Now Nazri Aziz says East Malaysians can’t use Allah in West Malaysia

The Malaysian Insider

Tuesday, 22 October 2013 Last Update: 01:49pm

BY RITA JONG
October 22, 2013

 

When in West Malaysia, don't use the word Allah, Nazri tells Christians. - The Malaysian Insider pic by Afif Abd Halim, October 22, 2013.Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz has added more confusion to the Allah ruling when he said today that East Malaysians cannot use the word in Peninsular Malaysia.

"East Malaysia has no state laws to disallow the use of Allah, but here, we have," said Nazri at the Malaysia International Golf Symposium 2013 in Kuala Lumpur today.

He said the Allah issue has been hyped up by people who do not know the law and customs.

According to Nazri, the use of the word Allah has been a practice in Sabah and Sarawak for 100 years.

"They understood this and there has never been a problem as it is their way of life," he added.

But if East Malaysians were to come to the peninsula, they have to respect the laws as West Malaysians are not used to Christians using Allah, he said.

Yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Joseph Kurup said that while the Court of Appeal ban of the word Allah was exclusive to Catholic weekly Herald, Christians in Peninsular Malaysia were free to use the word in the weekly masses. - October 22, 2013