Dr M and the Malays
Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Jul 29, 2013
If some of you think that this nation is in a mess, then blame the Malays because they are the problem. Malays know that Malaysia is not the land of gold and honey any longer.
In these difficult times, they have become more aware of their surroundings; but one other person has noticed this sea-change in the Malays.
mahathir and malay peopleHe is former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad. He knows that a thinking and independent Malay is detrimental to his legacy, his creation – Umno-Baru – and to the well-being of his family’s fortunes. Today’s self-aware Malay is Mahathir’s downfall.
Malays are in positions of power in government and the civil service. They dictate policies and run the wheels of government; but Malays are also the nation’s worst hypocrites.
They are greedy. They are happy with short-term solutions. They do not think of the consequences. They are happy to hide behind the cloak of race and religion if it will bring them some material benefit or status. The day they lose everything is probably the day they will regain their humility, values and self-respect. Read the rest of this entry »
Onus is on UMNO Youth and Utusan Malaysia to substantiate their allegation that “The New Village” glorified the MCP and demonised the police and soldiers
Posted by Kit in Media, nation building on Monday, 29 July 2013, 7:15 pm
In today’s Malaysiakini report “Unfair to ban ‘New Village’ on trailer alone, says Shabery”, the Communications and Multimedia Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek said he was not surprised that the film had drawn protests from UMNO Youth and party-owned Utusan Malaysia as I too “over-reacted” to another controversial “Tanda Putera” film after the screening of its trailer.
He said it is unfair to judge ‘The New Village’ based on its trailer release along and said a “rational” decision must now be made on its fate.
I invite Shabery to specify how I had “over-reacted” to “Tanda Putera” after the screening of its trailer, as I had never seen the trailer of “Tanda Putera”.
My first statement on Tanda Putera is available on my blog, dated 4th August 2012, as follows: Read the rest of this entry »
BN must stay in tune with the middle class, says Musa Hitam
Posted by Kit in Elections, Mahathir, Najib Razak, UMNO on Monday, 29 July 2013, 9:14 am
The Malaysian Insider
July 29, 2013
The Malaysian middle class is “no pushover”, and the Barisan Nasional (BN) must seriously address its concerns such as corruption and misuse of power, former deputy prime minister Tun Musa Hitam told The Straits Times.
“When Malaysians are critical, it shouldn’t be dismissed as them being destructive or negative. We should respect them. The middle class today thinks very differently, and the challenge for the leadership is that it should be one step ahead but it has not even kept up,” the Singapore daily quoted him as saying in the republic.
“That is the problem. We (the government) have provided education to them, but yet, we’ve become less educated and haven’t changed our mindset,” he told The Straits Times in an interview on Thursday. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia does not have a Chinese dilemma but a Mahathir dilemma
Posted by Kit in Elections, Mahathir, Pakatan Rakyat, UMNO on Sunday, 28 July 2013, 5:13 pm
The author of “The Malay Dilemma” has tried to coin a new complex, “The Chinese Dilemma” which he defined as “whether the Chinese in Malaysia should make a grab for political power while dominating economic power or to adhere to the principle of sharing which has made this country what it is today”.
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad is making history in coining a complex which exists only in his febrile imagination, as it does not afflict any single Chinese in Malaysia – whether in Pakatan Rakyat or Barisan Nasional!
I will like to know whether there is any Chinese in Malaysia who will stand up and state that Mahathir is right that there is such a “Chinese dilemma” in Malaysia!
Only an inveterate racist like Mahathir could interpret the 13th general elections as a “grab for political power” by the Malaysian Chinese, when it was in fact the historic moment when Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region rallied behind the Pakatan Rakyat parties of PKR, PAS and DAP in pursuit of a common Malaysian Dream in an effort to bring about a change of Federal government in Putrajaya, for the first time in the nation’s 55-year history. Read the rest of this entry »
Clueless or opportunistic defenders of TITAS
Posted by Kit in Education, university on Sunday, 28 July 2013, 10:52 am
by Dr. Lim Teck Ghee
CPI
Saturday, 27 July 2013
Commentary
As soon as one academic government yes-man appears to retire from the public scene, another all too quickly rushes to fill the vacancy. The latest academic political wannabe is Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Prof. Teo Kok Seong who has said that the course would benefit the Chinese, and that Chinese leaders should support its introduction.
