VOXPOP 'For better or worse, this is our home and motherland. We are born here, and here we will die.'

My New Year wish - out with the old, in with the new

Ksn: I too, join you, Kota Alam Shah state assembly representative M Manoharan, on your New Year wish. If I can add, we must have politicians of impeccable integrity.

That should apply to Pakatan Rakyat as well and if the coalition can gather such candidates, even those not in the public eye or in the limelight, go for them.

The year 2013 is, and must be, the turning point for Malaysia to reverse the current direction to which the country is being led. We are almost there. There is no time - indeed, not a day to waste - to save Malaysia from the thieves, the incapable and the insincere.

Make social justice the foundation of the Pakatan government and not given to racial and religious exploitation. Mano, I pray that your wish comes true. So will all Malaysians who love this country. Good luck.

Ferdtan: Manoharan, it is a good New Year wish. This departs from your usual parochial interest in anything to do with Hindraf - now you move towards centrism, a middle-of-the road position.

It clearly shows that you can have a bigger role to play in Pakatan as you are smart, but only if you choose to play in the broader political scene.

With this article, we see you in a different light. The issues which you raised encompasses most of the ills of our country; the fight against corruption, rampant crimes, non-politicised religion, creating an inclusive society where the needs of the minority are taken care of, well-planned and affordable education for all and having a more competitive and dynamic economy. Keep it up.

Anonymous #37634848: Mano, your wishes are the same as declared by Pakatan. However, non-Muslim leaders and followers of late have openly joined in religious bigotry as well.

Such issues should be discussed behind closed doors, otherwise all the planning and hard work in the past four years will be thrown out of the window due to racial polarisation.

Muslim sensitivity in our majority Muslim country should be respected to maintain peace and harmony. You are in a position to advocate this.

LeadByExample: Malaysians must forget their racial identity and respect all religions. Everyone must have an equal place and opportunity to exploit their full potential for the benefit of our beloved country.

For better or worse, this is our home and motherland. We are born here, and here we will die.

Allah row - what's the name of the game?

YF: Ong Kian Ming, you have hit the points spot on. I use the Bahasa Malaysia Bible myself, and have also come to the same conclusion.

Non-Christians and even ill-informed Christians who have never read the Bible in BM simply do not know what they are talking about when they proposed to use a weak alternative, that is ‘Tuhan'.

The translators knew what they were doing when they used these words to differentiate ‘God' from ‘god'. You'll find the same in the English translation of Hebrew and Greek original texts and also in most translations as well.

Borg Kinaulu: Ong, the point of the exercise is not to have ‘a mature and sensible discussion over this matter', it's about ‘my god is bigger than yours, my right is higher than yours; it's my house, it's my rule'.

These are but spoiled brats who have, for decades, been used to being appeased by minorities who would bend over backward for the sake of ‘harmony'.

Low Kok Kok: In the formation of Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah signed a 18-point and 20-point merger agreements with Malaya respectively.

In both agreements, point No 1 says: "While there was no objection to Islam being the national religion of Malaysia, there should be no religion in Borneo (Sabah and Sarawak) and the provisions relating to the Islam in the Constitution of Malaya does not apply to Borneo."

This is very clear and yet Umno is imposing a new form of religious imperialism on both Sabah and Sarawak. It tries to enslave Malays by religion and only the Sunni sect is the official Islam in Malaysia.

If God wants everyone be the same, why all our fingers are of different sizes. God or Allah provides for diversity in humankind, but Umno wants to put us in a straight jacket.

Think: The problem with the believers of Christianity and Islam will not be resolved with just the simple removal of the word ‘Allah' or the use of it. The problem will only be resolved with the simple removal of ego.

If Christians were humble in accordance to the teachings of Christianity, they would just give in and use ‘Tuhan'. If Muslims were humble in accordance to the teachings of Islam, they would just give in and allow the Christians to use ‘Allah'.

Remove the ego and your problems are solved.

Anonymous #46317055: The whole point is that Muslims in Malaysia are interfering with other religious practices that have already been well-accepted over hundreds of years worldwide.

It is not the ego of Christians at fault, it is the ego of Muslim Malaysians that have gone overboard to even dare demand such a concession. Mr Think, think about it.

Onyourtoes: It is not confusion the ‘Allah' terminology may cause. It is not who has the copyright to it. It is not who has used it first. It is not who is right and who is wrong. It is not about fulfilling our religious obligation.

It has nothing to do with our salvation and afterlife. It has everything to do with dominance and subservience, arrogance of power, bullying, dogmatism, insecurity and inferiority complex all put together.

T: I hope that most Malays/Muslims out there are insulted by the suggestion that they would mistake Christianity for Islam just by using the same word for God. Or that their faith is so weak that a word is such a big deal.

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