The civil courts have uniform laws covering all the states of Malaysia while the Syariah laws differ from one state to another. Which is why Pak Lah has mentioned that Islam is not above the Federal Constitution. Much of the damage occurred during Dr Mahathir Mohamad's administration when the Federal Constitution was amended several times.

The main culprits were the BN coalition partners who didn't voice out nor do anything about this. I remembered once after the last general election when Lim Kit Siang made a statement whether the Umno-led BN would be more Islamic than PAS and he was worried that Umno would out- perform PAS in trying to be more Islamic than the latter.

After few years later, Mahathir declared that Malaysia had become an Islamic State at the expense of a secular state and for political expediency. We remember being told by the government then that Lim Kit Siang 's worries were unfounded.

The religion of Islam in each state comes under the preview or is headed by the respective state Malay Ruler. The Syariah courts in each state represents the head of religion and the religious affairs department.

So the Lina Joy decision by the Federal Court was expected as she was born a Muslim and practiced the religion until she met her boyfriend embraced Christianity. She has to file an application to the Syariah courts now to determine her religion.

An interesting thought came out from the 2:1 decisions that the Muslims must seek the Syariah court's approval if they want to leave Islam. The same mechanism should also be applied to non- Muslims who want to leave the faith they were born into.

They should seek counseling and approval from their respective religious bodies ie, Hindus from Malaysian Hindu Sangam, Sikhs from their Gurdawara, Christians from their church bodies, Buddhists from their temples or national association.

These people should also dutifully discharge their responsibilities regarding divorce and payments, child maintenance and property rights before they convert. They should also inform their families to avoid unpleasant situations where the family members came to know through of their conversion through third parties.

A law should also be enacted to ensure that there is no preaching or imposing of one's religion on another person who practices another religion. This would safeguard privacy and have a harmonising influence.