Offering little in the way of empirical evidence or intellectual argument, he has provided the breathtakingly brilliant and original insight that “TITAS in private higher institution is to resolve the issue faced by citizens who do not know our history and civilisation. The ultimate purpose is to create better understanding, foster unity and inculcate the development of a national identity.”
According to Prof. Teo as reported in Utusan Malaysia (23 July 2013), the compulsory teaching of the subject is to streamline the social sciences in public and private universities and to foster humanism in the undergrads.
And to drive home the importance of the compulsory subject, he links his defence of it to the lack of understanding among private school students “of the country’s history and the basics in the country as [seen in] the sex couple Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee….”, said a Malaysiakini report headlined ‘ Titas would benefit the Chinese, says don’ (July 23).
Prof. Teo appears bent on justifying his position as Research Fellow of the Institute of the Malay World and Civilization and the conferment of a Datukship on him.
If that is his intention, he should have gone further and asked perhaps for the public flogging of the couple and the withdrawal of citizenship of those against the Ministry of Education’s effort to create better understanding and greater unity among students. An even harder line would endear him more to the higher ups and secure greater official recognition. Read the rest of this entry »
Mahathir is trying to set the agenda for the upcoming UMNO party elections with his dangerous myth of “the Chinese dilemma” recklessly and falsely accusing the Chinese out to oust the political power of the Malays
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Malaysian Dream, nation building, UMNO on Saturday, 27 July 2013, 3:43 pm
When I contested in the Gelang Patah constituency in the 13th general election, former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad accused me of wanting to create a “racial confrontation” between the Malays and Chinese in Johore.
This was a pack of lies. In fact, events have shown that it is Mahathir in the past few months who has been trying to create a “racial confrontation”, particularly after the May 5 general election results, in his campaign to pit one race against another.
Mahathir is again up to his mischief in his opinion piece in the New Straits Times yesterday, concocting the dangerous and false myth of “the Chinese dilemma” of the Chinese making a grab to oust the political power of the Malays in Malaysia – and trying to set the agenda for the upcoming UMNO party elections.
Mahathir should know better than anyone that because of the political and demographic realities in Malaysia, the political power of the Malays in Malaysia have never been in danger and there is no attempt by the Chinese or any other community to oust the political power of the Malays.
What is at stake is whether UMNO and UMNO-putras can continue with their politics of race, cronyism, corruption, abuses of power and impunity or whether they have to give way to a new Malaysian politics of multi-racialism, good governance, public integrity, freedom and justice. Read the rest of this entry »
ROS director-general’s groundless comment clearest sign that UMN0/BN government may be preparing a Hari Raya surprise – deregistration of DAP on completely baseless and frivolous grounds
The Star report today “Don’t harbour false hopes” quoting the ROS director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman is the clearest sign that the UMNO/BN government may be preparing a Hari Raya surprise – the deregistration of DAP on completely baseless and frivolous grounds.
The Star report is studded with false and groundless premises showing that the ROS director-general is acting in a completely improper, unfair and unprofessional manner not in keeping with the efficient, impartial and independent discharge of his public duties.
How can the ROS director-general comment on a completely fictitious scenario which is a total concoction or figment of imagination of the Umno/BN propagandists, cybertroopers and their agents, as if it is a fact?
The Star report headlined “Don’t harbour false hopes” states:
‘Don’t harbour false hopes’
PETALING JAYA: DAP members have been told not to harbour hopes of forming a new party if the Registrar of Societies (ROS) decides to de-register it.
ROS director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman said they would not likely entertain requests to set up a new party.
“They can apply. But the right to approve is with the ROS. We did not even entertain 29 applications to set up new parties submitted over the last five years,” he said yesterday.
He was asked to comment on the move by DAP members to look into establishing a new political party if de-registration was inevitable following complaints of election fraud in the DAP’s central executive committee (CEC) election in December.
The notion of forming a new party if the DAP is deregistered had never been raised or entertained by anyone in the DAP, whether leadership or membership, as there is no plausible ground for the deregistration of the DAP. Read the rest of this entry »
A Decades-old Sad Story
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Education, university on Friday, 26 July 2013, 9:08 am
By Kee Thuan Chye
Yahoo
26th July 2013
The intake of students into Malaysian public universities is a sad, sad story. A story that has been around for decades. A story that doesn’t want to end.
