The only logical explanation as to why the Church and Christians in Malaysia want to use ‘Allah’ instead of ‘Tuhan’ in its Malay translation is to cause confusion and to be mischievous. I can understand if no proper term is available. But why insist on using that word when there is another clear and acceptable term?

I question the motivation of Herald and the Catholic Church in using this term. It is used with bad intentions to confuse Malays and others. If they used the word ‘Tuhan’, I doubt the message will be ambiguous or less clear.

If you really believe in the message you are trying to propagate, you do not need to resort to such methods which diverts everyone away from the true meaning of your message. These ambiguous and unclear terms are usually used by those who are uncertain, unconfident and those who do not truly believe in their messages, much like a politician trying explain something he does not believe in.

Please, by all means propagate the religion you believe in but do it in a correct and sincere way without trying to create division and mistrust in a our multi-religious and multi-cultural society.

The word ‘Allah’ has always been used by the Muslims when they refer to their one and only God. There is a very clear and concise term for God in Bahasa Malaysia and it is ‘Tuhan’. As far as I can remember, there has been no confusion regarding this. The use of ‘Allah’ by Christians is certainly new. Arabs and people in Malta may have used the term ‘Allah’ to refer to any God from the beginning, hence there may not be confusion in that society.