drinking beer [1] (Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf), [ 2] (Farish Noor) 3] (Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf) — Malaysian church bombings 1 (Anwar Ibrahim)  — Malaysian Muslim ‘cow head’ demonstration against Hindu Temple [1] condemned by Malaysian lawmakers,  [2] 
  (Sheila Musaji), (Farish A. Noor). — Malaysian decision to enforce Shariah punishments on non-Muslims also who are involved with mixing of the sexes with Muslims