It was quite breathtaking to read whether the word 'Allah' is the precious possession of Muslims or whether others could also hitch a ride on His Divinity. Next comes the issue of greetings, and in particular, 'Assalamualaikum' the Arab version of 'Peace be on you'.

Can non-Muslims also respond by saying in Arabic 'Peace upon you too' or would they be treading on someone's hallowed ground? I think that most of us must have noticed that this Arabic form of greeting is quite freely thrown around in our locally-produced dramas which currently proliferate our television channels.

There was a scene in a recent local drama where a fellow on entering a toilet area found a cubicle door locked. Just to make sure that the cubicle was indeed occupied he pronounced the Arabic greeting of 'Assalamualaikum" and duly got the correct Arabic response.

Well, at least he figured out that there was another Muslim in the cubicle (notwithstanding Pak Lah's comments at the PPP Meeting as in the letter 'Non-Muslims too can reply to 'Assalamualaikum').

Is this all about being politically-correct, religiously-correct or just plain anti-West (the 'Good' in the morning, evening, etc, being too colonial and decadent)? Or are we Muslims wearing our religion on our sleeves?

Personally, I prefer 'Hai' or 'Oi' as they are quite neutral and certainly make heads turn to look at me and reply with some spontaneity. After all, the idea is to get on with whatever business there is after that.

Who knows it might even give the Almighty a chance to switch off for a while!