Idiocracy has no limits or boundaries. Anyone in a democracy can make idiotic and non-legitimate statements. The so-called cabinet of the government of Malaysia is no exception.  

The Sun of Aug 5 carried one headline that said: “Stop debate on ‘Allah’ issue, says Muhyiddin.” The report went on to say that the cabinet has decided “that everyone should stop debating the issue on the usage of the word ‘Allah’ in Christian publications.”

Now, that is truly an idiocratic statement coming from the then acting prime minister. I presume he chaired the cabinet meeting, and that is why he made that statement. Why is this statement silly? Firstly, there is nothing sub judice about discussing the Allah issue. The dictionary defines sub judice as a matter before a judge or court of law; awaiting judicial determination.

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In the Allah case, the judicial determination has in fact already been made. After all that is the very reason the case was in court for the first time after 53 years of self-rule, when the Sarawakian and Sabahan Christians have been using the same word for more than 100 years, right? They have been using it from before they became Malaysians!

Regardless, the Catholic Church was forced  to the courts only after the BN government, namely the then-home affairs minister, made the “mistake of making this an official issue of contention,” right? The BN governments of the past allowed this under the ‘ tahu sama tahu approach’ or ‘let the sleeping dogs lie approach.’  

The High Court has since decided in favour of the Catholic Church’s arguments. The honorable judge has rather coherently articulated the logic and reasons in a very comprehensive way to justify her judgment premised on her interpretation of the federal constitution as fully justified by evidence of history, case-law and international practice.

Now, if the current BN government is even more stupid than the former minister to agree and challenge this judge’s decision by way of an appeal, who then is to blame? The current home affairs minister, who is also a British-trained lawyer, and who appears to understand the full implications of the judgment, has now come to appreciate the incorrect assertion already made by the former minister.  

Minister recognises mistake

He recognises the mistake, and therefore is it too silly for him to admit the error, and advice the government to withdraw the appeal? To me, that was only what the MCA spokesperson had requested for.

Now, to give further credence to the same view, two component BN members who are used to attracting non-Muslim Chinese voters went to town over this issue in their attempts to win back the support of 3 million Christian Malaysians on this issue. Is that wrong, if the majority of Christians in Malaysia are in fact Chinese?  

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It happens that their concerns were also exactly like those of their opposition counterparts. Who then is the BN acting prime minister to issue a so-called gag order to all Malaysian citizens when all he really wants is to ask his BN component partners to “stop arguing in public over the matter, and taking sides with the opposition?”

For that matter even the PAS and the PKR leadership have already spoken clearly in favour of the Christians over the Allah issue and were explicit about giving permission for Malay-speaking Christians to continue using the word, when they come to power.

I therefore find it both strange and disingenuous for the Umno deputy president to “impose his gag order on all Malaysians”, not that he even has the authority to, when he is only a Malay first and Malaysian second. He can and should only talk to his Malay-first counterparts!

No longer merely Malay issue

Let me now put it in language he may understand: my dear Umno deputy president, Allah is not any longer merely a Malay issue or even a Malay word; it is a national issue which affects Sabahan and Sarawakian Malay-speaking Christians more than anyone else. It has also been in the Malay bibles for more than 100 years!  

Only the courts could finally resolve this issue and the courts have now decided. Therefore, please stop the bullying and Umno’s rather idiocratic way of administering this nation.

Idiocrats twist the law towards personal and private interpretations and rule by abusing the laws; ignoring the principle of rule of law.

\"NONE\"Therefore, what the DAP, MCA and Gerakan are trying to tell you and the Umno idiocrats in the public services is that there are certain provisions in the federal constitution which can only be read in one way; the way of truth and for righteousness and with justice.

No amount of gag-orders will change this. If you cannot understand this, please wait for the next general election and the simple and ordinary law-abiding citizens of Malaysia will tell you otherwise.

As a consequence, it may be fairly concluded by my estimate that the large majority of ordinary Malaysians are not really bothered or troubled by this non-issue. It is people like idiocratic ministers and other blind public servants who have made this prayer and practice of the faith of Malay-speaking Christians into a difficult issue. They are therefore disturbing the hornet’s nest.

Religious scholars of PAS and PKR have already declared publicly and privately that they have no issue with the use of this Arabic word in the Malay Bibles; and neither has the international community of Islamic scholars. Therefore, it appears that the only ones who now object are the Umno-types whether in the religious establishments or in the public administration of the country.

Can practice be moderated?

But, are we not 1Malaysia under the rule of law? Does not the federal constitution clearly state the freedom of religious practice, whether in public places, in schools, or in the books we read?  Can such a practice of one’s heart language be moderated by another’s faith? Can the Arabic word Allah suddenly become a Malay word overnight because you are Malay first?    

Dear DPM, if you want to remain Malay first in the national administration of this country, what your non-Malay colleagues are in fact saying to you is that your views do not represent theirs on this matter. That also means, you may not be qualified to be the deputy chairman of the Barisan Nasional and therefore you should step down or seek to challenge Najib for the presidency of Umno.  

Then please seek to reform your BN according to your Melayu-first agenda which is not consistent with either Bangsa Malaysia or 1Malaysia.  Then I would like to see if there will be any BN left after that.