Dealing With Malaysia's Racial and Religious Diversity...Part 3

The decision by Syed Hamid Albar, the Minister of Home Affairs, to overrule the earlier gazette which allows the Christians to use the word Allah did not help calm the religious tension in Malaysia. As a result, more and more people in-the-street feel that the government is trying to hide something and that it seems to be influenced more by religious bigots in an otherwise secular Malaysia. But I am optimistic that the recent religious issue can be solved if right thinking Malaysians start to think beyond race and religion. This would involve several steps, some of which are as follows:

• let the Christians use of the word Allah. The earlier precedent must be used as a point of reference. There is no evidence to point the use of the word Allah as a means to confuse the Muslim community. However, it must be stated that the word Allah has its own theological and doctrinal underpinnings that are especially held by the Christian community regardless from which denominations they come from. The Christian leaders must convince Malaysians that their use of the word Allah is not meant to confuse anyone. I would suggest an open dialogue between the Christian and Muslim leaders (including those affected by the issue) to create better understanding among them. The dialogue should not be an avenue to determine who is right or wrong. It is a first step towards educating Malaysian that a civil, responsible and intellectual dialogue can be held in Malaysia.


• once the government allows the use of the word Allah, the Christian leaders must withdraw their suit against the government. This is to show that they are serious in maintaining inter-religious harmony in Malaysia. Bringing the case to the court will further antagonise the respective parties and this is not healthy to Malaysia in the long run.


• the government must consider establishing a National Religious Council (NRC) to advise the government on how to handle religious sensitivities. Its chairmanship must be rotated among leaders of the main religions in Malaysia. This council is to act as religious adviser to the government.

I believe a majority of Malaysians want to see peace and harmony are maintained. I hope to see more and more progressive Malaysians to come forward and support the country's religious freedom and at the same time "tame" the the movement to turn Malaysia into a theocratic state. Let us put a stop to the Allah issue and start concentrating on more important issues such as reviving the economy and developing the people's socio-economic well-being. I would like to end by appending a piece of writing by a Sabahan which I think knows pretty well how a petty issue such as the Allah issue will not do any good but harm to racial and religious harmony in Malaysia.

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Wrangling over a word

By: Amde Sidik

LET me share my experience on the current controversy over the use of the word "Allah".
I'm not arguing about the legality of it since the case is pending before the courts. I'm merely talking about people who I knew for a long time now - the Lundayeh from Sabah, and the Lunbawang from Sarawak. The two are actually of the same ethnicity, but called by two different names in these two different regions. I don't mention other ethnics here, which share the same predicament. The Lundayeh, aren't permitted to use word "Allah" in their prayer book because they are Christian.

This is going by the reason offered by the Home Minister, Datuk Syed Hamid Albar.
The Lundayeh comprise mostly followers of Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB), a relatively new group who professed Christianity due to the efforts of the Borneo Evangelical Mission (BEM).
Hudson Southwell pioneered the mission with his two friends from Melbourne, Australia, who landed in Kuching from Singapore in 1928. They met one of the Rajah Brookes and were given permission to establish this mission. Before Sabah's independence through the formation of Malaysia in 1963, Bahasa Malaysia was already widely spoken throughout Borneo island.
Thus, in mid 60s, BEM changed its name to Sidang Injil Borneo, shortly as SIB.

By the late 50s and early 60s, the religion quickly spread throughout the Brunei Bay region (South West of Borneo). It found its way into Sipitang district, Lawas and Limbang in Sarawak.
The Lundayeh preachers concentrated on their own ethnic group before heading to the interior of Sabah, especially Kota Marudu and Kudat. When I was a child, I used to hear my Lun Dayeh relatives joke about how unsure they were about their new religion, because prior to 1920s most of Borneo people who lived in the interior were animists, and Lundayeh were in the same category until the late 50s.

SIB preachers trained in various places in Sarawak and also in Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Once graduated, these preachers are called Gembala. Linguistically they are very fluent in Bahasa Indonesia. Hence, their Bible came to contain terms very similar to the Malay Muslims like, dosa, syurga, neraka, roh, kiamat, and so on. During my schooling days, especially living in boarding school in the 70s, many of my Lundayeh schoolmates, who were also my relatives and cousins, used to keep their prayer books under their pillows. It was written in Bahasa Indonesia, unlike the Quran, which is written in Arabic.

Hence, in their Bible is mentioned "Allah" in numerous accounts and many other similar terms.
The Kadayan have always been linked with Lundayeh, so too Murut Tagal, Kelabit in Sarawak, and Brunai (Malay Brunei's race). At one time, all except Brunai, were called Orang Darat or people of the interior. My grandfather was a Lun Dayeh adopted by a Kadayan family. He became Muslim, married my grandmother a Kadayan from Sarawak. In Sipitang district, the Lundayeh intermingled with the Kadayan and Brunais since time immemorial and lots of intermarriages have taken place over the centuries. So much so, one can hardly recognise, based on appearance and complexion, whether one is Muslim or not. Even the names sound very much Muslim, Yusuf, Aini, Musa, etc. The modern names of the Lundayeh very much sound Western, such as George, Hendricks, John, etc.

But their last names can be classical, like, Labo, Balang, Singa, Agong, Selutan, Pengiran, etc. My younger brother, a few of my first cousins and I too, have our own Lundayeh name.
Not long ago, if one went to Lawas, in Sarawak, one would find my Lunbawang relatives wearing songkok. Those unfamiliar with the place thought they were Muslim, but they were not.
But my question is, why is it that as time goes by religion becomes a sticking point to our harmony? Political leaders are so bogged down about it when 50 years ago, it was non-issue.
Many of the issues originate from the peninsula and not in Sabah or Sarawak and get blown out of proportion. We end up squabbling over issues which I consider a waste of time and energy when they should be spent on resolving the country's economic problems, unemployment, rising cost of consumer goods, bad roads, toll hike, illegal immigrants etc.

Source: Daily Express, March 15, 2009

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