1. Malaysiakini.com（http://www.malaysiakini.com）
‘Herald' sweats on status of annual permit, 17 December 2008
by Hafiz Yatim
Will the Dec 28 edition of the Herald-The Catholic Weekly be the last? This is the question on the mind of Father Lawrence Andrew, the editor of the weekly newsletter.
With the annual publishing permit expiring at month’s end, the Home Ministry has yet to indicate if this will be renewed.
"Our last publication will be on Dec 28, just after Christmas, and I am worried it could be our last," Lawrence said when contacted.
"I cannot understand all the fuss as the Herald is only being sold in churches and not to the public. We have a limited (print run that) specifically caters to Roman Catholics."
The newsletter’s Bahasa Malaysia version caters for indigenous people in Sabah and Sarawak, but the weekly is also published in English, Chinese and Tamil. It has a weekly circulation of 14,000 and an estimated readership of 50,000.
Herald had run into difficulties with the authorities late last year over the use of the word ‘Allah’ in referring to ‘God’ in Bahasa Malaysia. It is currently embroiled in a civil suit against the government over the order.
Lawrence said the newsletter covers political and current affairs and that the ministry should not impose restrictions or stop the publication.
"We ran issues on the election to encourage our congregation to vote. Similarly, we ran an issue on the Internal Security Act. These are of public interest and not only highlighted by us, but the media as well," he said.
"Why are they taking action against us? Why are they keeping it to the very last minute (to tell us) whether or not the permit will be renewed? I hope they will inform us early."
On the progress of the court case, Lawrence said it is expected to resume in February to hear the applications of the interveners.
‘Thousands of applications’
The Home Ministry, when contacted today, said the application for renewal of the Herald permit is still being processed.
Publications Control and Al-Quran Texts Unit senior officer Che Din Yusof said: "The ministry is reviewing thousands of publishing permits around this time, and we have to do it quickly.
“Herald will know whether it is successful in its application before its permit expires.”
Wire agency Reuters quoted Deputy Home Minister Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh as saying: "Until Dec 31, we are not going to announce anything. There is plenty of time till them. Let them wait."
2. Reuters India (http://in.reuters.com)
Malaysia Catholic paper may close in "Allah" row, 17 December 2008
An ethnic Indian group that organised a huge anti-government protest in 2007, triggered in part by the demolition of what authorities said were illegal temples, was banned in October as a threat to national security.
Under the Malaysian constitution, Malays must be Muslim and enjoy special privileges in job opportunities, cheap loans and access to an affirmative action programme in universities.
Those privileges have come under attack from the opposition led by Anwar Ibrahim, a one-time Muslim activist who was deputy prime minister until he was sacked and imprisoned on what he says were trumped up sodomy and corruption charges in the late 1990s.
The issue of the use of Islam for political ends has started to cause alarm among some Muslim scholars and even the Sultans of Malaysia's states have warned the government that they are the guardians of Islam under the constitution.
When the government-backed National Fatwa Council last month declared that Muslims should not practise the Indian physical regime of yoga it was rebuked by the Sultan of Selangor, one of Malaysia's eight sultans who take it in turn to be king.
With internal elections due in March in the main government party, the United Malays National Organisation, the Herald looks unlikely to get a break.
"The pressure is coming from within (the government) and also the Malay-Muslim NGOs, who will be opposed on no uncertain terms to any non-Muslim using the word," said Osman Bakar, deputy chief executive of the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies Malaysia. An ethnic Indian group that organised a huge anti-government protest in 2007, triggered in part by the demolition of what authorities said were illegal temples, was banned in October as a threat to national security.
The government insists it is still reviewing the Herald's license and that it is following due process.
"Until Dec. 31, we are not going to announce anything. There is plenty of time till then. Let them wait," Deputy Home Minister Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh told Reuters.
© Thomson Reuters 2008 All rights reserved
3.Telegragh.co.uk (http://www.telegragh.co.uk)
Catholic newspaper faces ban for writing "Allah" , 17 December 2008
by Thomas Bell, South East Asia Correspondent
A Catholic newspaper in Malaysia is facing a ban for using the word "Allah" to describe the Christian god.
Unless the government changes its mind, the Herald Catholic Weekly has only two weeks left to run before its licence expires at the end of the year.
The deputy home minister Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh said: "Until December 31 we are not going to announce anything. There is plenty of time till then. Let them wait."
Malaysia is a semi-authoritarian country with strict media laws which has been ruled by the same government since independence from Britain 51 years ago.
Almost 60 per cent of the population are ethnic Malay Muslims and the remainder are ethnic Chinese or Indians following a variety of religions. These large ethnic and religious minorities claim that the government is attempting to stir Malay Muslim sentiment in attempt to deflect its unpopularity and maintain power.
"The Catholic Herald 's 'Allah' is seen as a threat to national security," said Father Lawrence Andrew, editor of the Herald.
