Bishop Bolly: Not HERALD but Malaysia was on trial

Jan 29, 2015

KUCHING: Political expediency has prevailed over common sense and what is universally right, said Kuching Bishop Bolly Lapok.

He was referring to the Federal Court’s decision on Jan 21 to dismiss the Roman Catholic Archbishop’s review application on the grounds that there were no procedural unfairness to the decision made by an earlier seven-member bench.

The case was related to the Catholic weekly, HERALD, using the term ‘Allah’ in its publication. “In this case, clearly it has not been the HERALD, nor the Church but Malaysia that has been on trial before a watching world,” said Lapok, who is also the fourth Metropolitan Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church of Southeast Asia.

He also hoped that the decision has “not mired ourselves in greater complication”.

“The word ‘Allah’ has become embedded in the languages and cultures of the non-Muslim natives of West Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah.

“My greatest concern is how far the ruling is going to affect indigenous expressions. It seems, the natives who should receive more help and protection are the ones who are affected the most by this decision,” he said. --Malaysiakini