1. Daily Express（http://www.dailyexpress.com.my）
Withdraw condition on Catholic weekly: Siringan , 3 January 2009
Kota Kinabalu: Datuk Siringan Gubat lauded the Government's renewal of the printing permit of the Catholic weekly The Herald, saying it was the most appropriate move, particularly for the Government's image.
The Ranau Member of Parliament also hoped the Government would consider withdrawing the condition set with the renewal, that is disallowing the Catholic newspaper to publish its Malay language section, for the sake of its readers in East Malaysia.
"The Herald's Malay version is meant for the Christian community in Sabah and Sarawak who may be deprived if it is now only published in English, Mandarin and TamilÉmany people in both states do not understand English, let alone Mandarin and Tamil," he said.
Siringan, who is also Upko Supreme Council member, was referring to a Reuters report on Thursday that the weekly's printing permit had been renewed but it cannot publish its Malay language section, amid a dispute over its use of the word "Allah" to describe God.
The report stated that The Herald - which has a circulation of 14,000 - received the faxed approval of the Government late Tuesday, a day before its permit was due to expire.
The editor, Father Lawrence Andrew, was quoted as saying that they cannot print the Malay section until the court case is resolved in the High Court, referring to the legal challenge the paper filed a year ago against an order banning it from using the word "Allah".
The paper was told in July that its licence was being reviewed as its use of the word "Allah" could inflame the Asian country's majority Muslim population, it was stated.
Saying the newspaper may appeal against the condition approval in order not to deprive those readers who speak Malay only of the newspaper, Father Lawrence said they printed in Malay since 1980 to cater for tribal communities in Sabah and Sarawak, many of whom had converted to Christianity long ago.
United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Organisation (Upko) in mid December last year proposed that newspaper publication permits be renewed every five years instead of annually as is the case presently.
Making the suggestion in view of the predicament faced by the Catholic Herald relating to its permit renewal process before, its President Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said the country could not have democracy without the contribution of the media.
He also gave Indonesia as an example which practised freedom of the press whereby the print media was not required to apply for a printing permit, saying the press is much freer in Indonesia which has a much younger democracy than Malaysia.
2. Malaysia Today (http://mt.m2day.org)
BY GOD, THE HERALD WILL CONTINUE TO USE "ALLAH" , 8 January 2009
By Debra Chong, The Malaysian Insider
Catholic newspaper The Herald will mark the return of its Bahasa Malaysia edition with a bumper issue next Jan 18 and defy the authorities by using "Allah" to describe God.
Herald editor Rev Father Lawrence Andrew said today it will use the word "Allah" as its suit on the word is still in the courts while the bumper issue is to make up for lost time. Government officials said the newspaper can have a Bahasa Malaysia edition as long as it does not describe God as "Allah" which is reserved only for Muslims.
"We will continue using it as the case is still going on in court," Fr Lawrence told The Malaysian Insider today, adding the Kuala Lumpur High Court had allowed The Herald to continue using the disputed word pending its judgment in the case.
He explained that the Catholic Church had been using the word in the manner prescribed because it was contained in the Bahasa Malaysia version of the Scriptures, which had been approved by the church's authorities "a long time ago".
"I can't change the Scriptures. If the word 'Allah' is in there, we will use it," he said.
"The government cannot tell us we cannot use it if it is in the Scriptures. This is against the Federal Constitution," he added.
The Herald's insistence is almost certain to shake the already fragile religious ties in Malaysia.
But Fr Lawrence begs to differ.
"We are not terrorists. We are not enemies. We're all brothers and sisters who worship God," he said soothingly, adding he did not know why the word is controversial.
The government had banned the weekly from putting out stories in the national language after its publishing permit expired on Dec 31 last year.
The reason, allegedly, was that the Malay news content which used the word "Allah" to describe God in a non-Muslim context would confuse followers of Islam in Malaysia.
A few days later, the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur who is the publisher of The Herald, wrote a letter asking the Home Ministry to lift the ban.
He warned that the Church would take legal action against the government if it did not reply
Today, the Associated Press reported the Home Ministry had lifted the ban, but refused to allow The Herald to use the word "Allah".
3. Catholic news agency（http://www.catholicnewsagency.com）
Malaysian government allows Catholic newspaper to print, with restrictions, 8 January 2009
Kuala Lumpur(CNA).- The Malaysian government has announced it will allow a Catholic newspaper’s Malay edition to be published, but will not allow the paper to use the word “Allah” as a translation of “God.”
