Allah Judgment: What the Special Branch saw on Sunday

ARCHIVES 2013

By admin-s On Oct 25, 2013

Here’s what I imagine the Special Branch would have reported to the Home Minister about what they saw in a typical West Malaysian church – whether Catholic or not – on the Sunday after the Court of Appeal Judgment in the “Allah” case.

write2rest

Announcements and prayers. The pastors and leaders advised those who were assembled to remain calm. They prayed for guidance on whether the Catholic church should appeal the decision, and whether other Christian groups should join as interveners.

Malay songs. In their non-Malay services, they included Malay songs. One of the songs was “Kau Yang Terindah”:

Kau yang terindah di dalam hidup ini
Tiada Allah Tuhan yang seperti Engkau
Besar perkasa penuh kemuliaan
Kau yang termanis di dalam hidup ini
Ku cinta Kau lebih dari segalanya
Besar kasih setiaMu kepadaku

Kusembah Kau ya Allahku
Kutinggikan namaMu selalu
Tiada lutut tak bertelut
Menyembah Yesus Tuhan Rajaku
Kusembah Kau ya Allahku
Kutinggikan namaMu selalu
Semua lidah ‘kan mengaku
Engkaulah Yesus Tuhan RajaKu

Older church members usually sing Malay songs grumpily. Though millions of Malays have been educated in Malaysian Christian schools, almost no Malays have become Christians. So, except for East Malaysians, no native-Malay speakers attend Sunday services in West Malaysian churches. Therefore, the older members think there is no need to use Malay. (They ‘tolerate’ Malay because their children are fluent in Malay.)

The Sunday after the CoA decision was unusual. The older members didn’t frown or strain when the Malay songs were sung. They not only stood up with the younger members to sing. They even looked happy when the Malay songs were sung, repeatedly.

The quality of the singing was poorer than usual, because the older members pronounce Malay words badly. Yet, no one seemed to mind. Even the worship leaders who normally twist their faces when the assembled people sing poorly, seemed happy.