UMNO's greatest political achievement since its election shock in March 2008 has been the favourable wake churned up by the current Allah word controversy.
Much earlier, leading up to the May 2013 election, it fumbled left and right as it sought to assure Peter (Butrus in Arabic or Petrus in Indonesian) in the Heartland and Paul (Bulus in Arabic or Paulus in Indonesian) in the East.
Yes, while it was not quite robbing Petrus* to pay Paulus* or vice versa, Najib was doing a frantic juggling act so as not to upset his Heartland as well as 'Fixed Deposits'.
* I am using the Indonesian versions since the Catholic Church has shown its 'commitment' to an Indonesian word which it (in the person of Fr Lawrence Andrew) claims as a local or Malay word, wakakaka.
In my post Allah, Elohim or Yahweh? Fr Andrew stated "The new Malay bible weakens the argument for using the word Allah because some groups are trying to substitute God with a foreign name, whereas Allah is the Malay word for God and has been the accepted translation for centuries^." The alleged word was 'Elohim'.
Do you get that, where Fr Andrew said 'Elohim' was a foreign word (he's right 'coz it's Hebrew) but that 'Allah' is a Malay word? Malay word???
^ And didn't the Catholic Church use Latin in its Mass for centuries too? Didn't Catholics use to eat only non-meat dishes on Fridays for centuries too? What language is being used in Catholic Mass today? What may Catholics eat on Fridays today?
But no more, UMNO is no longer fumbling or juggling, no, not since Fr Lawrence Andrew had defied HRH Sultan of Selangor, if not legally then a la in-your-face lèse majesté, by pronouncing that the churches in Selangor will use Allah to refer to the Christian god in its Malay sessions in direct open defiance to HRH's fatwa.
What a delightful boon to a struggling fumbling juggling UMNO and a struggling fumbling juggling Najib. In one delightful fell swoop Najib achieves the following:
... without doing anything, in fact by actually doing nothing ...
... thanks to one man ..... Fr Lawrence Andrew.
No one in the Heartland gives a f**k about the legal, etymological, historical and logical arguments or international opinions. All they see, hear and learn (bullshit or otherwise) have been that Christians are pushing arrogantly into Muslim territories and showing much disrespect to HRH Selangor.
While sweetie Marina Mahathir stuck her lovely neck out for the Catholic Church as she would for the downtrodden, the underdogs and the marginalized, and Zaid Ibrahim spoke out loud for commonsense and the the rights to worship without fear or favour,and Waythamoorthy (ooops sorry lah, wakakaka) ... the Pakatan Muslims have been caught uncomfortably between the Scylla of the Christians and non-Muslim minorities and the Charybdis of the Heartland, as I mentioned in my post The cock-a-doodle-doo story.
Things are heating up real quick and nasty and as I warned in my post The elephant in the room that the humongous pachyderm sitting on many non-Muslims' heads, one they either have refused to or couldn't see, would be the probable threat to the security of this country brought about by the 'perception of the Malays' (true or otherwise) of Christian proselytizing of the followers of Islam.
As I wrote, this in fact is the bloody elephant in the Peninsula Malaysia (Malaya) room.
I venture forward daringly to even suggest a potential parallel to the Maria Hertog incident in 1950 where religious riots broke out in (then) British Singapore for 3 days where 18 people were killed while 173 were injured with many properties damaged.
The cause of the rioting was Muslims sighting (media?) photos of Maria Hertogh kneeling before a statue of the Virgin Mary.
Maria Hertogh was born a Catholic but because of family separation during WWII was raised as a Muslim by a Terengganu Malay woman, and then returned by the British court (in Singapore) to her Dutch biological parents after the war with much heartbreak for her and her Malay adopted 'mum'. The photos of her praying before the Virgin Mary was after she was returned to her biological parents.
Those Muslims went berserk at the perceived proselytizing and went on a rampage, killing mainly Westerners (Christians).
Now, the circumstances and causes of the riot on May 13 in 1969 are by now rather well-known as one stemming from political turned racial factors. Many are confident that PAS and the Malays in PKR won't succumb to the political or racial siren calls of the ultras.
But if the current acrimony over the church's use of the Allah-word were to break the camel's (religious) back a la the circumstances of the Maria Hertogh case, will PAS members and PKR Muslim members be able to hold back from the calls of a holy jihad?
