1. The Malay Mail Online（http://www.themalaymailonline.com）
JAKIM must not be Malaysia’s sole voice, churches tell silent Putrajaya, 9 September 2013
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 9 — The Najib administration must speak up for all Malaysians of different creeds and stop the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) from acting as the government’s voice, the country’s largest church group said today.
The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) — which is the umbrella body for Catholics, Protestants and Evangelicals — noted the federal Islamic authority had stepped beyond its bounds with its “blatant scaremongering” and provocative calls for Muslims to defend a court bid by the churches for the right to also call their god, “Allah”.
“The repeated accusations that the use of the word ‘Allah’ is a device that is part of a Christian conspiracy to convert Muslims has never been substantiated. Such irresponsible accusations must stop.
“This is blatant scaremongering and provoking of religious tensions,” CFM said in a strongly-worded statement today, on the eve of the “Allah” row’s return to court after a tension-filled five-year wait.
t highlighted a recent television programme broadcast nationwide, which it claimed had shown untrue and unsubstantiated accusations about so-called Christian plots to convert Muslims, and last Friday’s official sermon, written by JAKIM that called Muslims to rise up in a “holy struggle” to defend Islam against Christians over the “Allah” word.
The church body denounced such actions as “incendiary” and said Malaysians were alarmed at the lack of action or statement from the government to rein in the Islamic body.
It said it feared that unless the government broke its silence, JAKIM’s calls and action might ultimately trigger emotional reactions leading to public disorder.
“The CFM vigorously calls upon the Malaysian Government, which represents ALL Malaysians, to ensure, uphold and protect freedom of religion in Malaysia.
“Let not JAKIM be the only voice purporting to speak on behalf of the Government of Malaysia that has said that it represents Malaysians of different faiths and ethnicities,” said CFM, which represents over 90 per cent of churches and some 2.6 million Christians nationwide.
Malaysian population statistics.It also asked Muslims in Malaysia to reflect, understand and appreciate the context of how, when and why Christians use the word “Allah”, in a reminder that the latter group had been doing so for centuries elsewhere around the world, including in the Middle East from where both religions originated.
“This use has carried on for centuries through our shared history without any problem, and we have lived in relative peace and harmony for many years whilst this use has been on-going.
“In dealing with the issue of the use of the word ‘Allah’ for God, as indeed with other inter-religious issues, there is a need for the truth, i.e. facts and evidence, to be looked at, instead of an appeal to purely emotional rhetoric or use of base insults, or talk of plots and alleged conversions,” CFM added.
The Home Ministry’s appeal against a 2009 High Court ruling allowing the local Catholic Church to publish the word “ Allah” for the Christian god in the Bahasa Malaysia section of its paper will be heard in the Court of Appeal tomorrow.
The case, which has been simmering for decades, has cast a spotlight on the fragile religious and racial ties within multicultural Malaysia, in particular the country of 28 million’s Muslim majority and its non-Muslim groups.
The “Allah” row erupted in 2008 when the Home Ministry threatened to revoke the Herald’s newspaper permit for its reference to God as “Allah”, prompting the Catholic Church to sue the government for violating its constitutional rights.
Christians subsequently argued that the word predates Islam and that their right to use “Allah” in a non-Muslim context was affirmed by the government’s own 10-point solution issued in 2011.
The 2009 High Court decision upholding the Catholic Church’s constitutional right to use the word “Allah” had shocked many Muslims that consider the word to only refer to the Islamic God.
It also led to Malaysia’s worst religious strife, with houses of worship throughout the country coming under attack.
Muslims are Malaysia’s largest religious group with 15.7 million people, followed by Buddhists at 5.5 million. Christians are the third largest at 2.6 million, according to statistics from the 2010 consensus.
2.National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (http://www.necf.org.my)
CHRISTIAN FEDERATION OF MALAYSIA
(PERSEKUTUAN KRISTIAN MALAYSIA)
9 September 2013
CFM MEDIA STATEMENT
Stop Baseless Accusations And Calls For "Action" Over The Use Of The Word "Allah"
As the hearing date of 10 September 2013 for the appeal by the Government of Malaysia against the decision of the High Court of Malaya to allow The Herald newspaper to use the word "Allah" fast approaches, the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) notes with grave concern the calls by various groups to 'defend' Islam from being insulted and threatened.
