1malaysia crap!! – superiority of islam showing!

UPDATED NOV 14

what kind of crap is this?? first they said no permit, now they said herald will get its permit. it was all a misunderstanding/mistake. expect me to believe?? very stupid reason they gave too!! the payment for renewal was too early! and they had to refund the payment! they were only refunding the payment, not rejecting permit for herald. expect me to believe that?? methink they really want to cancel herald’s permit… and they did… but they did not expect the reaction from so many people, therefore they back-tracked and put on some excuses that there was some misunderstanding and they never intend to cancel the permit. crap!!

ORIGINAL POST

what the hell!!! why all of a sudden, the government cancel the permit of the herald? so a christian publication is not allowed? is this najib’s 1malaysia at work?? even if a christian (or for that matter any non muslim) publication is allowed, there are restrictions here and there. why?? because there is 2malaysia, not 1malaysia! 2malaysia – 1 for umno/muslim and 1 for non umno/non muslim.  :mad

all this while, while the ‘allah’ case is pending in court, herald has not been using the word ‘allah’, so why all of a sudden cancel herald’s permit for next year? well, even if herald does use the word ‘allah’, what’s wrong with it? i had blog so many times already about the use of allah and mentioned so many times already how ‘allah’ does not belongs exclusively to the malaysian muslim. the world will be laughing at us to hear that malaysia has copyrighted ‘allah’ for muslim’ use only!! why should only islam use ‘allah’?? because islam wants to be superior!! it’s ketuanan islam at work!!

of course let’s not talk about the damn silly reason they (govt.)  gave – that muslim will be confused on reading the word ‘allah’ in a christian publication.  they have no faith in their own muslim? they are embarrassing their own muslim!! oops. sorry i said i do not want to talk about it but i talked about it in the process of not talking about it. 😛

luckily i noticed that MCA had came out to defend herald. from malaysiakini (full article at the end of my post):

In an immediate reaction, MCA spokesperson Gan Ping Sieu described the ban as “repulsive and unreasonable”.

“MCA strongly urges the Home Ministry to reconsider the retraction of The Herald’s printing permit. By denying The Herald’s permit renewal, the Home Ministry could be misconstrued as acting punitively against the religious publication’s suit against the government on the usage restriction of the ‘Allah’ terminology.”

He added that the move would destroy the goodwill between religious bodies and the government.

“The 1Malaysia concept of mutual respect and inclusivity should be upheld by government departments.”

yeah, by denying the herald’s permit, the govt. is not only being punitive but is infringing on our (christians) rights! why are we not allowed to have our publication? so mad!! :mad

mad! mad! mad! when we are not allowed to use ‘allah’!!  :mad

mad! mad! mad! when now suddenly the permit for next year is cancel!  :evil

i’m very mad because i had been contributing articles to the herald a lot these days.  no, i’m not a staff of the herald but  i’m consider a stringer for herald. that’s why you see, i have the herald press tag (picture).  if there’s no herald, whatever will happen to all the reports i’m making for events/activities of the church? if there’s no herald, where do i get extra pocket money? if there’s no herald, how do catholics keep informed of not only activities but of their faith? herald is here to keep us informed and to form us (to grow in faith)!

i notice that malaysiakini mentioned about MCA speaking up but the malaysian insider didn‘t. whereas in the malahysian insider, it was mentioned about the editor of the herald enlisted the help of datuk michael chong,  a special officer to the home minister  and a church-going catholic, to clear the confusing chain of events but malaysiakini didnt mentioned that. hmm… different reporting.

coming back to the word ‘allah’, in the latest issue of the herald (15 nov), under the ‘letters to the editor’ column, is this  letter:

‘allah’ used by christians long time before advent of islam.

dear editor

i am a christian from the middle east and i would like to comment on the issue of the 15,000 bibled detained because they contain the word ‘allah’.

the word ‘allah’ or ‘allah’ has the same meaning in other languages as: god, dieu (french) etc. but my point is: we, the christians in the middle east have been using the word ‘allah’ in our arabic language before even the rise of islam 1400 years back, and we’ve been around since lord jesus’ period.

mattar rabie
(via email)

i think i would not want to continue writing anymore because the more i write, the more frustrated i get. i had already also blog so many times about the allah issue, so better don’t do it now.  please do click on ‘read the rest of the entry’ to read the article from malaysiakini (that is if you are not a subsriber of malaysiakini)

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Malaysiakini
Nov 12, 09, 5.37pm

The Herald loses permit amid ‘Allah’ row.

Weekly Catholic newspaper The Herald has lost its publishing permit for next year amid a long-running dispute over its use of the word “Allah”.The loss of The Herald’s permit comes as it prepares for a High Court hearing on Dec 14 in a legal battle between the Catholic Church and the authorities over the use of the world “Allah” in the paper’s Malay-language section.

The government has argued that the word “Allah” should be used only by Muslims, who dominate the population of Malaysia.

“It is very confusing. One letter in August said we have the licence to print (in 2010) and the next thing is we receive a letter in September saying the permit is not approved. Something is amiss,” The Herald’s editor, Father Lawrence Andrew, told AFP.

Father Lawrence (left) said the Home Ministry cancelled the new permit without any reason.

The Roman Catholic Church has waged a two-year legal battle with Malaysian authorities over the use of the word “Allah”.

The priest said he had met with Home Ministry officials last month to resolve the issue but declined to elaborate.

Home Ministry officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

The Herald newspaper, circulated among the country’s 850,000 Catholics, nearly lost its publishing licence last year for using the disputed word.

Asked if The Herald would be available in January 2010, he said: “I hope it will be there.”

The newspaper is printed in four languages and has a circulation of 14,000 copies a week.

Strings of religious disputes

The row is among a string of religious disputes that have erupted in recent years, straining relations between Muslim Malays and minority ethnic Chinese and Indians who fear the country is being “Islamised”.

Religion and language are sensitive issues in multiracial Malaysia, which experienced deadly race riots in 1969.

About 60 percent of the nation’s 27 million people are ethnic Malay Muslims.

The rest of the population includes indigenous tribes as well as ethnic Chinese and Indians – practising Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism, among others.

More than half of Malaysia’s Catholics are from indigenous groups, most of whom live on the Borneo island states and who mainly speak Malay.

In an immediate reaction, MCA spokesperson Gan Ping Sieu described the ban as “repulsive and unreasonable”.

“MCA strongly urges the Home Ministry to reconsider the retraction of The Herald’s printing permit. By denying The Herald’s permit renewal, the Home Ministry could be misconstrued as acting punitively against the religious publication’s suit against the government on the usage restriction of the ‘Allah’ terminology.”

He added that the move would destroy the goodwill between religious bodies and the government.

“The 1Malaysia concept of mutual respect and inclusivity should be upheld by government departments.”