Since the establishment of the quota system for Bumiputera students in 1973, non-Bumputera ones have had to take part in what is virtually a lottery when they apply for places. They may not get admitted, or they may not get the course of study they applied for even though they have the best results.
When the system was introduced, 55 per cent of places were reserved for Bumiputeras, although apart from Universiti Malaya and Universiti Sains Malaysia, other universities reportedly admitted more Bumiputeras than was specified in the quota.
Non-Bumiputera families that couldn’t tolerate the unfairness of the system decided to emigrate with the chief aim of securing higher education for the young. New waves of emigration have since followed, resulting in a massive brain drain that is highly disadvantageous to the country’s development.
Those who stayed gave up on public universities as they did not want to put up with uncertainty over their children’s future. They resolved to work harder to earn money to send their children overseas.
This caused a huge flow of currency outflow. So to stem it and also to make Malaysia a future net exporter of tertiary education, the Government instituted the Private Higher Educational Institutions Act in 1996 that led to the sprouting of private colleges and universities locally. Read the rest of this entry »
One Indian’s response to Art and Zahid
Posted by Kit in Education, nation building, Religion on Friday, 26 July 2013, 8:40 am
– Rama Ramanathan
The Malaysian Insider
July 26, 2013
Two articulate writers, both lawyers, both Muslims, both patriots, have commented on the Pristina primary school incident, which I too have commented on.
Art Harun’s piece is titled “Once we were beautiful.”
Art reminisces about his schooldays in a mixed race, English-stream primary school in the sixties. He names some of his Chinese, Indian and Malay teachers. He affectingly recalls being corrected by some of them. He notes it was then normal not to fast till year 5 and it was even normal, not disrespectful, to snack while walking about.
Art recounts his move to a “mixed” boarding school. He studied, played, ate and made mischief with friends who weren’t Malays. Inter-communal mixing was normal.
Art laments that “non-Muslims don’t send their kids to national school anymore,” preferring vernacular and private schools. He points out that now national schools require students to recite morning prayers, have walls adorned with Quranic verses and are filled with Malay/Muslim students.
Art’s point about the state of our schools today is:
“The small number of non-Malay kids also gives a sense of false superiority complex to the Malay kids as well as teachers. Thus, my race and my religion are more important than you, your religion and everything else.
Art says the superiority complex is the reason why “many national schools” close their school canteens during Ramadan, though that’s not the publicly offered reason. Read the rest of this entry »
Not the Islam I know…
Mohamad Tajuddin Mohamad Rasdi
Malaysiakini
Jul 25, 2013
COMMENT The two incidents that have been the talk of the day in the Internet media that have raised concerns on the questionable tolerance and magnanimity of Islam and Muslims are the Alvivi sex blogger couple’s alleged disrespecting of Islam and the demands of right-wing groups Perkasa and Jati for the Vatican envoy to leave Malaysia over his remarks on the Allah row.
From the events that had unfolded, it does seem to be that Muslims in general – and Islam in particular – are a people and a religion that are most intolerant and do not know the meaning of forgiveness or magnanimity.
In this short essay, I will present stories and examples of Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam, teacher of all Muslims in the world and for all times, on how he exemplified the true spirit of magnanimity, forgiveness and tolerance.
In other words, I do not know who these people are who have painted Islam in such light – the Attorney-General’s Chambers officers and the judiciary who denied bail to the sex blogger couple and the three Malay-Muslim politicians (Hasan Ali, Ibrahim Ali and Zulkifli Noordin) who boisterously demand that the Vatican envoy leave this country for supporting the use of the word ‘Allah’ in the Malay Bible.
I would like to explain to my Malaysian brothers and sisters who are Muslims and non-Muslims about the true Islam as exhibited by the Prophet himself. What these Malays have shown did not definitely come from the tradition of Muhammad (peace be upon him).