For more than a year the Herald, the main Catholic weekly in Malaysia, has been in a legal dispute with the government over its use of the word "Allah" as a Malay translation for the word "God." The government claimed the usage would confuse Muslims, though the paper is read almost exclusively by Christians.
The newspaper insisted it has used the word "Allah" as it has been used for centuries in the Malay language, arguing the Arabic word’s use predates Islam.
Various news reports say the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, who is the publisher of the Herald, wrote a letter asking the Home Ministry to lift the ban.
Che Din Yusoh, a senior official with the ministry's publications control unit, explained the decision preserving the ban to the Associated Press.
"If they stop printing the word 'Allah,' they can publish anytime," Che Din said. "You can use another word. It's permissible for us.”
Islam is Malaysia’s official religion. The majority Malay ethnicity forms 60 percent of the country’s 27 million people and are all Muslim.
Malay is also spoken by many indigenous Christian tribes in the Sabah and Sarawak states, who read the Malay edition of the Herald.
The newspaper also publishes in English, Mandarin, and Tamil. It has challenged the ban on the word “Allah” in court, claiming that the ban is unconstitutional and threatens religious minorities’ religious freedom.
However, Rev. Lawrence Andrew, editor of the Herald, told the AP that the newspaper is willing to stop using the word to avoid further confrontation.
"We welcome this new view ... giving us back the right to use our national language," he said.
Copyright @ CNA
4. The Star Online（http://thestar.com.my）
(1) Home Ministry’s ruling regretted, 8 January 2009
PETALING JAYA: The Council of Churches of Malaysia Youth Commit-tee regrets the Home Ministry’s ruling to prohibit the use of Bahasa Malaysia in the Roman Catholic Church’s publication The Herald.
“We are quick and proud to tell the world of our multicultural and multireligious society.
“It is, therefore, ironic that a segment of our very own Malaysian community is prohibited from using the national language,” said committee youth secretary Daniel Chai in a statement yesterday.
“We urge the Government to withdraw the ruling,” he said.
(2) Church can use BM in The Herald, 9 January 2009
KUALA LUMPUR: The Home Ministry has allowed the Roman Catholic church to resume its use of Bahasa Malaysia in its publication of The Herald.
However, the use of the word “Allah” is still banned as the case regarding its usage is still pending in the courts.
It is learnt that the decision to allow the Catholic church to use Bahasa Malaysia was made during Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.
A senior ministry official confirmed the Government had withdrawn its earlier ruling prohibiting the use of Bahasa Malaysia in its publication.
News of the The Herald being allowed to use Bahasa Malaysia was greeted with joy.
5. Associated Press (http://www.google.com)
Malaysia: Catholic paper that used Allah can print, 8 January 2009
By JULIA ZAPPEI
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia will allow the Malay edition of a Catholic newspaper to resume publication, lifting a ban imposed for its use of the word "Allah," an official said Thursday — a move likely aimed at assuaging the anger of minorities in this Muslim-majority country.
The Herald, the country's main Roman Catholic newspaper, will not be allowed to use "Allah" as a translation for "God," however, said Che Din Yusoh, a senior official with the ministry's publications control unit.
"If they stop printing the word 'Allah,' they can publish anytime," Che Din told The Associated Press. "You can use another word. It's permissible for us," he said, adding that the decision would be conveyed to the Herald by Friday.
The Home Ministry had ordered the Herald last week to stop printing its Malay edition for violating a 2007 ban on the use of the word "Allah," except to refer to the Muslim God. The government says using the word could confuse Muslims, even though the newspaper is read almost exclusively by Christians.
The majority Malays, who form 60 percent of the country's 27 million people, are all Muslims, and speak and read the Malay language. Islam is the country's official religion.
Malay is also spoken by many indigenous Christian tribes in Sabah and Sarawak states, who read the Herald's Malay edition. The newspaper has continued to publish its English, Mandarin and Tamil editions.
The Herald has challenged the ban on "Allah" in court, saying that the translation has been used for centuries and that the Arabic word is a common reference to God that predates Islam. It says the ban is unconstitutional and threatens the religious freedom of the minorities.
Until the court delivers a verdict, however, the newspaper is willing to stop using the word to avoid further confrontation, said the Rev. Lawrence Andrew, editor of the Herald.
"We welcome this new view ... giving us back the right to use our national language," he told the AP.
A court decision is not likely anytime soon.
The Herald has long been at odds with the government, which has accused it of overstepping its boundaries by commenting on politics and other sensitive issues.
