This guy is the son of Syed Jaafar Albar, the Malaysian politician who caused a racial riot in Singapore in 1964.
The man who first barred the Catholic weekly Herald from using the word Allah four years ago is a happy man following the decision by the Court of Appeal to uphold his ban.
Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar, who was home minister in 2009, told The Malaysian Insider that Monday's ruling was a “very good decision”.
"The decision has been made and we should respect it. This is a matter of the belief of Muslims, a sensitive thing that needed to be understood by all," the former minister said.
Syed Hamid, who is now Land Public Transport Commission chairman, rubbished allegations that his decision to initially ban the word from the Herald was a political move.
"This has nothing to do with politics. It is a question of belief," he reiterated.
Following the court decision, global news broadcaster BBC News commented that the ban was seen as Umno's efforts to boost its Islamic credentials and win back support from the majority Malays.
"Many of them believe that the case stems from a tight race between the governing Malay-Muslim party, Umno, and the opposition Islamic party, PAS," its Kuala Lumpur correspondent Jennifer Pak had said.
"It's an issue that crops up in government-linked media ahead of an election and promptly dwindles after the vote."
The issue had cropped up in 2007 after the Herald was warned not to publish an article about opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Following court appearances and negotiations, the Catholic publication received permission to use the word Allah as long as it stated on its masthead that the Herald was for Christians only.
Syed Hamid had even signed the order and it was gazetted on February 16, 2009. But 12 days later, he backpedalled and banned the Herald from using the word Allah.
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/i-was-right-says-the-ex-minister-who-reignited-allah-issue
The man who first barred the Catholic weekly Herald from using the word Allah four years ago is a happy man following the decision by the Court of Appeal to uphold his ban.
Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar, who was home minister in 2009, told The Malaysian Insider that Monday's ruling was a “very good decision”.
"The decision has been made and we should respect it. This is a matter of the belief of Muslims, a sensitive thing that needed to be understood by all," the former minister said.
Syed Hamid, who is now Land Public Transport Commission chairman, rubbished allegations that his decision to initially ban the word from the Herald was a political move.
"This has nothing to do with politics. It is a question of belief," he reiterated.
Following the court decision, global news broadcaster BBC News commented that the ban was seen as Umno's efforts to boost its Islamic credentials and win back support from the majority Malays.
"Many of them believe that the case stems from a tight race between the governing Malay-Muslim party, Umno, and the opposition Islamic party, PAS," its Kuala Lumpur correspondent Jennifer Pak had said.
"It's an issue that crops up in government-linked media ahead of an election and promptly dwindles after the vote."
The issue had cropped up in 2007 after the Herald was warned not to publish an article about opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Following court appearances and negotiations, the Catholic publication received permission to use the word Allah as long as it stated on its masthead that the Herald was for Christians only.
Syed Hamid had even signed the order and it was gazetted on February 16, 2009. But 12 days later, he backpedalled and banned the Herald from using the word Allah.
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/i-was-right-says-the-ex-minister-who-reignited-allah-issue