I can cite many events and incidents to show that Prophet Muhammad was perhaps the epitome of tolerance, forgiveness and magnanimity, but I will just point out a few. Do not trust me on these accounts but let history be the judge. Read the rest of this entry »
UMNO/BN must thank Election Commission for fixing polling day on Wednesday for its slight majority in the Kuala Besut by-election
UMNO/BN must thank the Election Commission for fixing polling day on Wednesday for the slight UMNO/BN majority in the Kuala Besut by-election, which resulted in a lower voter turnout of 1,193 voters or 79.78% compared to 87% in the 13th general election on May 5.
The Umno/BN candidate Tengku Zaihan Che Ku Abd Rahman secured 8,288 votes as against PAS candidate Endot@Azlan Yusuf, who polled 5,696 votes – a majority of 2,592 votes which is an increase of 158 votes from the 2,434-vote majority secured by Umno/BN in the recent general election.
UMNO Deputy President and Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has claimed that BN’s inability to achieve its 4,000-vote majority target in Kuala Besut was due to overconfidence among BN supporters who did not turn up at the ballot box.
He also attributed the 7 per cent lower voter turnout than the last general election to the slower pace of life during the month of Ramadan.
However, the opposite is more likely to be the case, as the lower turnout is the result of the polling day being fixed on a working day, causing many outstation voters not returning to cast their vote. Read the rest of this entry »
Once we were beautiful
Posted by Kit in nation building on Wednesday, 24 July 2013, 12:54 pm
– Art Harun
The Malaysian Insider
July 24, 2013
I am blessed.
So are many of my friends who are of or around my age.
So are many who are older than me.
As a child of the 60s, I went through my formative years in an English-stream school. It was a big school in town.
And there were hundreds of us Malays, Chinese and Indian boys (it wasn’t co-ed).
Our first headmaster was a Chinese gentleman who was as fierce as they came those days.
When he left, he was replaced by an Indian gentleman, who also was as fierce.
My first class teacher was Ms Leong, all long haired and short skirted.
And yes, armed with a wooden ruler, she would knock my knuckles for failing to properly write the number 8.
My first English sentence, learnt on the first day at school was to be uttered after raising my right hand, “Please teacher may I go out?”
That was to be said if any of us had to go to the toilet to do the normal stuffs we all do in the toilet (and not to eat).
Then there were Mr Linggam, Cikgu Aziz and wife, Sharom, Mr Lee the karate guy, Mr Khor, Cikgu Mutalib and various others.
We were a happy bunch. We played together, ate together, learned together and of course, at times, punished together. Read the rest of this entry »
Wanted in Malaysia: Empathy
Posted by Kit in culture, Education, nation building, Religion on Wednesday, 24 July 2013, 12:15 pm
by The Malaysian Insider
July 24, 2013
How did Malaysia come to this point? Where billions have been spent on national unity programmes, Bangsa Malaysia initiatives and grandiose 1Malaysia schemes and yet EMPATHY for each other is so glaringly missing from daily life.
The Oxford Dictionary defines empathy as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Some may see it as “standing in someone else’s shoes” or “seeing through someone else’s eyes”.
Whatever the definition, implicit in it is a feeling of compassion for another.
If the feeling of empathy courses through the veins of Malaysians, we would be very slow to ridicule the religious practices of another or even place each other in racial pigeonholes. Very slow. Because we would feel the hurt that a wayward word or action could cause another group of Malaysians.
In addition, we would be quick to condemn or disapprove of behaviour not in keeping with our national psyche. Read the rest of this entry »
Stupid Prank and Double Standards
Posted by Kit in Crime, Judiciary, Law & Order on Wednesday, 24 July 2013, 12:32 am
By Kee Thuan Chye
msn
23 July 2013
Alvin Tan Jye Yee and Vivian Lee May Ling, collectively known as Alvivi, are now in prison, awaiting trial. The judge denied them bail after they pleaded not guilty to three charges related to alleged sedition, causing enmity between people of different religions, and displaying pornographic pictures on their blog.
The charges – under the Sedition Act, the Film Censorship Act and the Penal Code – are pretty serious. If found guilty, they could go to jail for some years. Not a bright prospect for two supposedly smart people in their mid-20s.
But why were they not granted bail? What further harm could they inflict? Whom could they harm? How severe, really, is their offence? Even people charged with committing far worse offences, like rape, have been given bail.
Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail says Alvivi were denied bail because of their tendency to post content on their blog that could potentially anger the public.
