Cabinet clash over use of "Allah"
(Taken from TODAY newspaper, 7th Feb 2009)
Still touching on religious matter, this article would analyze the power of how certain sensitive words affect people.
The article is about dispute that arose in Malaysia when Catholic Herald, a Catholic newspaper, used the word "Allah". Malaysian Home Ministry claimed that the word is the preserve of followers of Islam in Malaysia.
Nonetheless, Mr. Bernard Dompok, leader of the Upko political party in Sabah and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, said that the term "Allah" is widely used by Christians around the world as reference to "God" and there is no reason for the Home Ministry to continue harassing the Catholic Herald.
The issue is now before the High Court with the Catholic Church seeking a ruling on the right to continue using the word.
The only rational explanation as to why such issue is being fought over in Malaysia, lies on the place where this word is being used. in short, this article pointed out the indisputable fact that our cultures and sorroundings affect our perceptions on certain things. Moreover, it is also to be noted that our behaviour are based on our perception rather than on realtiy, and it is sometimes deceptive.
As we know, Malaysia is a Muslim country where people valued their religous strongly. This has caused the Muslim in Malaysia to acquire a sense of belonging in the word "Allah" which they frequently use to refer to their God, ignoring the fact that "Allah" is indeed a general term as a reference to any "God".
