Courageous Heart

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Sarawak Energy grants USD196 million in contracts to Chief Minister’s son amidst growing tensions over dam projects

Sarawak Cable Bhd (SCB) has bagged two new contracts totalling RM618.6 million from Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) to develop transmission lines in Sarawak.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, SCB said the group, via its unit Trenergy Infrastructure Sdn Bhd, yesterday received a letter of award from SEB for the Sinohydro-Trenergy Joint Venture the Mapai to Lachau 500kV transmission line project (Package B) for RM352.8 million. It also received a letter of award dated Oct 23, 2013 for the Lachau to Tondong 500kV transmission line project (Package C) for RM265.8 million.

Read more here: http://www.thesundaily.my/news/868887

Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib, the son of long-serving Sarawak state chief minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, owns 20.69% of Sarawak Cable. State-owned Sarawak Energy, meanwhile, owns 18.75% of the firm.

Sarawak Cable is chaired by Mahmud Abu Bekir, the elder son of Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud. According to company documents, the Sarawak strongman’s son is both chairman of Sarawak Cable and its second-largest shareholder with a 33% stake in the company (21% held directly and 12% indirectly).

The Bruno Manser Fund is dismayed that Sarawak Energy under its Norwegian CEO, Torstein Sjøtveit, continues with the corrupt practice of favouring the Chief Minister’s family. Already between 2010 and early 2013, Sjøtveit had granted over 220 million USD in contracts to Taib family-linked enterprises.

“By granting contracts worth a grand total of over 400 million USD to the Chief Minister’s son, Mr. Sjøtveit’s conduct has passed all levels of decency”, Bruno Manser Fund director Lukas Straumann said on Thursday. “We ask Mr. Sjøtveit to resign immediately as he has lost all credibility when claiming that he contributes to the development of Sarawak. Instead, he has made himself a tool of the Taib family’s unrestrained greed and corruption. Mr. Sjøtveit should feel ashamed for what he is doing to the people of Sarawak and to the reputation of Norway in Malaysia.”

The explosive news comes amidst a situation of growing tensions over the planned Baram dam construction. Earlier this week, native communities scored a victory when their blockades forced Sarawak Energy workers to halt survey works for the planned Baram dam.

The dam, one of 11 new dams being planned by the state government throughout Sarawak, will see the evacuation of 20,000 natives from the Kenyahs, Kayans and Penans ethnic groups...

Meanwhile, The Star quoted Telang Usan's Barisan Nasional state assemblyman, Dennis Ngau, as saying that the situation on the ground was "very hot" following no sign of the natives backing down. The politician claimed he was worried the matter would "boil over into a physical confrontation", urging restraint through a "cooling off period".

"Stop all ground works for the time being until further notice. Don't confront the protesters. Leave it to us politicians to find a solution," Ngau advised, referring to rock drilling works between Long Naah and Long Kesseh, some 200kms inland from Miri City. Ngau said he had also cautioned Sarawak Energy and officials from the state Land and Survey Department to stay away from the site for now.

Budget 2014: It's not BN's money!

You were not personally threatened. Instead, an institution called Parliament passed a law to legalise coercing you into giving up your money. And society as a whole has been conditioned over many decades to accept this coercion, which is now called taxation. It has become a norm and you must pay.

In fact, it has become such a norm, many of you smiled and cheered when you heard how your money would be spent by complete strangers whom you have never met, for causes that probably have nothing to do with you.

The most awkward thing was, many started singing praises when a new tax was announced as one of many steps to pay our national debt. No one complains about being made to pay a debt caused by many years of overspending by someone else...

Our Finance Minister announced that he will take your money whether you like it or not, and he listed a raft of things he will do with your money whether you like it or not.

That should not be a day for celebration. The day when the Government announces the Budget should instead be a day for us to demand even greater accountability and transparency from the Government.

It is a day that should have also made us even more sceptical of government because they are the only entity on earth that can legally coerce us into giving up our hard-earned money.

Since the 5th of May, the BN government has not only refused to right the wrongs but has seen very little ‘transformation’ if not none at all.

The government’s own figures showed that 60% of the nation are eligible for BR1M . That means 60% of Malaysians earn less than RM3000 per month and are below the tax paying threshold. With the introduction of GST, they will now be paying tax.

