Customs made scapegoat for gov’t ‘Allah’ policy
Customs dept blamed, ‘Allah’ books released
It is hoped the people of East Malaysia will see through this hypocrisy. The irony of this issue is the Christian materials with the “A” word originated from Indonesia, the largest Muslim nation in the world, which seems to have no insecurity over use the word.
Is the Malaysian government saying the Muslims in Indonesia cannot be easily confused, unlike the Muslims in this country?
Not Smart: Mr Home Minister, a job well done but it took four days before your reversal and had caused a lot of anxiety and uncalled for worries and comments.
Let me give you a piece of advice – all sensitive issues should be resolved and put to rest immediately so that adverse comments will not be hurled at your ministry. Try harder next time.
Vijay47: Yeah, great. What if the Customs Department does an IGP and refuses to return the books and CDs?
You will then say “But what can I do? Customs is not under Home Affairs, it is under the Ministry of Finance.”
And we all know who the minister of finance is. In Malaysia, it is always six of one and half-a-dozen of the other.
Odysseus: This clearly shows the current government is in a mess. What is announced by one minister is not communicated to all ministries.
How can they fumble again in handling such a sensitive issue. When the issue first broke, the finance minister (the home minister’s boss as well) didn’t say anything.
I wonder if he is made aware that the guys under his watch were the ones that confiscated the copies of the Malay language Bible. If it requires an import permit, they should have advised the priest to get the necessary paperwork done.
Abasir: And who is that finance minister incapable of even issuing proper instructions to the agencies under his control? What is that you say? He is not around most of the time? Maybe he is tired and embarrassed?
Sabahan: So, has anyone from the Customs Department been hauled up for reprimand and punishment? I guess not. Because they were acting under orders from higher-ups.
Bystander: If only our Customs and Excise Department is as alert in its job, we wouldn’t have so great losses in duties from smuggled goods from cigarettes, liquor, etc, and not including the many corruption cases of its officers.
Wait a minute, is it another sandiwara as the Sarawak state election is nearing? The lightning response from Home Ministry cannot help but points to that direction.
Anonymous_ABG: The Malay Muslims, during pre-independence days, prayed side-by-side with Christians when the occasion warranted and also inter-religious marriages were accepted. Festivals were celebrated together, joyously.
Malays had the choice of wearing the best of clothes. Friday prayers and fasting were conducted without compulsion – the faithful were answerable to Allah only.
There was no confusion involving the Malay Muslims due to their close association with followers of other religions, especially Christians, and hardly any conversion.
Umno, in order to remain in power, has instilled fear in the Malays – that the usage of ‘Allah’ is their exclusive right and non-Muslims do so to confuse Muslims.
The government has failed to explain how the Malays get confused. Using PAS, the ustaz and the imam as foot soldiers, the government has succeeded to a considerable extent. Malays must wake up!
CucuMalaysia: The way the Umno government is behaving confirms that it thinks the Malays now are less intelligent and wise, compared with those of just post-Merdeka days.
This is a true insult to the race, whose rights it claims it is protecting. Fortunately, there are some bright sparks who are wise and intelligent enough to see through the stupidity of Umno, Perkasa, Isma, and lately, the holier-than-thou PAS.
Malaysia is a beautiful country and will remain so without such idiots in power. It will then be like the good old days when every race can live like one big family again, when Malay ladies were so elegant in their kebaya/baju kurung and selendang.
Bystander: With this finger-pointing by the home minister, it gives the impression that the right hand is not aware of what the left hand should be doing all the time. Please stop making the country administration more stupid than needed.
Jiminy Qrikert: To those singing praises of Indonesia’s 250 million Muslims who are so confident in their faith that they allow even the printing of the Bible with ‘Allah’ in it, please remember that not too long ago, the most extremist elements among them were physically attacking Christians and even bombing the churches with packed congregations, resulting in many deaths.
If we go back a little further to the late 90s, Indonesians of Chinese descent were victims of racially-charged massacres and orgies of rape.
Resentment towards their Chinese and Christian communities must have been building over the years and may even have been encouraged by the authorities by turning a blind eye until things boiled over and got completely out of hand.
Their economy was in tatters then. The Indonesian government needed scapegoats. It looks like the Malays here are taking over from where the Indonesians left off.
Our economy here is weakening. And Umno is following a similar path in persecuting Chinese and Christians. Scapegoats needed.
Anonymous #20513663: One country two systems? Are we becoming China?
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