1. Star Online (http://thestar.com.my)
(1) Jala denies ‘envoy’ role over church matter, 1 October 2010
by Joshua Foong (joshuafoong@thestar.com.my)
KUALA LUMPUR: Cabinet minister Datuk Seri Idris Jala has refuted claims that he is heading a government effort to convince Christians to use the Hebrew word Yahweh instead of the Quranic Allah in their Malay text.“A friend asked me a personal question and, while in my heart I have my opinions, I believe that church matters should be left in the church,” he told reporters at the National SME Economic Transformation Conference 2010 at at the Putra World Trade Centre here yesterday.
He was commenting on an online report that Putrajaya had dispatched special envoys – including Jala – to parley with his community and seek a peaceful end to the Allah court dispute amid Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s overtures to world leaders urging pragmatism in dealing with extremists.
While Jala is said to be heading the effort, the portal also reported that he was facing stiff resistance from within his own Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) church.
The portal added that the move at home may have caused a rift within the Christian community, with the English-speaking, urban and middle-class members on one side and poorer, rural churchgoers, who mainly use the Malay language in their worship, on the other.
The Catholic church won its bid in December last year for the right to use the word Allah to refer to God in Christian worship.
Two other suits filed separately by SIB Sabah and an SIB Sarawak member are still pending.
Jala, a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, grew up in the Bario Highlands of Sarawak’s interior, home of the staunchly Christian Kelabit people.
On another matter raised by the portal, Jala said he was taken out of context regarding his alleged dismissal of the need for proficiency in English for Malaysia to achieve its 2020 vision of becoming a high-income nation.
“I did not write off the importance of mastering the English language but only said that Malaysia can be a high-income economy with the national language,” he said.
“South Korea and Japan became high-income nations without using English. If they can do it, we can do it, too,” he added.
“In this manner, it does not mean the English language is not important. It is also crucial,” said Jala, adding that the bigger picture was to ensure that the quality of education was raised to groom a generation of calibre and competent citizens.
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(2) Syed Hamid ordered to reply over CD seizures, 12 October 2010
KUALA LUMPUR: Former Home Minister Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar has been ordered to file an affidavit-in-reply to an application by a clerk to question him over the seizure of eight compact discs that contained the word Allah.
High Court deputy registrar Halilah Suboh ordered Syed Hamid to file his reply over clerk Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill’s application to cross-examine him.
Halilah made the order after meeting Senior Federal Counsel Arik Sanusi Yeop Johari and Senior Federal Counsel Andi Razalijaya A. Dadi, who acted for Syed Hamid and the Government who were named as respondents, in her chambers yesterday.
SFC Andi said Halilah has set Oct 26 to fix trial dates for Jill’s case.
Jill, 29, also wants to question Customs superintendant Suzanah Muin ,the officer who allegedly seized the CDs from her at the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in May 2008.
Jill, from Sarawak, said she was making the application in relation to a sworn affidavit dated June 2 by Syed Hamid, the first respondent named in her judicial review and responsible, among others, for monitoring undesirable publications.
Syed Hamid, in the affidavit, had stated that the Government had issued a specific order on Dec 5, 1986, banning Christian publications from using four words, one of which was Allah.
Jill had succeeded in her bid on May 4 last year to get leave to challenge the Home Ministry’s decision to seize the CDs.
© 1995-2010 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)
2. Malaysiakini (http://www.malaysiakini.com)
Religious CD seizure challenge date on Oct 26, 11 October 2010
by Hafiz Yatim
The action by Jill Ireland, a Chritstian bumiputera, challenging the Home Ministry's seizure of eight religious CDs from her will be come before the High Court on Oct 26, when it sits to fix the hearing dates.
The matter came up for case management today before deputy registrar Halilah Suboh, who also ordered former Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar to file an affidavit in reply to Jill's application for her lawyers cross-examine him.
Sometime in August, Jill's lawyers applied to cross-examine Syed Hamid on the ministry's action in seizing the CDs.
The CDs were confiscated from Jill at the KL International Airport in 2008, after she flew in from Jakarta, because they had the word "Allah" printed on the covers.
Later, she received a letter from the Home Ministry, stating that the CDs were unlawful and that she had failed to pay customs duty.
The ministry claimed the CDs threatened security as the usage of the prohibited word ("Allah") breached Islamic Development Department (Jakim) guidelines.
Her lawyers want Syed Hamid to "explain" in court the reason for the ministry's action, since he was the minister at the time.
Several declarations sought
Apart from an unspecified sum in damages, Jill is also seeking an order of certiorari to quash the ministry's directive to confiscate the CDs, and their return.
She is also seeking declarations that:
・She can use the word "Allah", as well as own, use and import materials with the word in exercising her religious freedom because Christians in Sabah and Sarawak have been using "Allah" for centuries;
・Under Article 11 of the federal constitution, she is allowed to use and import publications to practise her religion; and,
・There should be no discrimination on issues pertaining to religion under Article 8.
The word "Allah" has been a source of contention among Malaysians, especially after the High Court in Kuala Lumpur on Dec 31 last year declared as illegal the ban by the Home Ministry on the usage of "Allah" in the Catholic Church publication, Herald.
In her written decision, judge Lau Been Lan said, "The Catholic Church comprises a large section of people from Sabah and Sarawak, whose medium of instruction is Bahasa Malaysia, and they have for years used religious material, in which God is referred as 'Allah'.
"There is also a large number of Bahasa Malaysia speaking (Catholics) in Penang and also in Malacca."
Justice Lau ruled that pursuant to Articles 11 and 12 of the federal constitution, Herald had the constitutional right to use the word in respect of instruction and education of the congregation in the Christian religion.
Then, on Jan 6, the same High Court judge granted a stay on lifting of the ban on the usage of the word "Allah" upon the application of the Attorney-General's Chambers. Lawyers for the Catholic Church also agreed with the stay pending an appeal.
The lifting of the ban, which is pending appeal before the Court of Appeal, triggered a spate of arson attacks on churches and other places of worship, including mosques, suraus, a convent school and a Sikh temple.
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