We can see through the tabling of the GST, that BN is adversely affecting, in effect robbing the general masses including the poor and struggling lower middle class, to further enrich the super rich, as seen from 1% reduction of corporate tax. What is also damningly worrying is the general direction of the BN government’s economic rationale...

BN views the civil service as a fixed deposit constituency. In political-economic term, this is simply too much government, with no governance, at the expense of the nation’s future. The general outlook on this particularly budget is that it is the tip of an enormously huge RM264.3 billion iceberg.

Najib’s only interest is in maintaining power. His near-blind-shortsightedness in fatally cutting DevEx, indicative of an abandonment of any investment in the future beyond this election cycle. Najib is nursing his desperation and maintaining the 56-year-old lie that is BN at the expense of not just the Malaysians today, but generations to come.

GST, rising fuel costs and abolishment of sugar subsidies are frightening but is a small part of the darkness in the coming four years ahead. Those walking the corridors of power are laughing at us whilst we face dark prospects ahead.

We the people have limited options in voicing our fears and choosing an alternative path, one of which is through the process of democratic elections. And that has failed.

Despite steadfast efforts by Malaysia to fix its pressing fiscal deficit, international rating agency Fitch Ratings maintained its “negative outlook” for the country.

While recognising Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s commitment to address Malaysia’s fiscal weaknesses, Fitch is cautious about his strategy...

“We will look, however, for a track record of implementation towards the stated goal of deficit reduction (as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), backed by subsidy rationalisation and GST introduction over 2014-2015, hence the ratings remain on negative outlook,” said Fitch in statement posted on its website last Monday.

Malaysia’s commitment to lowering the government’s deficit and introduction of GST are potentially constructive steps, but a track record of budget management remains key to limiting further credit pressure on the sovereign rating, added Fitch.

Another Fitch’s concern is whether Malaysia can avoid the emergence of twin public and external deficits.

“As we have previously highlighted, the rapid erosion of Malaysia’s current account surplus has been driven partly by a draw down of public-sector savings as well as by increased investment. The slippage of the current account position into deficit could increase Malaysia’s vulnerability to renewed market tensions when Federal Reserves tapering becomes more likely,” said the agency.

Malaysian and Thai financial institutions are the most vulnerable in the Asia-Pacific region to a deterioration in the household debt segment, as household leverage outpace income growth and undermine household resilience, according to a Standard & Poor’s (S&P) report.

The rating agency’s “Rising Household Debt Could Weigh Down Asia’s Banks” report said the creditworthiness of the banks’ households exposure in the country is less resilient than its peers, as a result of rapidly rising households indebtedness.

Malaysia’s household debt to- GDP (gross domestic product) ratio increased to 80.5% in 2012 compared to the 75.8% recorded in 2011, according to S&P calculations and estimates as of Dec 31, 2012.

In 2012, Malaysia has the highest debt-to-GDP ratio compared to other Asia-Pacific regions such as Thailand (77.1%), Singapore (76.8%), Korea (75.4%), Taiwan 64.9%), Japan (62.8%) and Hong Kong (58.2%).

Read more here:
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/business/2013/10/30/sp-malaysian-banks-most-vulnerable-to-debts/

While Rakyat tighten our belts, PM's expenditure increased!

The Barisan Nasional government is trying to mislead the rakyat by giving the impression that the price of most goods and the taxes paid by the consumer will be reduced after the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) because it will replace two taxes – the Sales Tax and the Service Tax (SST) – which the consumer is currently paying for.

The truth is that the items taxed under the Sales Tax and the Service Tax is far less than what is taxed under the GST which means that the prices of the majority of goods and services will INCREASE because of the GST even AFTER the removal of the SST.

What the BN has not told the rakyat is that many items are currently exempt under the sales tax. According to the Sales Tax (Rates of Tax No.2) 2012, the number of items which are exempt under the Sales Tax i.e. NOT TAXED runs to 250 pages.[1] In contrast, the number of items which are zero rated under the GST - NOT TAXED at any point of the supply chain – is only 21 pages long.[2]

Luxury food items such as abalone, lobsters, and oysters will be exempted from the Goods & Services Tax( GST) while common fruits such as oranges will be taxed. The above example is said to be “illogical” and “unfair”, given that the government’s intention for the proposed GST is to only make basic necessities tax free. Customs deputy director GST special unit Wan Leng Whatt explained that such incidents are due to unavoidable “limitations”.

