The Herald has provided prominent coverage of recent demonstrations and other human rights issues even as the mainstream media abdicate their responsibility. Four years ago, Christian Malaysians were overjoyed when Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi sent Christmas greetings to their various churches and congregations. It was an astute gesture that touched many Christians, and many of them voted in droves for the BN in the 2004 general election How times have changed.
Now, as we observe Christmas 2007, the mood in many churches is decidedly sombre. The Catholic Church has not yet received its new publication permit for its weekly Herald newspaper for the coming year, ostensibly because of its use of the term Allah to refer to God in its Malay-language section. As a columnist for The Herald, I am deeply disappointed. The Herald use of the term Allah is nothing new; it has been using the word for years in its Bahasa Malaysia section. See the Aliran statement here. In fact, Christian Arabs of today have no other word for God than Allah ; ( Wikipedia). So why has this become an issue now? This is similar to the issue of crucifixes in mission schools. In many mission schools, the crucifixes have long been taken down as local heads replaced the Christian La Salle brothers. So why did BN MPs resurrect this issue in Parliament recently?
I suspect it has something to do with playing the old game of divide-and-rule and trying to pit one group against the other to shore up support from their own constituencies. Especially at a time when the BN has to deal with a host of genuine grievances that threatens to erode support for the ruling coalition. If there is one thing the BN fears more than anything else, it is the coming together of all the different ethnic groups in the country to demand justice.
In recent weeks, we have seen Malaysians of all ethnic groups demonstrating for justice and accountability. The BN's PR and attempts at crisis management have been disastrous: it has succeeded in alienating, in turn, workers demanding a minimum wage, the lawyers, civil society groups clamouring for electoral reforms (backed mainly by Malays), Indian Malaysians and now, the Christians. What better time, from the BN’s point view, to try and prevent all these Malaysians from coming together. So the coalition raises divisive issues. And it is so ironic that it is using a widely accepted term for God to divide His people.
Malaysians, don't fall for this! Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans and others are our sisters and brothers. Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Taoists and others share noble universal spiritual values such as love, justice, renunciation and compassion for the poor and oppressed.
To use the term Allah (God) to divide groups takes the cake. Correct me if I am wrong: don't Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet of Allah? The Bible says that when Jesus was suffering in anguish on the cross, he cried out: Eli Eli, lama sabachthani? (My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Now, I ask you, what does Eli (or Eloi) sound like? Continue to Anil Netto's blog......... |