Last year PAS deputy mursyidul am Haron Din was reported as saying he would never agree to any decision allowing the use of 'kalimah Allah' by non-Muslims.
He asserted: “Kalimah Allah dominates every surah in the Quran, while the word Allah cannot be found anywhere in the Bible.”
Pakatan Rakyat's indecisiveness on the ongoing tussle over the word “Allah” will cause the opposition pact to be a "sitting lame duck" in the next three years, which might work to Umno's advantage, warned a key leader.
PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli said the opposition pact's reticence could be due to the results of a survey by Universiti Malaya’s Centre for Democracy and Elections last December which showed 77% Malays polled felt that the term "Allah" should not be used by non-Muslims.
This, despite the fact that Pakatan's stand for the past three years is that the term is not exclusive to any community, he said, a stand that had caused them votes.
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| manmanlai ho liao man wakakaka |
Much earlier, leading up to the May 2013 election, it fumbled left and right as it sought to assure Peter (Butrus in Arabic or Petrus in Indonesian) in the Heartland and Paul (Bulus in Arabic or Paulus in Indonesian) in the East.
Yes, while it was not quite robbing Petrus* to pay Paulus* or vice versa, Najib was doing a frantic juggling act so as not to upset his Heartland as well as 'Fixed Deposits'.
* I am using the Indonesian versions since the Catholic Church has shown its 'commitment' to an Indonesian word which it (in the person of Fr Lawrence Andrew) claims as a local or Malay word, wakakaka.
In my post Allah, Elohim or Yahweh? Fr Andrew stated "The new Malay bible weakens the argument for using the word Allah because some groups are trying to substitute God with a foreign name, whereas Allah is the Malay word for God and has been the accepted translation for centuries^." The alleged word was 'Elohim'.
Do you get that, where Fr Andrew said 'Elohim' was a foreign word (he's right 'coz it's Hebrew) but that 'Allah' is a Malay word? Malay word???
^ And didn't the Catholic Church use Latin in its Mass for centuries too? Didn't Catholics use to eat only non-meat dishes on Fridays for centuries too? What language is being used in Catholic Mass today? What may Catholics eat on Fridays today?
But no more, UMNO is no longer fumbling or juggling, no, not since Fr Lawrence Andrew had defied HRH Sultan of Selangor, if not legally then a la in-your-face lèse majesté, by pronouncing that the churches in Selangor will use Allah to refer to the Christian god in its Malay sessions in direct open defiance to HRH's fatwa.
What a delightful boon to a struggling fumbling juggling UMNO and a struggling fumbling juggling Najib. In one delightful fell swoop Najib achieves the following:
- divert Heartland's attention away from the rising costs of living, issues of GST and the dreadful TPPA, etc
- rallied the Heartland back to its political fold
- smite Pakatan asunder, rendering PAS and PKR to be at odds with DAP, ulamas to split with Erdogens in PAS, Muslims and non-Muslims in PKR and DAP to not see eye to eye on issue, etc - I mentioned this in my post The cock-a-doodle-doo story.
... without doing anything, in fact by actually doing nothing ...
... thanks to one man ..... Fr Lawrence Andrew.
No one in the Heartland gives a f**k about the legal, etymological, historical and logical arguments or international opinions. All they see, hear and learn (bullshit or otherwise) have been that Christians are pushing arrogantly into Muslim territories and showing much disrespect to HRH Selangor.
While sweetie Marina Mahathir stuck her lovely neck out for the Catholic Church as she would for the downtrodden, the underdogs and the marginalized, and Zaid Ibrahim spoke out loud for commonsense and the the rights to worship without fear or favour,
Things are heating up real quick and nasty and as I warned in my post The elephant in the room that the humongous pachyderm sitting on many non-Muslims' heads, one they either have refused to or couldn't see, would be the probable threat to the security of this country brought about by the 'perception of the Malays' (true or otherwise) of Christian proselytizing of the followers of Islam.
As I wrote, this in fact is the bloody elephant in the Peninsula Malaysia (Malaya) room.
 |
| Jumbo's name is Maria ... as in Maria Hertogh |
I venture forward daringly to even suggest a potential parallel to the Maria Hertog incident in 1950 where religious riots broke out in (then) British Singapore for 3 days where 18 people were killed while 173 were injured with many properties damaged.