I think that’s being presumptuous. It is not backed up with any evidence. Besides, potentially angering the public is a poor excuse. And since we are engaging in making assumptions, I would hazard that it’s very unlikely that the duo would still opt to arouse public anger after having faced those serious charges. In fact, even before they were arrested, they had already apologised. Read the rest of this entry »
At last, the cat is out of the bag – “meritocracy”student intake system into public universities “more quota than quota”
Posted by Kit in Education, university on Tuesday, 23 July 2013, 2:54 pm
At last, the cat is out of the bag – that the university “meritocracy” student intake system which replaced the ethnic quota system for entry into the public universities in 2002 is “more quota than quota”.
According to the MCA Youth leader, Datuk Dr. Wee Ka Siong, the intake of Chinese students for eight major courses in public universities – medical, dentistry, pharmacy, electronics and electrical engineering, chemical engineering, law and accounting – has been declining in recent years from 26.2% in 2001 to 25.3% in 2001 and 20.7 per cent this year.
I commend Wee for finally making the public admission that the so-called “merit system” which replaced the quota system in 2002 was an even worse form of quota system in reality, resulting in the dropping of Chinese students to 19 per cent from more than 30 per cent in the early years, and the general drop in non-Malay students in the eight critical courses in public universities.
In May 2002, I had sent an urgent email to all Cabinet Ministers asking them to rectify the injustice of the so-called “merit-based” university selection system, as the formula used to match the matriculation results and STPM grades was “unprofessional, unfair and gives meritocracy a bad name as it is without any professional merit”, like comparing an apple with an orange.
I had argued at the time that it was quite absurd to compare the results of the STPM and matriculation courses as they are completely different systems, with different kind of evaluation procedures. Read the rest of this entry »
Reform TITAS to ensure fair and balanced teaching of civilisation studies
Posted by Kit in culture, Education, nation building on Tuesday, 23 July 2013, 9:27 am
— Lim Teck Ghee and Din Merican
The Malay Mail Online
JULY 23, 2013
JULY 23 — We owe a debt of gratitude to Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli and other supporters of the proposed Islamic and Asian Civilisation Studies (TITAS) course for opening the Pandora’s box on the educational value and desirability of this officially decreed course previously imposed on public universities and now planned to be extended to private universities.
For now, there has been nothing offered by way of justification or in defence of the course design by the Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his subordinate, Higher Education Department director-general Morshidi Sirat, to allay the concern that the introduction of the course is politically motivated to serve the ruling government’s agenda, and not the interest of our young.
We should have no illusions that even with the spotlight of public criticism strongly on it, the authorities will not continue with the planned enforcement of the course. The political stakes are too high for the minister of education, soon contesting the Umno elections, to do an about-turn.
Recognising that it is well-nigh impossible to expect the authorities to withdraw its proposal, we urge Rafizi and others in favour of the course to support the following measures to ensure that TITAS does not become another platform to load our young with politically, racially or religiously skewed knowledge. A narrowly conceived, ethnocentric and politically biased TITAS is counter-productive in a world characterised by diversity and pluralism and in our homeland which is one of the major cultural and civilisation crossroads of Asia.
If indeed the intention is noble and aimed at instilling cross cultural learning and appreciation of the major civilisations of the region among all students, Malays and non-Malays, surely no one in their right mind will object to the safeguards below to ensure that this intention is achieved and not subverted. Read the rest of this entry »
A Response to Rafizi Ramli
Posted by Kit in Education, nation building, university on Monday, 22 July 2013, 10:47 pm
– Aerie Rahman
The Malay Mail Online
July 22, 2013
JULY 22 – In an article dated July 22, Rafizi Ramli admirably tried to defend the forced implementation of TITAS in private tertiary institutions. His primary argument is that TITAS being made compulsory is a vehicle that is able to promote greater understanding among the various cultures in Malaysia.
Rafizi dissected the content of TITAS and concluded that the implementation would be of benefit to all. I would like to commend Rafizi’s direct clarification on this matter. Unlike Khairy Jamaluddin who only tweeted on this issue, Rafizi recognises the importance of discourse that is not confined to mere sound bytes and ipse dixit assertions.
I agree with Rafizi that if there is an issue with the syllabus, we should amend it to make TITAS palatable to all cultures. This is a practical point and not a principle concession. If Islamisation is the problem like what Dr Lim Teck Ghee is worried about, then the syllabus should be revamped to ensure that Islamisation doesn’t happen.
