High Court Judgment on Herald Case: Concise (Verbatim) Summary PDF Download Inside

The High Court judgment on the Herald Case by Justice Datuk Lau Bee Lan  is a model of clear analysis and sober reasoning. There is no evasion as the judge pin-points the fundamental issues of the dispute and addresses them one by one. It deserves a closer reading by the wider public. At least, the wider public should familiarize themselves with the High Court judgment so that they will be in a position to evaluate the Court of Appeal judgment when it comes out.

Given below is a concise (basically verbatim) summary of the judgment. Read to discern and discriminate the real issues of  truth and justice.

High Court Judgment on Allah controversy: Home Minister Wrong in Four Crucial Areas

High Court Judgment: Home Minister Wrong in Four Crucial Areas

The High Court ruling on the Allah controversy on 31 Dec 2009  by the learned judge, Lau Bee Lan is a model of acute and coherent reasoning. The learned judge’s  57-page judgment found the government wrong in four crucial areas :

1) The Home Minister’s ban is illegal

2) The Home Minister’s ban is unconstitutional

3) The Home Minister’s ban is irrational

4) The Home Minister’s claim that the ban was to safeguard public security and order is without merit

Court Case Over Confiscation of VCDs With Word ‘Allah’

Another Allah Case Goes Before High Court Tomorrow

MySinChew 11 Jan 2010 LINK

KUALA LUMPUR 11 Jan – The High Court is scheduled to hear an application tomorrow brought by a Sarawakian bumiputra Christian for the return of eight CD’s containing contain the word Allah which she claimed were wrongfully confiscated by the government about two years ago.

Lawyers for Jill Ireland binti Lawrence Bill, 29, a Melanau native Bumiputra from Sarawak said she is suing the Home Minister Hishamuddin Hussein and the Government of Malaysia.

CFM, NECF MPF Press Statements on Firebomb attacks on Malaysian Churches

PRESS RELEASE
CFM STRONGLY CONDEMNS FIRE-BOMBING OF CHURCHES LINK

The Christian Federation of Malaysia strongly and unreservedly condemns the violent attacks and attempted ones of fire-bombing several churches in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya in the early hours of this morning (8 January 2010).

We are against such actions that seek to intimidate people and also to rend the fabric of peace and goodwill in our country.

Muslim Protests After Mosque Prayers. Three Churches Attacked with Firebombs.

Three Churches Confirmed Hit
MALAY MAIL  Friday, January 8th, 2010 LINK

PETALING JAYA: Three churches in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur were allegedly targeted by arsonists in an attack from midnight till early this morning.

In the first incident, the administrative office of the Metro Tabernacle Church at a shoplot in Desa Melawati, Hulu Kelang was partially destroyed in a fire about midnight. Witnesses claimed to have seen men on motorcycles flinging “flaming objects” into the premises.

Why non-Muslims Cannot Use ‘Allah” : The Other Side

I have published a few posts arguing why non-Muslims have as much right as Muslims to use the word Allah.  For once let’s hear the argument from the other side.

I leave the reader to decide for himself whether the Muslim argument is cogent on its own terms.

Church Cannot Challenge ‘Allah’ Ban, says Govt Counsel
The Sun Online LINK
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 14, 2009):

The publisher of Herald, the  Catholic weekly, cannot challenge the home minister’s prohibition on the use of the word “Allah” in its publication, the High Court heard today.

Allah is Not a Personal Name

You might be interested to read this post found in KrisisPraxis Blog LINK

“Perhaps conceding that on Muslims have a right to use the word Allah results from a misunderstanding of Arabic grammar, that is, the view that Allah is a personal name. Allah, as such, refers solely to the individual Supreme Being whom Muslims (and no other believers) worship…”

CFM Media Statement on 15,000 Bahasa Malaysia Bibles Held by Authorities

CHRISTIAN FEDERATION OF MALAYSIA
(PERSEKUTUAN KRISTIAN MALAYSIA)
Address: 10, Jalan 11/9 Sec. 11, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

Telephone: (03) 7957 1278, (03) 7957 1463, Fax: (03) 7957 1457

Email: cfmsia@yahoo.co.uk

CFM media statement on 15,000 Bahasa Malaysia Bibles held by authorities

CFM CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF 15,000 BIBLES

The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) calls for the immediate release of the 15,000 Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia currently being withheld by the authorities.

15000 Bibles Detained by Malaysian Government this Past Year

It is bad enough that Malaysian government officials continue to seize and detain the Al Kitab (Malay Bible) at their whims and fancies. It is worse as the government is supposed to have a gentlemen’s agreement dating from the mid 1980s with the leaders of the Malaysian Church that allows the Al Kitab to be used within church premises.

I shall first outline the historical trajectory of this gentlemen’s agreement:

To Beer or to Bear With the Tyranny of the Majority

“Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) has been slammed for defying the Selangor state government by confiscating beer worth RM620 at a 7-Eleven outlet in Shah Alam on Wednesday (29 July 2009).”

State executive councillor Ronnie Liu condemns the action as serious defiance of the state government and said action will be taken against those who act without any directive from the state. Apparently, a task force has been set up by the state to come up with guidelines to regulate the sale of beer by the end of August.