The cause of the rioting was Muslims sighting (media?) photos of Maria Hertogh kneeling before a statue of the Virgin Mary.
Maria Hertogh was born a Catholic but because of family separation during WWII was raised as a Muslim by a Terengganu Malay woman, and then returned by the British court (in Singapore) to her Dutch biological parents after the war with much heartbreak for her and her Malay adopted 'mum'. The photos of her praying before the Virgin Mary was after she was returned to her biological parents.
 |
| Maria Hertogh |
Those Muslims went berserk at the perceived proselytizing and went on a rampage, killing mainly Westerners (Christians).
 |
| riot over the Maria Hertogh incident |
Now, the circumstances and causes of the riot on May 13 in 1969 are by now rather well-known as one stemming from political turned racial factors. Many are confident that PAS and the Malays in PKR won't succumb to the political or racial siren calls of the ultras.
But if the current acrimony over the church's use of the Allah-word were to break the camel's (religious) back a la the circumstances of the Maria Hertogh case, will PAS members and PKR Muslim members be able to hold back from the calls of a holy jihad?
Last year PAS deputy mursyidul am Haron Din was reported as saying he would never agree to any decision allowing the use of 'kalimah Allah' by non-Muslims.
He asserted: “Kalimah Allah dominates every surah in the Quran, while the word Allah cannot be found anywhere in the Bible.”
Even the Penang Mufti has recently jumped on the bandwagon to prohibit non-Muslims from using some 40 words related to Islam.
While my Bhai hero railed against that prohibition on legal grounds and quoted the legal assessments of senior lawyer Roger Tan, state exco on Islamic affairs Abdul Malik Kassim (PKR) refused to comment on the Mufti's moves for the reason I stated in The cock-a-doodle-doo story.
No matey, it's not an easy time for Pakatan Muslims, unless they are like Marina Mahathir or Zaid Ibrahim.
And has Lim Guan Eng said anything? If he has then I have been rather negligent in not hearing or reading of it. But really, the issue has been embarrassing and damn vexing for Pakatan solidarity.
My dear Bhai, you can argue on logical, legal, historical, etymological grounds and quote international Muslim experts and even the Mufti of this and that, yes, until the cows come home, but those in the Heartland won't give a damn shake (I'm using the polite word here).
That's why Najib and UMNO have politically achieved much for the first time since March 2008, and without doing anything at all ...
... all thanks to one man ... Fr Lawrence Andrew.
Thus I argue that if we were unfortunate enough to experience (again) any outbreak of nastiness arising from the annoying insistence of the church to use the Allah word, it will be one a la Maria Hertogh rather than May 13, where sadly, it will probably see PAS and PKR Muslims rallying under a unified Malay-Muslim banner against non-Muslims, specifically Christians.
But thank goodness, PKR's Rafizi Ramli has the bloody noodles (brains) and guts to say what needs to be said, but wakakaka, without actually saying it.
TMI reported in its article Pakatan’s indecisiveness on ‘Allah’ issue will cost them dearly in next polls, warns Rafizi:
Pakatan Rakyat's indecisiveness on the ongoing tussle over the word “Allah” will cause the opposition pact to be a "sitting lame duck" in the next three years, which might work to Umno's advantage, warned a key leader.
PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli said the opposition pact's reticence could be due to the results of a survey by Universiti Malaya’s Centre for Democracy and Elections last December which showed 77% Malays polled felt that the term "Allah" should not be used by non-Muslims.
This, despite the fact that Pakatan's stand for the past three years is that the term is not exclusive to any community, he said, a stand that had caused them votes.
Rafizi cut to the chase and warned that unless Pakatan come swiftly to a decision, no matter how bitter it may be to some supporters, the coalition will fall prey and remain thus to UMNO's manipulation of racial and religious issues associated with the use of the Allah-word.
He stated rather bluntly and frankly: "There is a need for serious soul searching and contemplation within PR leadership to find out how exactly we want to face this monster," implying that Pakatan may (kaytee's own interpretation from here as I read TMI's report) even have to offend the Christians which '... might even cost them electoral support'.
He stated rather bluntly and frankly: "There is a need for serious soul searching and contemplation within PR leadership to find out how exactly we want to face this monster," implying that Pakatan may (kaytee's own interpretation from here as I read TMI's report) even have to offend the Christians which '... might even cost them electoral support'.