In particular, we refer to a television programme in which untrue and unsubstantiated accusations were made about so-called Christian plots to convert Muslims, and to the official Friday sermon (khutbah) written by JAKIM (the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia, or Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia) and delivered on 6 September 2013, which called for "action" ("tindakan") in defence of Islam by Muslims over the use of the word "Allah" for God by Christians, and that such defence was a "holy struggle" ("perjuangan suci").
The issue, then, is whether such calls would become the catalyst and the incitement of reactions which may result in public disorder. Even a cursory examination of these accusations and statements will clearly show that they are emotional and without factual basis.
However, the call for "action" by some Muslims is incendiary and alarming to ordinary Malaysians. Worst of all, there appears to be no action or statement whatsoever from any governmental authority in our nation, calling for calm or even ordering a stop to such stoking of anger and heightening of feelings.
Let it be made clear once again that:
1. The word "Allah" to refer to God is used by about 60% of the approximately 2.6 million Christians in Malaysia. Bumiputra Christians, who only have Bahasa Malaysia as their common language for worship and prayer, have long used the Bahasa Malaysia Bible containing the word "Allah" for God without any uproar, resistance nor objection.
2. The word "Allah" to refer to God has been in use for hundreds of years in various translations of and from the Bible (please refer to the CFM Fact Sheet issued on 16 May 2013).
3. Only in Malaysia is the use of the word "Allah" to refer to God by Christians a problem for Muslims. Christians in the Middle East freely use the word "Allah". There is no confusion.
4. The repeated accusations that the use of the word "Allah" is a device that is part of a Christian conspiracy to convert Muslims has never been substantiated. Such irresponsible accusations must stop. This is blatant scaremongering and provoking of religious tensions.
The CFM invites our Muslim sisters and brothers in Malaysia to reflect, understand and appreciate the context of how, when and why Christians use the word "Allah". This use has carried on for centuries through our shared history without any problem, and we have lived in relative peace and harmony for many years whilst this use has been on-going.
In dealing with the issue of the use of the word "Allah" for God, as indeed with other inter-religious issues, there is a need for the truth, i.e. facts and evidence, to be looked at, instead of an appeal to purely emotional rhetoric or use of base insults, or talk of plots and alleged conversions.
The CFM vigorously calls upon the Malaysian Government, which represents ALL Malaysians, to ensure, uphold and protect freedom of religion in Malaysia. Let not JAKIM be the only voice purporting to speak on behalf of the Government of Malaysia that has said that it represents Malaysians of different faiths and ethnicities.
The CFM requests all Christians to continue to pray for peace and justice. May God bless and protect our beloved nation, and grant peace to all Malaysians.
Rev. Dr. Eu Hong Seng
Chairman and the Executive Committee,
The Christian Federation of Malaysia
3.Malaysiakini(http://www.malaysiakini.com)
Anwar: M'sia not ready to make English a 'must pass', 7 September 2013
by Ram Anand
The time is not yet right for the Education Ministry to make passing English in public examinations compulsory, opined Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.
Anwar said for that to happen, the government must focus on making the facilities available first.
"This (a compulsory English pass) will burden students because the facilities and teachers are not up to the mark yet," he said.
He was speaking at a press conference after delivering a keynote address at a conference on the Islamic resurgence.
Anwar said that in any masterplan, the issue of further strengthening the command of the Malay language as the national language among students must be addressed first.
"They must start by uplifting Bahasa Melayu as the official language, not only in terms of command, but also in terms of quality," he said.
"But this has not been resolved yet," he pointed out.
He said that the country's leaders are disconnected from the grassroots, and that is why they are unable to fathom the differences in the facilities between urban and rural schools, which would makeit difficult for the latter if English were to be made a compulsory pass subject.
"Compulsory to study I agree, increase the quality of English command I agree, must pass though is in an uncertain period, the quality of teachers, facilities, including in vernacular schools - must all be looked at first," he said.
"I don't think it's fair to make it a must pass before the facilities are fully in place," he added.
(End)