The increase in the allocation for the Prime Minister's Department for next year is partly to pay the fat salaries of those hired by agencies on a contractual basis, said DAP parliamentarian Ong Kian Ming.

The Serdang MP hit out at the government saying that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should "walk the talk" by slashing the expenditure of the Prime Minister's Department and to stop creating new and expensive agencies whose functions overlap with existing government bodies...

"If the prime minister is serious about asking ordinary Malaysians to change their lifestyles to adapt to rising prices as subsidies are withdrawn and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is introduced, he should also walk the talk by reducing expenditure in his own department," said Ong.

Citing a written reply from the government on Oct 1, Ong said that some of the chief executive officers and directors hired on contract to head these "innovative initiatives" are being paid double or more than the chief secretary, who is the highest ranking civil servant.

"The yearly salary, allowance and the bonus of the Agensi Inovasi Malaysia (AIM) CEO was RM830,500 which works out to approximately a monthly salary of RM69,000.

"The CEO of the Land Transport Commission (SPAD) was paid a yearly salary of RM480,000 (RM40,000 per month), a yearly allowance of RM162,000 and a bonus of RM60,000 totalling to RM622,000.

"The CEO of TalentCorp receives a monthly salary of RM30,000 and a monthly car allowance of RM5,000 which works out to a yearly salary of RM420,000," said Ong.

According to the reply, the maximum salary of the chief secretary was RM23,577.

Ong said the expenditure allocated to the Prime Minister’s Department has increased to 13% from RM14.6 billion this year to a projected RM16.5 billion in 2014.

"And these are only some of the agencies which are under the Prime Minister’s Department," he noted.

Ong said that the chief executives of the the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA), the East Coast Economic Region Development Council (ECERDC), the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA), the Malaysian Industry Government Group for High Technology (Might), the Unit Peneraju Agenda Bumiputera (Teraju) and the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) are also paid equally high salaries.

"Not only are the CEOs of these agencies paid salaries which are higher than their civil servant equivalents, the staff in these agencies, many of whom are contract staff and not government servants, are also paid higher than equivalent salaries," he said.

"For example, a director at Pemandu, which is equivalent to a JUSA A/B civil servant has a maximum salary of RM49,000 a month, an associate director at Pemandu, which is equivalent to a JUSA C civil servant has a maximum salary of RM31,600 a month and the senior manager post which is equivalent to a Grade 54 civil servant has a maximum salary of RM21,000 a month," said Ong.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Bagaimana pula dengan hak-hak Masyarakat Pribumi Bukan-Islam?

Malaysia telah mengambil langkah untuk melindungi hak masyarakat pribumi ketika ia menuju ke arah kemajuan untuk menjadi negara berpendapatan tinggi menjelang 2020.

Kuasa Usaha Perwakilan Tetap Malaysia di Pertubuhan Bangsa-bangsa Bersatu (PBB) Raja Reza Raja Zaib Shah berkata pembuat dasar Malaysia memainkan tanggungjawab untuk mengiktiraf dan menangani keperluan semua lapisan masyarakat termasuk kira-kira 150,000 masyarakat pribumi.

"Ke arah memastikan hak Orang Asli dan lain-lain masyarakat pribumi kekal didukung dan dilindungi, kerajaan berterusan mengambil langkah memperluas keperluan makanan, perlindungan, kesihatan, pendidikan dan pekerjaan mereka," katanya.

Beliau berkata demikian dalam kenyataan mengenai Item Agenda 66: Hak Masyarakat Pribumi pada Jawatankuasa Ketiga Sesi ke-68 Perhimpunan Agung PBB di New York pada Isnin.

Raja Reza berkata Malaysia terus komited untuk memperkukuh keberkesanan pihak berkuasa berkaitan seperti Jabatan Pembangunan Orang Asli selain pegawai negeri dan daerah yang bertanggungjawab kepada kebajikan dan kemajuan masyarakat ini.

