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Court rules Herald free to use the word “Allah”

By Lisa Goh
The Star
31.12.09

KUALA LUMPUR: The Catholic weekly Herald is now free to use the word “Allah” in its publication after the High Court quashed the Home Minister’s prohibition against it using the word, declaring the order as “illegal, null and void.”

In her decision, Justice Lau Bee Lan also declared that under Article 3(1) of the Federal Constitution, applicant Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam had the constitutional right to use “Allah” in Herald in the exercise of his right that religions other than Islam might be practised in peace and harmony in the country.

She further ruled that the Constitution, which states Islam as the country’s religion, did not empower the minister to make such a prohibition.

“In pursuant to Article 10, the applicant also has the right to use the word ‘Allah’ in the Herald in the exercise of his right to freedom of speech and expression.” she said in her oral judgment Thursday to a packed courtroom.

Justice Lau ruled as grounds for her judgement that both the respondents – the minister and the Malaysian government – had failed throughout the trial to prove how the use of the word “Allah” could threaten national security. Continue reading “Court rules Herald free to use the word “Allah””

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After nine months, “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” has proved to be mere publicity and propaganda puff of Najib premiership with no meaningful change or consequence to the lives of Malaysians

Malaysians enter the new year of 2010 with Datuk Seri Najib Razak completing three-quarters of his first year as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia.

After nine months, “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” has proved to be mere publicity and propaganda puff of the Najib premiership with no meaningful change or consequence to the lives of Malaysians.

Are Malaysians of diverse races, religions and regions more united as one Malaysian people or even more divided than ever?

Do Malaysians feel safer from the endemic tide of crime which had deprived them of the two fundamental freedoms of any citizen in any civilized society – to be free from crime and the fear of crime?

Is Malaysia becoming a country where accountability, transparency and integrity are not just slogans but taken seriously by the government with the political will to take action against the “sharks” and not just “ikan bilis”?
Continue reading “After nine months, “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” has proved to be mere publicity and propaganda puff of Najib premiership with no meaningful change or consequence to the lives of Malaysians”