An advert on the international channels of both the BBC and CNN portrays a Caucasian couple frolicking in a veritable paradise, snorkelling through clear blue seas, visiting temples, shopping and enjoying local food. There is a catchy tune, and the finale: 'Malaysia, truly Asia.'
Yes, Malaysia has many of the blessings of a paradise on earth. It is a rich, fertile land producing an array of commodities. Its well-educated 27 million people of Malay, Chinese and Indian origins live comfortably with per capita incomes of US$15,200. But, today, Malaysia resembles paradise after the Fall - and human beings are tearing it apart. A few decades ago, race pitted the richer Chinese against the majority Malays. Today, the battleground is the politics of religion and, in particular, God and who can use the name 'Allah'.
The latest dispute has seen attacks on eight churches and a convent of several Christian denominations, and another last week on a Sikh temple. There have been demonstrations against a court ruling favouring the Catholic Church and a Facebook campaign with more than 120,000 supporters claiming that 'Allah' is exclusively for Muslims.
The complex coalition government led by Malays has appealed against a High Court ruling that Catholics in their prayers and Bibles in the Bahasa Malaysia language can use the word 'Allah' when referring to God. The government itself triggered the dispute. In 2007, the Home Ministry forbade the Catholic newspaper, the Herald, from using 'Allah' in its Malay-language edition. The High Court judgment on December 31 was a response to the appeal by Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur Murphy Pakiam, as publisher of the Herald, against the ban. The Herald argued that 'Allah' for 'God' is an Arabic word that predates Islam itself and is widely used in the Holy Land and neighbouring countries by Christians and Jews, as well as Muslims.
Pressure is growing to get the Christians to back down or compromise. There is undoubtedly a popular head of Muslim steam. One businessman in Kuala Lumpur asked angrily: 'Why are the Christians claiming Allah? He is ours.' Placards read: 'Leave Islam alone.' Muslim groups claim the Catholic Church is trying to convert Muslims by using the lure of 'Allah', a ludicrous claim considering apostasy is illegal for Malay Muslims. This is more of a political campaign than a religious one. The Parti Islam se-Malaysia, the supposed ultra-Islamic party in opposition, came out in support of Christians as fellow believers in the God of Abraham.
It will not be easy to set things right. When I first went to Malaysia in the 1970s, to start a daily business newspaper, Malays were poorer and less well-educated than the rich Chinese who, along with foreigners, owned most big companies. Today, thanks to decades of preferential treatment and political string-pulling, Malays are in the ascendancy. More than 60 percent of the population is Muslim, thanks to conversions, especially in Sabah and Sarawak, using the sweeteners of government jobs for indigenous people who converted. Christians account for 9 per cent of the population.