Archbishop Emeritus Murphy Pakiam has lamented that only a small minority of Malays back the use of 'Allah' by non-Muslim and appealed to them to voice out on behalf on the Christian community.

He was referring to a survey by the Universiti Malaya Centre for Democracy and Elections (Umcedel) which showed 77 percent of Malay respondents believed in Muslims should have exclusive use of the word 'Allah' while 11 percent supported use by non-Muslims.

"We do not believe that the spiritual heritage of mankind is built on majority views of one species.

"It looks as though that we have to turn to the 11 percent of our Malay brothers and sisters which translate to 1.6 million in actual numbers, to set the tone of the Malaysian discourse for peace and harmony," he said.

Pakiam was speaking at the annual Christmas high tea organised by the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) in Kuala Lumpur.

The Court of Appeal had in October overturned a High Court decision which ruled that the Home Ministry's ban against Christian publication The Herald from using the word 'Allah' was unconstitutional.

Conviction

The Catholic Church is now appealing the decision at the Federal Court in hope of reinstating the High Court's ruling.

"Conflict cannot be ignored or concealed - it has to be faced. Whether it be in the courts or through inter-religious dialogue sessions.

"If we remain trapped in conflict, we lose our perspective, our horizons shrink and reality itself begins to fall apart," he said.

He also quoted Pope Francis, stating that the message of peace was not about "negotiated settlement" but a conviction that unity can harmonise every diversity.

Also present was Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Paul Low, who delivered a speech on behalf of Premier Najib Abdul Razak who was attending the national level Christmas open house event in Penang.

The 'Allah' issue was noticeably absent in the speech which was instead peppered with references to unity and the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).

'Allah' used during event

However, there were indirect references to the controversial issue, with Najib's speech urging that any issues be ventilated through the newly established National Unity Consultative Council .

Furhermore, Najib's speech also hit out at politicians for raising sensitive religious issue in public, calling them an attempt to be a "hero for politics".

"I have always frown on such irresponsible conduct and trust that citizens will see this as nothing but folly," read the speech.

Najib also thanked the Christian community for their contributions and urged "new strategies" to make things work.

Despite the silence on the government's part, Christian publication The Herald 's editor Lawrence Andrew was determined to make a point as he used the word 'Allah' repeatedly when he said grace.

Speaking to journalists later, Lawrence defended the use, saying that the prayer was "from the heart" and the government should not interfere in the internal religious affairs of the Christian community.

Also present at the high tea were Parit Buntar MP Mujahid Yusof Rawa, Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, Wangsa Maju MP Tan Kee Kwong, Batu MP Tian Chua and Seputeh MP Teresa Kok.