(Ahmad Ismail pic courtesy of Oriental Daily) HARDLY a year goes by in Malaysia without some kind of public dispute involving race and religion. The issue for 2010: “Allah“. 2009: Cow-head protesters and Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno‘s whipping sentence. 2008: Datuk Ahmad Ismail and his “pendatang” slurs against non-Malay Malaysians. 2007: Lina Joy‘s contentious conversion […]
Current Issues
Addressing climate change
By Gan Pei LingWORLD leaders may continue to defend themselves, but it will not change the fact that they failed to live up to the world’s expectations at the 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15). Indeed, the Copenhagen Accord — the “deal” that governments agreed to take note of at COP15 — did not spell out the […]
The impact of migration
By Ding Jo-Ann(Pic by mirofoto / sxc.hu) WITH the recent attack on churches, a Catholic school and a Sikh gurdwara, migration is likely to be on the minds of some Malaysians. Despite government assurances that “everything is under control“, diminishing respect for rights as demonstrated by the “Allah” issue has naturally caused consternation among educated Malaysians. At […]
Are our children protected?
By Ding Jo-Ann(Pic by NTLam @ Flickr) THE allegation in late 2009 of a sex offender operating a kindergarten is just one of a growing number of reported cases of child abuse, molestation and rape. Police statistics indicate a rise from 2,236 reported cases in 2005 to 5,744 in 2008, an increase of more than 2.5 times […]
PMs assured Christians of use of “Allah”
By Ding Jo-AnnPETALING JAYA, 13 Jan 2010: Even though the government banned the use of “Allah” by non-Muslims in 1986, the churches refrained from court action for more than 20 years because of assurances from two prime ministers. ShastriCouncil of Churches of Malaysia general secretary Rev Dr Hermen Shastri told The Nut Graph that Christian leaders were […]
“Allah” can be discussed calmly
By Ding Jo-Ann(Corrected at 4:38pm, 12 Jan 2010) KUALA LUMPUR, 12 Jan 2010: Malaysians are mature enough to openly discuss issues without resorting to violence, said the organiser of an 11 Jan 2010 public forum on the “Allah” issue. Despite being told by police to cancel last night’s forum following the spate of attacks on churches, the […]
Correcting the IGP
By Shanon ShahARSONISTS attacked eight churches Musa Hassan (Pic by Ridzuan Aziz / Wiki commons) between 8 and 11 Jan 2010 all over Malaysia — something unheard of in the country’s history. And yet, on 9 Jan, Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Musa Hassan advised churches to tighten security at their premises because there were not […]
Protests can’t be stopped?
By Ding Jo-Ann“We cannot stop them if they want to congregate in mosques.” PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, saying the government could not stop people from protesting the 31 Dec 2009 High Court decision that lifted the ban on Catholic paper Herald from using “Allah” to refer to God. (Source: Najib: We can’t stop people from […]
Losing the BTN plot
By Shanon ShahHOW have Malaysians been discussing the recent controversy over the Biro Tata Negara (BTN) programmes? Let us count the ways. There are those who defend the BTN courses, such as Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein. Then there are the critics. Some, like de facto Law Minister […]
“Qur’an: Muslims and Christians worship same God”
By Ding Jo-Ann(Pic by Lorna / Dreamstime) PETALING JAYA, 6 Jan 2010: An American-based Islamic society has commended the 31 Dec 2009 High Court judgement that lifted the ban on the use of “Allah” by Catholic paper Herald. The Islamic Society of North America (Isna) said the Qur’an was explicit that Muslims worshipped the same God as […]
