PERAK BY-ELECTION SOON?

The word out is that by-elections in Perak maybe held after the CNY holidays.

It seems that the Federal Court delay in delivering the judgment, on Nizar’s position as the lawful MB of Perak, is to allow UMNO /BN to strengthen their position in Perak. With UMNO/BN confident that the Malays have run back into its arm, it is said that judgment will be handed out in favor of Nizar.

As a “gentlemanly gesture”, Zamry maybe calling for dissolution of Perak DUN before the judgment is delivered.

It is said that the current hype on ketuanan Melayu and Kalimah Allah is very much designed to prepare the ground for the eventual by-elections in Perak. If true, they are using the same old trick-the fear factor (race and religion in this case). Desperate times call for desperate measures?

As if only UMNO can protect the rights of the Malays and Muslims? Let’s not forget that there was life before UMNO and there will be life after UMNO.

I hope that the people of Perak are smart enough not to fall for the same old trick…

KALIMAH ALLAH

There are many views on this hot issue. The reality is that the Arabs have been using Allah to describe the One God, the Supreme Being. This is true for both Arab Muslims and Arab Christians.In East Malaysia, they have been using this even before Merdeka.

But Allah is the ONE God for all mankind. Not one of many Gods. So, if we use Allah to describe the One God, then it is perfectly OK. So in this context, people of the Scriptures who believe in ONE God, are united in that they believe in one God.

In Malaysia, there is another name for GOD and that is Tuhan. In my view, those who believe in more than one God should refer to God as Tuhan and not Allah. Because ALLAH is ONE GOD FOR ALL MANKIND. Unless of course, they believe in One God for all mankind and in which case, they are partly a Muslim already....( two basic beliefs -belief in One God and belief that Mohammad is a prophet of God).

The above is my personal view and I stand to be corrected.

SEE MALAYSIAKINI REPORT BELOW ON HERALD MSIA (a Catholic Church publication):

Malaysiakini:What exactly did the High Court declare?

Let's be reminded that the Herald's application for a judicial review was only limited to have the home minister's prohibition on the use of the word 'Allah' in its Bahasa Malaysia section declared ultra vires.

Putting it in another way, the reason for the judicial review was to enable the word 'Allah' to be used in Herald's Bahasa Malaysia section for the benefit of East Malaysians.

Also too for other Bahasa-speaking Catholics who have since time immemorial used the term 'Allah' in their texts and prayers and is therefore their right to continue to do so under the constitution.

As such, the High Court's decision has wrongly been expanded by various sections of the public until it now appears that the Catholic Church has succeeded in getting the court to declare that the word 'Allah' can now be used by all and sundry for any old reason.

This was not the intention of the Justice Lau Bee Lan, Archbishop Murphy Pakiam, Father Lawrence Andrew or any other Catholic for that matter.

USA HOLIDAY

My family and I visited USA during the Xmas holidays. It’s my fourth visit and each time I came back, I acknowledge America’s position as the No. 1 Country in the world. Why do I say this? Firstly, they have a system and the system works for them. In most places, we work for the system.Secondly, they encourage diversity (backgrounds, beliefs and views).

This is clearly demonstrated in their education system. During my visit, I spoke to some 7-10 year old Malay children who only moved to a US school some 6 months ago.( Parents from Kg background) . They spoke good English and have so much knowledge. They can even talk about US politics with me, wow! In Malaysia, only kids from well to do families would have that kind of exposure. And the schooling is free!

In terms of beliefs, everything is on the table for all to see. The only downside to me as far as the “everything is cool attitude” is when it comes to religious and sexual orientation. As a Muslim, this is where I draw the line. Otherwise, I can’t fault them.

There is still a lot that we can learn from America.