Letter by Karamchan Naidu
I am a Johor boy. Studied there all my life. Every week for the past 12 years of my primary and secondary schooling I used to sing the Lagu Johor at the school assembly.
The song is as follows;
Allah peliharakan Sultan
‘Nugrahkan dia segala kehormatan
Sihat dan ria, kekal dan makmur
Luaskan kuasa, menaungkan kami
Rakyat dipimpini berzaman lagi
Dengan Merdeka bersatu hati
Allah berkati Johor
Allah selamatkan Sultan.
The government and more recently, the Sultan of Selangor has said the usage of the word Allah by non Muslims are illegal and wrong. If this is so, how come I, as a non Muslim, was forced to sing this song every week?
The word Allah is engraved in my mind as reference to the Almighty God.
Am I now in a position to sue the Johor State government for encouraging me to do something illegal? Mind you, Johor is the BN stronghold, so, how come the government is also not banning the Lagu Johor?