That must the monster he was referring to!
Rafizi said taking a difficult decision (even at the loss of some electoral support) would still be better than doing nothing or evading the issue in a wishy washy way. He believes that the lost support may possibly be regained through the next few years.
The problem, he said, is the use of traditional media against the pact which "drowned out" its stand.
"It is a question of perception and it arises because the media is being used in favour of BN and the extremists. Our position gets skewed or misquoted," he said.
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| elephant-in-room monster? |
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| looes74 monster? "hey, look at me, the head not the hunter, yes the head, that's me looes74" wakakaka |
Rafizi said taking a difficult decision (even at the loss of some electoral support) would still be better than doing nothing or evading the issue in a wishy washy way. He believes that the lost support may possibly be regained through the next few years.
But I see those required difficult decisions/actions as implied by Rafizi Ramli, as being more than avoiding alienation of the Heartland from Pakatan. It's to prevent another Maria Hertogh situation.
Maybe Pakatan could also advise the Vatican to have need of Fr Lawrence Andrew's 'amazing' diplomatic skills, in Rome wakakaka.
UPDATE (11 am 15/01/14):
Following Rafizi Ramli's succinct warning on Pakatan losing out politically to UMNO because of the church insistence on using the Allah word in its Malay prayer sessions,TMI reported in its Pakatan leaders agree need for common stand on 'Allah' issue the following (relevant extracts only):
The PR leaders also warned that as religion is a sensitive topic, it was necessary to address it carefully to avoid the fanning emotions. Mainly Muslim Malaysia has a 29 million population with at least 10% being Christians. [...]
PAS central committee member Khalid Samad agreed that it would benefit the opposition coalition to have a common stand.
"Pakatan leaders should discuss this, make a decision and stick to their guns," he told The Malaysian Insider. [...]
We can speculate as what he meant by '... make a decision and stick to their guns' but I reckon we won't be far wrong if he had implied adopting what Rafizi has euphemistically stated as "There is a need for serious soul searching and contemplation within PR leadership to find out how exactly we want to face this monster."
The Islamist party's official stand, said the Shah Alam MP, is that the word "Allah" is not exclusive to Muslims but felt the word "God" should be translated as "Tuhan" instead of "Allah". [...]
... and also available are additional ones like MahaDewa, Elohim, Yahweh, Elyon, El Shaddai, etc.
UPDATE (11 am 15/01/14):
Following Rafizi Ramli's succinct warning on Pakatan losing out politically to UMNO because of the church insistence on using the Allah word in its Malay prayer sessions,TMI reported in its Pakatan leaders agree need for common stand on 'Allah' issue the following (relevant extracts only):
The PR leaders also warned that as religion is a sensitive topic, it was necessary to address it carefully to avoid the fanning emotions. Mainly Muslim Malaysia has a 29 million population with at least 10% being Christians. [...]
PAS central committee member Khalid Samad agreed that it would benefit the opposition coalition to have a common stand.
"Pakatan leaders should discuss this, make a decision and stick to their guns," he told The Malaysian Insider. [...]
We can speculate as what he meant by '... make a decision and stick to their guns' but I reckon we won't be far wrong if he had implied adopting what Rafizi has euphemistically stated as "There is a need for serious soul searching and contemplation within PR leadership to find out how exactly we want to face this monster."
The Islamist party's official stand, said the Shah Alam MP, is that the word "Allah" is not exclusive to Muslims but felt the word "God" should be translated as "Tuhan" instead of "Allah". [...]
... and also available are additional ones like MahaDewa, Elohim, Yahweh, Elyon, El Shaddai, etc.
PKR vice-president N. Surendran said opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had clearly stated his stand that the term is not exclusive to any community.
The problem, he said, is the use of traditional media against the pact which "drowned out" its stand.
"It is a question of perception and it arises because the media is being used in favour of BN and the extremists. Our position gets skewed or misquoted," he said.
Indeed YB, it is a question of perception that's unfavourable and unjust to Pakatan, but given this reality why continue to argue against that invincible perception on etymological, historical, legal, expetise or logical grounds when all that would be like banging your head against an unyielding deaf wall?
DAP as spoken for by its Vice-chairperson Ariffin Omar has agreed to Pakatan taking a common stand.