Malaysia pulls back from the brink, again – but it should not rely on riding its luck
It always seems to take the worst to bring out the best in people. Days after a rash of attacks on churches in Malaysia last weekend, the country’s politicians and community leaders were quick to denounce the violence and come together in joint worships and inter-faith dialogues.
Still, the situation in Malaysia is uncommonly grave. Since 8th January a spate of nine attacks on churches has been reported, ranging from rocks being hurled to fire-bombings in the more serious instances. What was worrying was the breath of their localities, spanning the breadth of peninsular Malaysia and even the usually quiescent eastern states, compounded by the police’s seeming haplessness in preventing the attacks.
The worst seems to be over for the moment, with the tense situation having concentrated minds within the government. It had been sparked off by a court ruling on 31st December 2009 allowing the Herald, a local Catholic paper, to use the word “Allah” (a term many Muslim Malaysians had hitherto assumed was exclusive to Islam) in a Christian context. The Barisan Nasional government, fearing that allowing this to pass would alienate its core Malay-Muslim vote, had initially openly opposed the ruling and promised to appeal. This was followed by a serious misstep from the Home Minister when he appeared to condone protests against the court judgment during one of his media interviews. Elements of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which dominates the ruling coalition, were said to be trying to organise such protests.
After the attacks the government swiftly changed tack, with the police stepping up security at churches and the Home Minister threatening to use the draconian Internal Security Act on perpetrators of the attacks. Nevertheless, the atmosphere is likely to remain rancorous for some time. The 31st December ruling, which on one hand is a rather remarkable triumph for religious pluralism, would probably be seen instead by conservative forces as a dangerous concession to the minorities. These elements – which are embodied in the current government – would like to push for a return to the previous status quo, but that will seriously annoy the minorities.
Religion and race are deeply intertwined in Malaysia: most Malays identify themselves by their Muslim identities and the majority of Christians happen to be ethnic Chinese or one of the other minorities in the country. The Herald issue had allowed UMNO to appeal to its constituency by positioning itself as a defender of the Islamic faith and playing up fears of proselytization. The Home Ministry subsequently spent several years trying to pressure the obstinate Herald to drop the use of the term “Allah”.
Such politicisation of race and religion is endemic in the Malaysian system and is unlikely to change anytime soon, even in the event of a new government, given that the opposition is just as riven by ethnic and religious issues as the Barisan Nasional. However, it is easy to lose sight of how, for a country with such well-worn fault-lines, it has held together with remarkable resilience in the face of fissiparous pressures. Still, Malaysians should no longer take such fortitude for granted. It is time for the country to begin a serious and mature dialogue to heal its internal divisions, rather than to continue to paper over the cracks in its system.
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Dispensing then denouncing the violence is probably a more effective deterrent to pesky proselytizing.
It’s certainly no surprise that the conflicting religions are the ones usually perceived to be more …. ‘active’.
Honestly, the only crack in the Malaysian system is its racial composition, which leans heavily on the Malay and Muslim population. Islam is often caught in the tangle of it all.
I was at first inclined to side with the Malaysian Muslims when the Catholic Church insisted on using Allah to refer to God, that the Catholics should not try to antagonize the Muslim by doing something they know will surely bring about, at best, racial and religious conflict.
However, I questioned why can’t they, when I realized that the Catholics in Sabah & Sarawak address God as Allah, something they have been doing for donkey generations.
The answer I derived at was because Malaysia in currently at the crossroad of political insecurity and instability. Someone has to drive up some mundane issues to the forefront to create attention and to then lend support to the more popular views. This is a sure-win strategy that will win for any political party the rule of the day when played correctly.
Unfortunately, as with any game of this sort, the groups of people who are caught in such a game are the only losers. This time round, it is the Catholics. With the power that the Malays Muslim wields in Malaysia, the Catholics will not be the last.
Until such time the Malaysian Malay Muslim decide to live harmoniously and with respect to its other races, this game of race and religion will continue. Blood will have to flow– I expect. All it takes is for the arsonist to make a wrong move and someone gets harmed or killed.
My Dear Gemami not only the Catholics of East Malaysia but also those in West Malaysia have been using the term Allah for God, using your term ‘for donkey generations’. The problem arose only last year when the Home Ministry prohibited the Catholic paper not to use the term Allah for God. What it would possibly entail next is that you also cannot use the word Allah in delivering your sermons to your congregations.
I do not know why make an issue of an issue that never was an issue all these years. Some silly politicians, from behind the scene, have caused this to be brought up to the broil to swing political support of the Muslim majority in favour of the ruling UMNO and the Malaysian Government carelessly playing into their hands by endorsing their views.
I don’t see any political solution to this. It has to be resolved probably through the courts where the Government has filed an appeal to strike out an earlier verdict ruling in favour of the Catholic paper to use the word Allah for God. Let us hope the appeal court endorses the lower court’s ruling thereby giving the Government an honourable a way out to go back to the status quo in deference to the principle of the rule of law
Well, I remember some months ago, when a couple were charged with Sedition for distributing cartoons which were offensive to Islam. Among other things, it made references that the “Allah” is actually the name of a moon god in ancient times. Some posters commented that Allah was extensive used by Christians in SE Asia and Coptic Christians in Egypt for centuries but this was shot down as “not so widely used”, “not correct”, etc. Interesting that when this issue crops up in Malaysia and then people are enlightened to the truth that God in any language is still God. It doesn’t make any sense to denigrade/differentiate it like what some evangelists are doing. I wonder what they have to say now about God’s retribution in Haiti’s earthquake case as I have heard some of them describe the 2004 Asian Tsunami on Boxing day
When govt plays with religion in a muli-religious societ, you get fire (literally!).
This only goes to show how important it is for the govt and society to remain nuetral and secular where faiths and religions are concerned. It is very important that our leaders are not perceived to be bias with any religion or faith. And thats why the Rule of Law, the Constituition and societal norms be guided, but never be dominated by any particular relgion.
Hi Gemami,
I would like to refer you to this article.
http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/01/malaysia%e2%80%99s-regime-crisis-race-politics-and-the-kalimah-allah-issue/
There has been a steady escalation of religious tension over the last few years in Malaysia tension- and I for one expect it to get much worse. Singapore needs to insulate itself against events in Msia.