It is going to be an uphill task for the Barisan Nasional, in particular Umno, to remain in power after the next general election which have to be held within the next two years.

With the ‘Allah’ usage sensitivities being played up by Umno, seemingly to protect the sanctity of the name which is also considered holy to any Bible-believing Catholic and Christian in Malaysia, BN may suffer a backlash in both Sabah and Sarawak, two states which had helped the ruling coalition to stay in power.

Malaysians have generally accepted ‘Allah’ as the name of the creator God. The name ‘Allah" used in the Selangor anthem would not have posed a problem with the non-Muslims. On the contrary, in the national anthem, the name ‘Tuhan’ is used.

If ‘Tuhan’ is the right word to be used for the Christian God, as claimed by people like Dr Mahathir Mohamad, then we should have two versions for the national anthem – the modified version for Muslims and the original version for people who cannot claim ‘Allah’ as their God.

What Mahathir has failed to realise is that God does not need corrupted people to protect His great name and no Catholic or Christian would ever profane the name of God the Almighty as to preach, ‘God is dead’. I say this in response to Mahathir’s blog posting which claimed that some Christians in America are saying that God is dead.

Mahathir has failed to differentiate between an atheist and a born-again Christian. In his attempt to play on Muslim sentiments, he has also stepped on the toes of people of other faith. It is, in fact, an insult to any born again Christian what Mahathir wrote in his blog.

It clearly shows he has lacks depth of thinking and is merely trying to create a controversies, a feature for which he is well-known for.

I plead with all parties to remain calm until this ‘Allah’ issue is discussed and settled. Whatever the outcome, I foresee that BN will lose badly in the next general election. In a country which has been ruled by one party for past 52 years, Malaysians of all races and walks of life generally want to do away with the one-party-rule-all concept.

Both in the economic and political senses, monopoly breeds arrogance and complacency. The worst is still corruption.