Ethnic Chinese, Indians and other minorities, who are mainly Christians, Buddhists and Hindus, have been angered by sporadic demolition of Hindu temples, court rulings about the right to leave Islam and other religious disputes.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
6. The Star Online （http://thestar.com.my）
Govt not against‘Herald' publishing in BM, 9 January 2009
PETALING JAYA: The Home Ministry has never prohibited the use of Bahasa Malaysia in the Roman Catholic Church’s publication Herald.
“The Ministry is only against the use of the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God.
“The correct and appropriate translation for God in Bahasa Malaysia or Melayu is ‘Tuhan’,” said the ministry’s Quran Publication Control and Text Division Secretary Che Din Yusoh in a statement on Friday.
Che Din made the statement in response to the Council of Churches Youth Committee statement on Wednesday that said it regretted the Ministry’s ruling prohibiting the publication from using Bahasa Malaysia.
© 1995-2009 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)
7.The Sun（http://www.thesundaily.com/article.cfm?id=29092）
Herald keeps its Bahasa Malaysia section, 9 January 2009
By Hemananthani Sivanandam
KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 9, 2009): The Home Ministry has allowed the publishers of "Herald- The Catholic Weekly" to continue with its Bahasa Malaysia section, overturning an earlier licencing condition that the church had immediately rejected.
In a letter dated Jan 7, the ministry allowed the continued publication of the Catholic Church's weekly newsletter's Bahasa Malaysia section, but prohibited the use of the word "Allah", an issue for judicial review that has yet to be decided.
Herald editor Father Lawrence Andrews told theSun he will continue to use the word "Allah" in future editions.
This week's edition of Herald, dated Jan 11, however, will not have the Bahasa Malaysia section in keeping with the ministry's licensing condition. This is because the removal of the condition came after the edition had been completed.
Last month, the publishers of the Catholic weekly were given the green light by the ministry to publish the newsletter. But the approval letter stated that the Bahasa Malaysia section in the Herald had to be stopped until the court decided on the use of the word "Allah".
The church however wrote to the ministry to reject the condition, on the grounds that it curtailed the constitutional right to freedom of expression and also went against the spirit of the National Language Act. It argued that many Christians, especially the Bumiputras in Sabah and Sarawak, still used Bahasa Malaysia to worship in church.
Herald has a circulation of around 14,000 in Malaysia, and is only sold in churches.
On Andrews's insistence on using the word "Allah" until the matter had been decided by the court, the ministry's head of Publications Control and Quranic Text Control Division, Che Din Yusoh, told theSun: "We’ll wait and see. When they publish the newsletter, we will review it and take the necessary action."
When asked about the change in licensing condition, Che Din said the ministry reviewed the matter. "We don’t want to be seen as rigid and unreasonable. However, we will wait until the court decides," said Che Din.
8. World Net Daily (http://worldnet.daily.com)
Government ban on publishing news lifted Paper still ordered not to distribute to non-Christians, 10 January 2009
A governmental office in Malaysia has reversed itself and now says the Catholic Herald will be allowed to publish in the Malay language, but it still can only be distributed in churches and must carry a warning that it is intended for Christians only.
According to a report today from Compass Direct News, the new decision from the Ministry of Home Affairs also still bans the publisher from using the word "Allah."
The editor, Father Lawrence Andrew, told Compass the publication will reply to the government by repeating its Jan. 2 claim that the newspaper should be allowed to print "Allah."
A hearing on that dispute is scheduled for Feb. 27.
WND has reported on the dispute previously, including when the battle over the use of "Allah" arose because authorities believe the word can be used only by Muslims.
It was in 2007 when the government issued a series of warnings to the Herald over the use of "Allah." The newspaper said under the nation's constitution, it had a right to use the word.
The Herald is published by the Catholic church of Malaysia, and its Malay-language section primarily serves an indigenous population in East Malaysia. It has a circulation of about 13,000 with an estimated readership of 50,000.
Murphy Pakiam, the Catholic archbishop in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, told the New Straits Times the restrictions on the newspaper didn't make sense.
"Even if the courts dismiss our application for judicial review, that has no bearing on the publication (in the Malay language)," he said.
The newspaper also is printed in English, Mandarin and Tamil.
The Catholic News Agency said publishers in Malaysia must get annual permits from the government in order to operate. Although Malaysia ostensibly grants freedom of religion, there has been a long list of controversies related to the issue.
A number of Christian converts from Islam have been denied permission to change the religious designation on their government identity cards, and the government limited the release of the movie "The Passion of the Christ."
WND earlier reported when Malaysia Deputy Internal Security Minister Johari Baharum said in an interview, "We cannot let other religions use it [Allah] because it will confuse people."
The official said "only Muslims can use the word 'Allah.'"
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
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