However, my concern with Rafizi’s article is twofold. Rafizi did not address the negative consequences of compulsion. Rafizi also failed to answer the point of practicality; does TITAS have any utility to students, who need to accumulate essential skills to secure a job upon graduation. Read the rest of this entry »
TITAS is about cross learning in a multicultural society
Posted by Kit in culture, Education, nation building, university on Monday, 22 July 2013, 10:42 pm
— Rafizi Ramli
The Malay Mail Online
July 22, 2013
JULY 22 — I must begin by conveying my gratitude to Dr Lim Teck Ghee and S. Thayaparan for their views on the position I took with regards to the implementation of TITAS at private tertiary institutions (IPTS).
While the ensuing exchange of views on the matter had earned me many labels from some of the readers of Malaysiakini (including lumping me as another Umno prototype), I look at it positively. If Malaysia were to progress, we must be able to debate openly and accept criticisms both ways.
I will explain the basis for the position I had taken before I respond to some of the issues brought by both of them. Read the rest of this entry »
MACC, election panel must answer on money politics
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Elections on Monday, 22 July 2013, 5:42 pm
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Josie Fernandez
Malaysiakini
Jul 22, 2013
COMMENT At the launch of a book on Reforming Political Financing in Malaysia in 2010, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Abu Kasim Mohamed said, “Political corruption is the mother of all corruption. The MACC Act 2009 is clear about the offence of using public office for any form of gratification.”
And for Wednesday’s Kuala Besut by-election in Terengganu, PAS has circulated a list of projects announced by the BN, which include RM343,000 upgrade to Masjid Haji Ishal in Kampung Dengir and the construction of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Alor Peroi, Tok Saboh, which will cost RM28 million.
PAS has claimed that rival BN is pouring cash on the constituency in a bid to cover up the weaknesses of its candidate, Tengku Zaihan Che Ku Abdul Rahman.
The claims of PAS on the pouring of cash and announcement of projects worth millions of rinngit for the Kuala Besut constituency during this by-election period surely requires an investigation by the MACC, which claims to be independent.
PAS is right in asking BN to declare the sources of the money being poured into the small fishing town of Kuala Besut during the by-election campaign period. The Election Commission (EC) should be in the forefront raising this question, not PAS.
It is the responsibility of the EC to act on the use of money in elections. It is funded by taxpayers’ money and entrusted with the role of running free and fair elections, without bribery and use of money to garner votes.
For too long, the Election Commission has claimed that it is unable to act on the use of money, gifts and projects to garner votes during elections in the country. The EC continues to claim that it is powerless to do anything about widespread vote buying under the current Election Offences Act. Read the rest of this entry »
Respect all races and faiths
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, nation building, Religion on Monday, 22 July 2013, 7:55 am
Jeswan Kaur | July 21, 2013
Free Malaysia Today
With all the racial tension and unhappiness taking place, it is a wonder how Najib intends to pull off the national reconciliation agenda.
COMMENT
Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad keeps insulting the non-Malays all the time and not a word comes of concern comes out from the mouth of the country’s leading party, the Barisan Nasional alliance.
Likewise, Mahathir’s protege, Ibrahim Ali who founded the Maly extremist party Perkasa and his deputy Zulkifli Noordin who have little to fear each time they take pot-shots at the non-Muslims.
Then there are others in powerful positions who keep stirring racial tensions by warning the non-Malays to refrain from using the word ‘Allah’.
The word “Allah” has been used by the Sikhs and Christians for a long, long time or for that matter Arab Christians have been using the term “Allah” for over 600 years before the Muslims began doing so?
The word “Allah” is used 12 times in the Sikh holy scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, by Sheikh Farid, Guru Nanak and Guru Arjan Dev while Sant Kabeer has uttered the word 18 times.
Despite that, Umno continues to live by its fallacy that only Muslims have the right to use the word “Allah” despite the fact that the term has been used by the Sikhs and the Arabic-speaking Christians of Syria and the rest of the Middle East.
Now Kedah menteri besar Mukhriz Mahathir has decided to follow in the footsteps of the rest by barring the non-Malays there from using the word ‘Allah’. Read the rest of this entry »
