Police Forensics Investigating the Black Paint Incident in Malacca

A primarily East Malaysian Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) Church in Seremban was attacked today with a firebomb, leaving scorch marks on its front doors. The attack did not affect the church interior and was believed to have occurred early this morning. This incident marks the eight attack on Malaysian churches.

Yesterday in Taiping, Perak 2 cases of church attack were reported. The All Saints’ Church at Jalan Taming Sari and the SMK Convent along Jalan Convent became targets of arson attempts. Both suffered no damage. In Miri, Sarawak it was reported that the Good Shepherd Church had its glass windows shattered after being thrown with bricks, while the Malacca Baptist Church in Durian Daun was with splashed black paint.

“So far the attacks have involved stone throwing and arson attempts. There is no serious damage,” said the Home Minister, referring to the latest report on the surveillance on places of worship. He further added, ““Situation is under control and not as exaggerated by the foreign media, SMSes and the Internet,”

The government reiterates that all incidents were isolated and not coordinated. No casualties or injuries were reported.

Scorch marks on SIB Church, Seremban

All of the 8 victimized churches suffered only minor scorch marks or no damage, excluding the Metro Tabernacle Church in Desa Melawati, that left the whole ground in charred. Latest updates shows that the RM500,000 fund from the government to the Metro Tabernacle Church is actually for building a new RM1.5 million church in Batu Caves. Yesterday, Datuk Nazir Tun Razak, the younger brother of Malaysia premier cum the CEO for CIMB Group announced a RM100,000 donation to the same church.

“What happened was only caused by a small segment of the people. It was great to see people of all communities, faiths and social levels reaching out to help. It really reflects what Malaysians are about,” said Metro Tabernacle church senior pastor, Rev Ong Sek Leang.

Six Muslim NGOs — Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia (PPIM), Malaysian Chinese Muslim Association, Badan Amal Tarbiah Sejagat Malaysia, Pewaris, Islamic Information and Services Foundation, Perkasa — yesterday offered their assistance and support to their “Christian brothers and sisters”.

PPIM executive secretary Datuk Nadzim Johan said the NGOs, which have 60 volunteers, and Rela are prepared to give a hand to their Christian counterparts should they need assistance.

Naked-Malaysian: The cowardly acts of vandalism towards the Malaysian churches did not discriminate whether the concerned churches were from Roman Catholic division or not, showing a high level of ignorance towards Christian faith and church bodies in Malaysia. Although all forms of attack to places of worship should be condemned, it was obvious these vandals are barking at the wrong tree.

Technorati Tags: Allah, Christian, Church, Islam, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Malaysia News, Malaysian, Miri, Negeri Sembilan, Perak, Roman Chatolic, Sarawak, Seremban, Taiping

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The first incident struck the three-storey Metro Tabernacle church, part of the Assemblies of God movement, destroying its ground floor to a charred and twisted wreck.

The second and third attack involved the Catholic Church of the Assumption in Kuala Lumpur’s southwest and the nearby Protestant Life Chapel church, both escape with minor damages  as the Molotov cocktail failed to explode.

Coincidentally, the Malaysia judiciary website was also hacked and defaced on the same night, leaving a short threat to drop the ‘Allah’ case.

The latest attack that happened on Saturday morning was to the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Petaling Jaya, but the firebomb missed the glass windows, hitting the building wall instead, leaving a minor burn marks on its outer paint job.

No human injury or casualty was reported in any of the four incidents. Islamic teachings prohibit destroying place of worship even in the event of war.

“Those who have been driven from their homes unjustly only because they said: Our Lord is Allah – For had it not been for Allah’s repelling some men by means of others, cloisters and churches and oratories and mosques, wherein the name of Allah is oft mentioned, would assuredly have been pulled down. Verily Allah helpeth one who helpeth Him. Lo! Allah is Strong, Almighty” – Al-Hajj Ayaat 40.

PM Najib Tun Razak announced last night that the government will fund RM500,000 to repair the Metro Tabernacle church in Desa Melawati.

A group of youth handing out flowers to passer-by at Bukit Bintang. Image source- The Star

Malaysian public, the majority Malay Moslems and other religion adherents remain divided over the ‘Allah’ issue, but all unanimously mourn and condemn any attack to houses of worship or any other acts that will jeopardize the delicate racial harmony in Malaysia.

Yesterday a public rally was held at Bukit Bintang to show Malaysian solidarity over recent religious distruption. A group of youths – of various races and professions – got together at the city centre and handed out flowers to passers-by in a gesture of goodwill in the wake of the arson attacks on four churches in the Klang Valley. The youths stood in the hustle and bustle of the Golden Triangle of Jalan Bukit Bintang carrying placards and banners with the message “Every­thing’s gonna be alright”.

Technorati Tags: Allah, Christian, Herald Weekly, Kuala Lumpur, Lutheran, Malaysia, Malaysia News, Petaling Jaya, Protestant, Roman Catholic

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Mess with the best, die like the rest

The religious polemic about who has the right to use the name Allah in Malaysia just added a new twist. The government website for Malaysia judiciary court was cracked by an unknown hacker going by the name Brainwash for a brief moment last night. The hacker then defaced the (http://www.mahkamah.gov.my) website with a short remarks threatening the Malaysia judiciary system to drop the recent ‘Allah’ judgment. The said website however has been duly restored at the time of this posting.

————————————————————–>>< <————————————————————

TakeDown by Brainwash!

Allah only restricted to muslim only. Dont touch us as we dont touch you. Unless…..

“Mess with the best, die like the rest”

p/s: To the court, Brain know you postponed it but if you wise enough then you should drop it

————————————————————–>>< <————————————————————

Naked-Malaysian: Mess with the best, die like the rest? Come on man! You are joking ‘rite? What’s about all the other serious words? An appropriate Surah relating to the issue maybe? Your skill for hacking doesn’t match up with the requirement not to be cheesy at the wrong time. Next time draft a good statement prior to hacking will you?

Technorati Tags: Allah, hacked, mahkamah, Malaysia, Malaysia Court, Malaysia News, Malaysian, polemic, Roman Catholic

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Ruling on a lawsuit filed by a Malaysian Roman Catholic church publication, the Kuala Lumpur High Court said on Thursday that the home ministry’s ban on the use of the word “Allah” was “illegal, null and void”.

Judge Lau Bee Lan said the term was not exclusive to Islam, adding that all Malaysians had the right to use the word under the constitution which guarantees freedom of expression and religion.

The Herald had filed for a judicial review after it was temporarily ordered to stop publishing in 2007 for using the word “Allah”.

The government had argued that the word was exclusive to Islam and that its use by other religions could mislead Muslims and harm national security.

The church disputed this and argued that the word predates Islam as a term for God and is used in many places in a non-Muslim context.

It added that in Malaysia, the term is widely used among indigenous Christian tribes in Sabah and Sarawak.

No threat to security

The church also argued that the ban goes against the principle of freedom of religion and religious practice enshrined in the federal constitution.

Lau ruled on Thursday that the home ministry had failed to show how the Herald’s use of “Allah” could threaten national security.

Lawrence Andrew, the editor of the Catholic weekly, said outside the courtroom that he was “very happy” with the decision.

“We called out for justice and we got it,” he said, adding: “It is a victory for all Malaysians.”

Thursday’s ruling could open the door for other non-Muslim publications to use the word “Allah” as a translation for the word God in Malay language publications.

Hishammuddin Hussein, the home minister, said the government would appeal against the decision.

Source: AlJazeera

Technorati Tags: Allah, Islam, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Malaysia News, Malaysian, Roman Catholic, Weird

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