"We are now a scapegoat, a means for the Malay Muslims to rally together."
His newspaper, established in 1980 with a circulation of 14,000, is published in a variety of languages. In the Malay language the only word for "God" is "Allah" and the enwspaper claims it is impossible to avoid.
In March this year the government slumped to its worst ever election result due, analysts say, to a weakening economy and public anger over corruption. Ethnic minorities are also angry at laws which offer cheap loans, job opportunities and other preferences to ethnic Malays.
The 51-year-old regime is now seen as vulnerable to a challenge by the opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who wants to abolish the racial preferences system.
In recent weeks the Chinese community has been angered by a proposal to close Chinese language schools. A group of Indian community leaders are languishing in prison without charge after leading a protest against the demolition of Hindu temples a year ago.
Earlier this week police detained a group of mostly Indian protesters attempting to deliver a petition on labour rights to the government.
The ruling UMNO party has internal elections early next year and the new prime minister designate, Najib Razak, is seen as a hardliner.
4. Catholic News Agency (http://www. catholicnewsagency.com)
Malaysian Catholic weekly in ‘Allah’ controversy still waiting on license renewal, 1 December 2008
A Catholic weekly in Malaysia involved in a controversy with the government over its use of the word "Allah" has not yet been granted its publishing license for next year.
While the weekly’s editor said there is no indication the license will be renewed, a government official blamed an application backlog for the delay.
Publishers in Malaysia are required to obtain annual permits from the government, a policy that has been criticized for infringing on the freedom of the press. Members of minority religions have also complained that they do not enjoy full freedom of religion, despite such guarantees in the nation’s constitution.
For the past year The Herald, the main Catholic weekly in Malaysia, has been in a court dispute with the government over its use of the word "Allah" as a Malay translation for the word "God." The government argued the usage would confuse Muslims while the newspaper insisted it uses the word "Allah" as it has been used for centuries in the Malay language.
According to the Associated Press, Herald editor Father Lawrence Andrew said Malaysia’s Home Ministry has not renewed the paper’s license, though it submitted an application months ago.
"If they want to delay it like that, it doesn't give me any indication that it (the license renewal) will happen," Father Andrew said in a telephone interview, the Associated Press reports.
Speaking to Reuters, he said: "The Catholic Herald's 'Allah' is seen as a threat to national security."
"We are now a scapegoat, a means for the Malay-Muslims to rally together."
The license expires on December 31.
According to Reuters, the government insists it is still reviewing the Herald’s license and is following due process.
"Until Dec. 31, we are not going to announce anything. There is plenty of time till then. Let them wait," Deputy Home Minister Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh told Reuters.
Che Din Yusoh, an official with the Home Ministry's publishing unit, told the Associated Press that officials were backlogged by the large number of applications.
"We will issue it by the end of the month," he told the Associated Press. "There is nothing to worry about."
The Herald publishes reports in four languages: English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil. It reportedly has a circulation of about 14,000.
There are more than 800,000 Catholics in Malaysia, among an overall population of 27 million.
・Copyright @ CNA
5. International Herald Tribune (http://www.iht.com)
Malaysia government sued over seized Christian CDs, 28 November 2008
The Associated Press
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: A Malaysian Christian is suing the government for allegedly violating her religious rights after airport officials seized Christian educational CDs that she brought from Indonesia, the woman's lawyer said.
Customs authorities in this Muslim-majority country confiscated eight CDs from Jill Ireland when she flew back to Kuala Lumpur on May 11 after a trip to Jakarta, her lawyer, Annou Xavier, said late Thursday.
The Home Ministry informed her in a letter that the CDs were seized mainly because their cover titles contained the word "Allah," which is prohibited in non-Muslim religious material, Xavier said.
Ireland wants the Kuala Lumpur High Court to issue a declaration allowing her to transport any religious material for her own personal use, Xavier said.
The court on Thursday scheduled Jan. 30 for a preliminary hearing.
Government lawyer Suzana Atan declined to comment on details of the case, but noted that authorities have barred the use of the word "Allah" except for Muslim publications.
Malaysia's constitution guarantees freedom of worship for non-Muslims, who make up more than one-third of the country's 27 million people.
However, minority Buddhists, Christians and Hindus have increasingly voiced allegations of religious discrimination due to incidents in recent years such as the occasional demolition of Hindu temples by state authorities.
The government last year ruled that non-Muslims cannot use the word "Allah," an Arabic word that is a synonym for "God" in Malaysia's national language.
The ban has sparked criticism by Christians who use it to refer to God in their Malay-language Bible and other publications. A Malaysian church and Christian weekly newspaper have launched court actions to challenge the ban.
Government officials have expressed concerns that using "Allah" in Christian literature could confuse Malaysia's Muslims and draw them to Christianity.
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