YOURSAY 'Now all Christians have seen the insincerity of the Umno-led government and how they are bullying the minorities.'

In Sarawak, angry reactions to 'Allah' ruling

Sali Tambap: You know what, the ‘Allah' court ruling is the best thing that can happen to the Christians.

Christianity will not disappear even if the word 'Allah' cannot be used. The word of God will be with them until the end of time. They will become stronger and more resolute in their faith.

History has shown that Christians were at their strongest when they suffered persecution. But what Monday's court ruling has achieved is that now all Christians have seen the insincerity of the Umno-led government and how they are bullying the minorities.

Maybe before some of them were blind having been sweet talked with political promises but now Umno true colour is being shown. They always hate the Christians. Christians will surely reply in kind to this wickedness, not by force but by what they know how, which would be by their votes.

Oriole: Sabahans and Sarawakians should look at your political leaders from BN who have led you on. Both these two states are also useful to the ruling coalition because the poorest bumiputeras are to be found in these two states.

This is useful in arguments about preferential policies for all bumis including the 1.3 percent who own 75 percent of bumi corporate equity.

But rest assured, as long as such poverty is useful in winning votes, little will be done to alleviate it. Sabahans and Sarawakians need to wake up to this fact.

Anonymous #21828131: I especially like Bingkor state representative Jeffrey Kitingan's comment which hit the nail on its head like a sledgehammer. A few groups of ultras are beginning to shake the foundation of Malaysia.

These ultras don't know whether they are coming or going. They want the entire country to themselves. They don't know the realities of religion in East/West Malaysia and the rest of the world.

Why this manifestation? It is the direct result of being spoon-fed, nurtured, given special treatment in everything, be it religion, economy, housing, education, contracts and jobs. All these benefits have stirred up their "greed" and "power" to have the cake for themselves and them alone.

This alone goes against the basic tenets of Islam. To top it ,we have a PM who is terribly weak and who wants to be in his party's good books.

Toffeesturn: For me as a West Malaysian I am telling the East Malaysians you are better off out of Malaysia than in Malaysia.

I witnessed the formation of Malaysia, I witnessed your concerns about joining the federation, I witnessed what former home minister Ghazali Shafie told you about the position of Islam and this being a secular nation, but today your rights as Christians are being trampled upon without any care for what you think.

Singapore was forced out in the belief that it would come back with a begging bowl but look at what has happened today. Today they have reneged on the immigration requirement, they have placed puppets to run Sarawak and Sabah. For goodness sake, stand up and fight and make sure they give you your dues or go your own way.

Your resources are better off in your own hands than in theirs, you are on the losing end, they are really raping the land in worse fashion than the British colonialists. Act before it is too late.

Lamborghini: As a Christian, I am deeply saddened by the Court of Appeal ruling and feel very insulted by the illogical and prejudiced views of the so-called "learned judges".

At the same time, I am heartened by the strong voices raised up by the East Malaysian Christian leaders who are rightfully indignant and just wants to preserve the religious freedom that was promised to them before forming part of Malaysia.

I will also strongly urge all the Christian MPs and YBs within BN to speak up and demand an answer from our PM and the cabinet.

Otherwise, do the right and honourable thing and leave the government that seems to be interested only in enforcing the supremacy of Islam and of the Malays while hypocritically proclaiming 1Malaysia.

Odin: Lamborghini, at all the online news portals that I have visited, many readers whom we can safely assume to be West Malaysians have been very quick to condemn and insult East Malaysians.

For example, whenever there were reports of how the East Malaysians such as the Penans have been mistreated, they have been calling the East Malaysians stupid for having voted for the BN, that they deserved what they got, that give them RM50 or a bottle of ‘chap langkau' and they would vote for the BN, and similar insulting remarks.

Below you can see similar examples.

Apache: What is the point of being angry now when many of you voters sold your votes for mere RM50, elected your representatives who dare not protect your birth rights and now they are supporting the regime who is taking away your religious freedom.

You deserve this for voting them in en bloc. ‘Janji ditepati' from PM to the non-Muslims.

MockingYou: Thanks Odin. Old coots like me who is a federalist first and foremost won't be needed in those ‘new nations'. I'll stay and fight rearguard actions e.g. transferring money to young ones to forge a brighter future there. Sort of making amends for the many past mistakes.

Anonymous_40c3: The impact of the Court of Appeal ruling is not limited to the ban on The Herald to use the word 'Allah'.

As there is now precedent and authority to which reference may be made to for the use of the word 'Allah', unless reversed, the decision of the Court of Appeal stands and that the ban will have a spillover effect in every facet of religious worship relating to the other faiths which have been using the word 'Allah'.

Malaccan: I am concerned with the talk from politicians about a solution, specially for East Malaysian Christians. Although there are very different situations between East and West Malaysia, there should not be different treatment.

This is more divide-and-rule tactic being employed. What happens to the East Malaysians who come to the West to work and for holidays, etc? What rule will apply then? It will split the Malaysian church and it will split the nation even more as well.

Even in West Malaysia, there are many BM-speaking Christians like the Orang Asli and the Baba community. What about them? Are they not citizens too just like those in East Malaysia? I am glad church leaders are speaking as Malaysians and as one.

Zen: Malay supremacy in this Malay nation will ensure that the Malays will emerge victorious in the Allah issue. There is no point challenging this case in the Federal Court as it will only undermine the credibility of the church further since the final result will still be in the favour of the government.

The failure to gauge Muslim resistance to the Allah issue in West Malaysia will be seen as poor judgement by the church and will go down in history as another black incident of sheer stupidity, stubborness and unnecessary ego.

It will also seal the the real intention of Christianity in the eyes of the Malays of the true intention of Christianity, ie not to practise their faith peacefully but is actually on a confrontation with the Malay-dominated government.

What a stupid course of action for a religion which is suppose to create goodwill with the owners of the nation.

The Patriot: Based on ultra Malays logic, if you are not happy migrate. Perhaps based on this logic, the Sarawakians and Sabahan should demand all West Malaysians to leave Sarawak and Sabah.

This include the numerous civil servants of Malay origin. Harping on this route is like opening a Pandora's Box with endless, dangerous possibilities.

The irony of it, those Perkasa gangs seem to have a field day because the Dayaks and the Kadazandusun have embraced Christianity, which taught them to be peaceful and tolerance people.

Had they been still in their pre-Christians state, they would have invoke their 'ngayau', spirit, then heads would be rolling - the slogan 'Agi idup, agi ngelaban', would truly be the norm. God has mercy on Malaysia.

Doc: Jesus preached that if anyone slaps you on the cheek, give them the other. As for the Sarawakians, the BN government is robbing them of their land, raping them, flooding their countryside with multiple dams, raping their lands, keeping them in poverty, denying them human rights, basic enmities and now denying them religious freedom.

In this case, the Sarawakians after getting slapped on both cheeks and also been given a kick in the back by BN; they have voted and will still continue to vote BN. Hence BN has coined an apt term for them - ‘fixed deposit'. In this case, it is a high-yielding deposit.

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