'Allah' the Malay word that isn't

And, Malaysia is also supposed to be harmonious, peaceful and tolerant, according to the government of Malaysia.

There are a lot of initiatives and efforts done to ensure that Malaysia continues to be a multicultural, multiracial, multireligious and harmonious country.

And having a common national language is just such contributor to encouraging and promoting harmony and a self of belonging.

In Malaysia, the obvious language that is used to pull people together is Bahasa Malaysia. It is taught in schools and is also the official government medium of communication.

Basically, almost every single Malaysian can speak the Malay language in one form or another and this is the common denominator for us all.

I like that we have something that is inclusive and makes all Malaysians similar. By having a common language, we all have something to call our own.

A language that has been spoken since the 7th century (most likely even before that) and was the business language of the Southeast Asian region has deep history.

Anyone from around the world had to master the Malay language if they wanted to be able to trade and do business successfully.

And it was a welcome to have Arab merchants, Chinese diplomats, European explorers and African traders learning the language when they came to our land.

The 17th century Dutch scholar, Francois Valentijn, even wrote that the Malay language was the lingua franca of the eastern region, much like French and Latin is in Europe.

He added that it was a language that was even spoken and understood in the lands as far as Persia to the west and the Philippines to the east.

People around the world actually embraced the language. How cool is that? So it should be no problem for Bahasa Malaysia to be embraced within Malaysia itself.

Sure. There is definitely no problem with the language being embraced by all Malaysians. It’s obvious that everyone has embraced it.

The problem happens to be the Malays themselves (well, only a segment of them, to be honest, lest I get accused of stereotyping!) are creating the problem.

Yes, yes! I’m referring to that court ruling that is hot on everyone’s lips right now. The one that said the Christian Herald newspaper cannot use the word ‘Allah’ for God.

It doesn’t matter what the legal terms of the court ruling is. What matters right now is the perception that is going around the nation.

It seems that the Malay Muslims are acting all protective and claiming ownership of Bahasa Malaysia by not allowing people of other religions to use the word ‘Allah’.

By doing so, we are going against the concept of inclusiveness and self-identity of a common language to unify the people of Malaysia.

We are excluding our own people. Look at the repercussions that have been going on, not just in Peninsular Malaysia (technically Malaya), but in Sabah and Sarawak as well.

Are all these people not Malaysians? Are they second class citizens who do not have the same rights as others when it comes to using our unifying and national language?

So, from a layman’s perspective, wouldn’t it look like there is a double standard in the country? Different people have different rights.

Some are more Malaysian than others. Hence, some have more rights over Bahasa Malaysia than others, well, as far as perception goes anyway.