Dalam kenyataan berasingan pada Jawatankuasa Kedua perhimpunan agung itu, beliau berkata Malaysia akan terus berkongsi pengalaman terutama dalam bidang menghapuskan kemiskinan dan membina keupayaan dengan negara kurang membangun di peringkat serantau dan antarabangsa.

Pautan: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/244610

Lebih ramai tok batin dan ketua kampung Orang Asli akan dihantar mengerjakan ibadah haji menerusi Program Khas Haji tajaan Yayasan 1Malaysia Development Berhad (Yayasan 1MDB) pada masa akan datang.

Setiausaha Politik kepada Perdana Menteri yang juga pengerusi jawatankuasa itu, Datuk Jailani Ngah berkata untuk tahun depan, dijangka 30 orang akan dibawa mengerjakan ibadah itu berbanding hanya lima orang tahun ini...

Sebanyak 800 orang terdiri daripada imam, ketua kampung dan pengerusi jawatankuasa kemajuan dan keselamatan kampung (JKKK) menunaikan haji menerusi bawah program itu tahun ini. Kumpulan kedua dijangka tiba Sabtu ini.

Pautan: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/244614

The Orang Asli community in the Peninsula will not stand to benefit from any affirmative action plans for the Bumiputeras unless concrete policies are put in place to first address their basic demands.

In fact, Orang Asli activist Tijah Yok Chopil said some 180,000 Orang Asli, from about 852 villages, may very well "fall victim" to lucrative incentives given out through the latest Bumiputera Economic Empowerment Plan.

"The government says it is giving out millions of ringgit in tenders and contracts to the Bumiputera developers. Part of these contracts will involve developing land for commercial purposes.

"But when it comes to land development projects, the Orang Asli often become the victim as the status of their native customary land [tanah adat] is not recognised by the government," said Tijah, who founded the Village Network of Peninsular Malaysia Orang Asli as a non-governmental organisation to champion causes affecting her community.

"We are demanding for recognition of our customary lands because it forms the basis of Orang Asli's survival as a community," said Tijah when met by theantdaily.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had last month unveiled the Bumiputera Economic Empowerment Plan, reportedly worth almost RM30 billion, which aims to reduce inequality of income not only between Bumiputeras and non-Bumiputeras, but also among Bumiputeras themselves.

"I cannot see how the Orang Asli can benefit from these projects, tenders and contracts when the government can't even adequately resolve our most basic demands," said Tijah...

The plight of the Orang Asli community will once again be brought to global attention at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Universal Periodic Review, scheduled to be held at its headquarters in Geneva from Oct 21 to Nov 1...

The Village Network recommendations are recorded in one out of 28 stakeholders’ reports submitted to the UNHRC on Malaysia and endorsed by a coalition of 54 Malaysian NGOs that came together as Comango. A separate detailed report was also submitted to the UNHRC on behalf of the Society for Threatened Peoples.

Among others, it stated that the Orang Asli face severe marginalisation and discrimination in socio-economic opportunities, as well as displacement and eviction from their ancestral lands. It also stated that 76.9 % of the Orang Asli are living under the poverty line while 35.2 % live in extreme poverty, a sad fact considering the millions in allocations which have been channelled through the country's annual budget.

Malaysian GLCs snapping up London properties above market rates

Published by The Malaysian Insider on 23 October 2013.

State-linked Malaysian firms are buying up London properties at inflated prices in an otherwise stagnant United Kingdom property market, raising fears that a meltdown could wipe away millions in public funds.

Several realtors have pointed to Felda's £97.9 million (RM495 million) deal for the 198-unit Grand Plaza service apartments in Bayswater, London, as an example of an overpriced buy, saying that high-end real estate agents Savills and Knight Frank had only valued the property at £80 million (RM408 million) in the past few years.

"The UK property market is stagnant in most places but in London. But what Malaysian companies are paying is insane and could go very wrong," said a Malaysia-based realtor who declined to be named.

The Malaysian Insider had reported that the deal was being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and had been reported to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

The realtor said several other Malaysian government-linked companies (GLCs) and agencies such as the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Tabung Haji (Pilgrims Management Fund) had also bought commercial properties in the English capital.

"Some agencies are by-passing the real estate agents and going straight to the sellers to pay prices higher than what is on offer,” said one real estate agent specialising in London properties.

