Saturday, January 05, 2008

UMNO Leaders not sensitive

Many UMNO leaders were fond of accusing people of other races and religions of being ‘insensitive’. This was especially so during the Mahathir era when Singapore leaders and newspapers were frequently taken to task for the supposedly 'insensitive' comments they made or printed.

But judging from some of the news coming from up north, I would say that the UMNO leaders themselves are guilty of being insensitive. Let’s take the latest controversy on the use of the word ‘Allah’ for God in the Malay Bible. (By the way, I wonder if Malaysian Muslims know that the Bible has been around for a much longer time than the Quran)


Mr Abdullah Zin, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s department, and de facto minister for Islamic affairs, told reporters on Thursday that the Cabinet is of the view that "Allah" refers to the Muslim God and can only be used by Muslims, who comprise about 60 percent of Malaysia's population. He said:

"The use of the word 'Allah' by non-Muslims may arouse sensitivity and create confusion among Muslims in the country,"


I think the minister could have been more sensitive and said this instead:

"Non-Muslims should not use the word 'Allah' because it may create confusion among non-Malays everywhere."

Most non-Malays like me tend to associate the word Allah with Islam.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The kuran quotes the Muslim God, the Bible referring to the Christian God, for the Jews a Jewish God, and similarly other religions have their respective gods. So can we conclude that there more than one god in this world? Can anyone confirm who is right and who is wrong? The Chinese aptly describe a confusing situation as: 'a heaven full of deities and buddhas'.

Sleepless in Singapore said...

This particular post of mine is about politicians; not religion.

Anonymous said...

Allah is Muslim name for God.