Allah issue: Wee disagrees with sultan

MCA Youth chief says Christians should be allowed to use the word 'Allah' in their worship and that the ruling was 'against national reconciliation'.

KUALA LUMPUR: MCA Youth chief Wee Ka Siong has voiced his objection to the Sultan of Selangor’s decree barring the non-Muslims in the state to use the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God.

“I think it is okay, we should allow the Christians (in Peninsular) to use the word. Why? We have given you a two-page explanations,” he said without elaborating today.

Wee said for the Sabah and Sarawak people, the government should continue to honour the 10-point solution made in 2011.

Under the solution, it was agreed that bibles in all languages, including Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia, can be imported into the country and printed anywhere in the country.

Yesterday, Sultan Sharafuddin of Selangor ordered the Malay version of Bible and The Herald to cease using the word Allah, specifically in Selangor.

The sultan directed the people in the state to abide by the Selangor Fatwa Council decision banning the use of the term.

He said this is to “avoid the confusion” among Muslims.

The Allah controversy resurfaced following the Court of Appeal’s ruling last month barring Catholic weekly The Herald from using the word Allah in its Bahasa Malaysia publication.

MCA vice-president Gan Peng Sieu has described the court ruling as “ignorant of national interests” and “against the principle of national reconciliation”.

“There is terrible ill-will and bad faith generated over the Allah issue. For generations the natives in Sabah and Sarawak have been using ‘Allah’ in their worship.

“The Home Ministry’s ban of its usage is tantamount to criminalising a long-accepted practice,” he said.

MCA central committee member Loh Seng Kok also said Allah is “not a monopoly” of any race or religion, because Christians in Middle East and Arab countries have used it for generations.

Allow MACC to prosecute
On a separate issue, Wee said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should be granted prosecution powers to better combat corruptions.

“While some have argued that prosecution power should not be given to those who investigate. Please do not forget that the police also have prosecuting official,” he said.

The former deputy education minister also urged MACC to emulate foreign countries in using the presumption method to probe government official, should the asset of an individual mismatch with his or her income.

“Most corruptions cases also involved agents. Agents can be used as prosecution witness,” he said.