"The real estate agents lose the commissions but more importantly, the prices are not justifiable. Who ends up losing in the end? Malaysians."

Asking not to be named, she said commission agents were making inquiries on behalf of the GLCs but then went directly to the sellers to make deals at higher prices.

It is understood that Tabung Haji, under new chairman Datuk Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim since July 2013, is on the prowl for more properties in London after buying its second major asset, the £205 million (RM1.04 billion) purchase of 151 Buckingham Palace Road in the city centre last February.

Realtors said Tabung Haji fended off stiff competition from under-bidder Hines, as well as Malaysian pension funds EPF and KWAP, to pay £15 million (RM76 million) less than the offer price.

The 151 Buckingham Palace Road purchase followed Tabung Haji’s deal to buy SJ Berwin’s distinctive city offices at 10 Queen Street Place for £165 million (RM841 million) in September 2012.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Award-winning American Muslim scholar on Allah ruling: “We are laughing at you”

By Elizabeth Zachariah. Published by The Malaysian Insider on 22 October 2013.

A well-known American Muslim theologian has joined a long list of critics over the recent Court of Appeal ruling on the use of the word Allah, saying it was a "political decision more than anything else".

"This notion that Malaysian Muslims need to be protected by the court because you can't think for yourself, you can't make decisions on your own. We are laughing at you," said Reza Aslan, speaking on BFM Radio's Evening Edition programme yesterday.

"That you can control people's ideas, their behaviour, their faith and their minds simply by trying to control the words that they use, is absurd. It is an embarassment to a modern, constitutional, democratic and deeply Muslim state like Malaysia," he added.

Aslan insisted that Christians using the word Allah - which means God in Arabic - were not a threat to Islam.

"A Taliban put a bomb in the Quran and took it to a mosque in Pakistan, where Muslims were slaughtered on one of the holiest days in the Muslim calendar. You want to talk about threats to Islam? That's a threat to Islam," he said, in dismissing the argument that allowing Christians to use the word in their worship was a threat to Malaysian Muslims.

He was referring to an incident during the Aidiladha holidays, in which Afghan governor Arsala Jamal was killed while scores were injured after a bomb placed in a copy of the Quran went off in a mosque during the Eid sermon.

Aslan, who wrote the international bestseller No God But God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, said he was mystified by the court ruling on October 14, stressing that the word Allah was merely an Arabic term for God, "any God".

"Allah is constuction of the the word al-Ilah. That's what the word is," he explained.

"Al-Ilah means 'The God'. Allah is not the name of God. Frankly, anyone who thinks that Allah is the name of God, is not just incorrect, but is going against the Quran itself. It is almost a blasphemous thought to think that Allah has a name.

"And this is not an interpretation. It is a historical fact," Reza added...

Aslan poured scorn on the court verdict, asking, "How can you read that and not laugh?"

Soon after the court ruling last week, he had taken to Twitter and remarked, "How stupid has Malaysia just become? In honor of Malaysia banning the word Allah by non-Muslims I suggest US ban the word 'twerking' by anyone over age of 17," he said, referring to a type of sexually provocative dance.

Much of Aslan's interview yesterday was made available on Podcast.

In it, he slammed those who argue that the faith of Malaysian Muslims can be undermined if Christians use the word Allah.

"This idea that not only should Christians not be able to use this word, but that using the word is somehow a threat to Islam... that Malaysian (Muslims) are so stupid if they hear a Christian use the word Allah, they will accidentally become Christians. I mean, the idiocy of that statement speaks for itself," he said.

Echoing many other Muslim scholars and writers, Aslan said Christians and Jews in the Arabian peninsula since before the time of the Prophet Muhammad had been referring to God as Allah.

"Why? Because they spoke Arabic... that's why. Not because Allah meant a specific God but because that it is nothing more than the Arabic word for God. It is not an opinion. It is a fact," he pointed out.

"Any Imam that tells you God has a name, is blasphemous. It is as simple as that. Allah is not God's name. Muslims do not own the word itself," said the 41-year-old Iranian-American, who is Visiting Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Iowa.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Allah Saga: It is Wrong to Deny Fundamental Rights on the Premise that Others May Be Confused

The Malaysian Bar is deeply concerned by the decision of the Court of Appeal delivered on 14 October 2013 in what is commonly referred to as the ‘Herald’ or ‘Allah’ case.

