Let us not mistake the Herald weekly publication for the Bible

Please let us not mistake the Herald Weekly publication for the Bible/Alkitab. Thank You.

A letter to the NST written By Datuk Ajit Singh Jessy:

‘ALLAH’: Comply with court ruling

I AM amazed at the way some Malaysians are reacting over the decision by the Court of Appeal on the use of the word Allah by Catholic weekly Herald.

When the decision was in favour of them, at the High Court, they were elated. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, they are crying and insinuating that the courts are biased.

They have conveniently forgotten that it was the church that took the matter to the court in the first place. They must now comply with the judgment.

Part of my schooling was at Anglo Chinese School, Penang, (ACS then and now MBS), a Christian school. Never had I heard that the word "Allah" belonged to the Christians, or mentioned during school assembly, scripture classes and even today, when attending church weddings or even funerals.

This present frenzy by some Christians in West Malaysia, to call their God, "Allah", is mind boggling and an invasion into the turf of others.

Quoting some overseas media and religious authorities will not resolve the issue. It is best we solve it by going back to the way in which we have been living harmoniously together and let us continue to address our God in the manner we have done so, for hundreds of years.

Punjabi Muslims and Sikhs refer to God, in Punjabi, as "Rab", but when we refer to our own specific God, Muslims call him "Allah" and we Sikhs, "Wahe Guru". In Malaysia, too, all of us commonly, refer to God, as Tuhan. What has gone wrong?

Those who are provoking others should be aware of the consequences. It is my personal belief that religion is sometimes the last sanctuary of rogues. Many of these are now raising their ugly heads and opening their foul mouths.

Let us return to simpler times instead of trying to score points over one another.

Datuk Ajit Singh Jessy, Penang

How right you are Datuk.