Distribution of Herald to Sabah, S’wak not an issue

KUCHING: The distribution of copies of the Catholic weekly, Herald in Sabah and Sarawak, despite the Appeals Court’s recent decision on the use of the word Allah, should not be a problem in the two states, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Idris Jala said today.

He said the Home Ministry should not have prevented the distribution of about 2,000 copies of the Herald in Sabah last Thursday, which was later lifted yesterday, as Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had made the issue clear during his visit there last week.

“I believe there is a misunderstanding. Christians in Sabah and Sarawak can continue (to use the word Allah in their worship and publications). So the distribution of the Herald weekly is not a problem,” he told reporters after officiating at the opening of the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management (Capam) regional forum 2013 here.

He was asked to comment on the government’s accountability relating to the ministry’s latest move on the issue.

Najib had said that the Appeals Court’s decision to overturn the Herald’s right to use the word Allah did not at all touch on the practices of Christians in Sabah and Sarawak, as contained in the 10-Point Agreement decided by the federal cabinet.

Following the Oct 14 Appeals Court ruling, the Catholic church, which prints 14,000 copies of the Herald every week for about one million Catholics in the country, used the word allah in inverted commas in the latest edition.

– Bernama