The concerns arise from the Court’s interpretation of Article 3(1) of the Federal Constitution on the status of Islam and other religions and Article 11(1) and (4) on the fundamental right to profess and practice a religion.

Any interpretation of the Constitution must invite the greatest scrutiny as it impacts on the fundamental freedoms guaranteed to all citizens.

We are particularly concerned with the following findings, that:

I. The insertion of the words “in peace and harmony” in Article 3(1) is to protect the sanctity of Islam and “also to insulate against any threat…to the religion of Islam”;

Article 3(1) of the Federal Constitution expressly provides that “Islam is the religion of the Federation; but other religions may be practiced in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation”.

The Court of Appeal found that this Article was inserted as a byproduct of the social contract by our founding fathers, and that the purpose and intention of the words “in peace and harmony” was to protect the sanctity of Islam as the religion of the country and to insulate it against any threat. This is an unnatural reading of the provisions in Article 3(1). The words in their clear and ordinary meaning provides for the right of other religions to be practiced unmolested and free of threats.

In referring to the social contract, effect should be given to the understanding as at 1957 and not to the numerous amendments that have since been made to the Federal Constitution in violation thereof. Paragraph 57 of the White Paper in 1957 which gave rise to Articles 3(1) and 11(4) of the Federal Constitution provides as follows:

“There has been included in the proposed Federal Constitution a declaration that Islam is the religion of the Federation. This will in no way affect the present position of the Federation as a secular State, and every person will have the right to profess and practice his own religion and the right to propagate his religion, though this last right is subject to any restrictions imposed by State law relating to the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the Muslim religion.”

II. The use of the word ‘Allah’ in the Malay version of the Herald would cause or create confusion amongst persons professing the religion of Islam;

It is unreasonable and contrary to the Constitutional scheme that a fundamental liberty is liable to be denied on the basis that some person or persons would be confused.

The decision does not in any way aid in addressing or resolving the alleged confusion amongst persons professing the religion of Islam, when in fact that word ‘Allah’ is used by more than one community in this country and by peoples of different faiths in the Arab world and other Muslim countries. Rather, the effect of the decision would be to encourage a perpetual state of confusion or ignorance as justifiable grounds for denying the rights of others. The course that ought to have been taken should be to educate those persons who would be confused and not to restrict or injunct the exercise of rights by others.

III. The use of the word ‘Allah’ in the Malay version of the Herald would have the potential to threaten or harm public order and safety; and

Having recited that religious sensitivities are a threat to public order and safety, the decision unfortunately serves to reinforce the notion that the use or threat of violence would win the day in court. It is unacceptable that citizens are denied their Constitutional rights of religious freedom and expression on the basis that others who disagree or who are confused would resort to aggression.

The law should not be interpreted and declared so as to condone, encourage, and perpetuate such aggression and threats of violence. Rather, the law ought to be visited upon those who would resort to threats or violence.

IV. The finding that the word ‘Allah’ is not an essential and integral part of the faith and practice of Christianity.

There appears to be no basis for the findings by the Court of Appeal that the word is not an integral part of the faith or practice of Christianity other than what has been described in the written judgments as “a quick research” and research conducted on the internet.

It is troubling that the court would conduct research on its own via the internet and come to conclusions of alleged facts with respect to a person’s religion without its veracity being tested.

In any event, it is for a party asserting exclusive rights to the use of the word ‘Allah’ to establish that they have such exclusive rights, rather than for others to have to establish that the use of the word is integral to their faith. By most accounts, there is no prohibition on the use of the Arabic word ‘Allah’ by peoples of different faiths in the Arab world and other countries. It is difficult to discern how we are able to declare exclusivity of a word over which we do not have proprietary rights.

The Malaysian Bar calls upon all quarters to address the issue with maturity and calmness. It must be reminded that everyone must respect the right of the publishers of the Herald to seek to appeal the matter to the Federal Court, if they so wish. They should be permitted to pursue this without any threats or intimidation.

Christopher Leong

President

Malaysian Bar

16 October 2013