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deputy minister johari on use of Allah word

December 21st, 2007
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I'm not an expert on Islam, but since Internet is around, I googled around for the word "Allah". These are some of the interesting things I found:

1. From http://emuslim.com/WhoIsAllah.asp

First of all, it is important to note that "Allah" is the same word that Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews use for God. If you pick up an Arabic Bible, you will see the word "Allah" being used where "God" is used in English. This is because "Allah" is the only word in the Arabic language equivalent to the English word "God" with a capital "G". Additionally, the word "Allah" cannot be made plural or given gender (i.e. masculine or feminine), which goes hand-in-hand with the Islamic concept of God. Because of this, and also because the Qur'an, which is the holy scripture of Muslims, was revealed in the Arabic language, some Muslims use the word "Allah" for "God", even when they are speaking other languages. This is not unique to the word "Allah", since many Muslims tend to use Arabic words when discussing Islamic issues, regardless of the language that they speak. This is because the universal teachings of Islam – even though they have been translated in every major language – have been preserved in the Arabic language.

 

It is interesting to note that the Aramaic word "El", which is the word for God in the language that Jesus spoke, is certainly more similar in sound to the word "Allah" than the English word "God". This also holds true for the various Hebrew words for God, which are "El" and "Elah", and the plural form "Elohim". The reason for these similarities is that Aramaic, Hebrew and Arabic are all Semitic languages with common origins. It should also be noted that in translating the Bible into English, the Hebrew word "El" is translated variously as "God", "God" and "angel"! This imprecise language allows different translators, based on their preconceived notions, to translate the word to fit their own views. The Arabic word "Allah" presents no such difficulty or ambiguity, since it is only used for Almighty God alone. Additionally, in English, the only difference between "God", meaning a false God, and "God", meaning the One True God, is the capital "G". In the Arabic alphabet, since it does not have capital letters, the word for God (i.e. Allah) is formed by adding the equivalent to the English word "the" (Al-) to the Arabic word for "God/God" (ilah). So the Arabic word "Allah" literally it means "The God" – the "Al-" in Arabic basically serving the same function as the capital "G" in English. Due to the above mentioned facts, a more accurate translation of the word "Allah" into English might be "The One -and-Only God" or "The One True God".

More importantly, it should also be noted that the Arabic word "Allah" contains a deep religious message due to its root meaning and origin. This is because it stems from the Arabic verb ta'Allaha (or alaha), which means "to be worshipped".

 

…This brings us to a more important point: It should be clearly understood that what Islam is primarily concerned with is correcting mankind's concept of Almighty God. What we are ultimately going to be held accountable at the end of our life is not whether we prefer the word "Allah" to the word "God", but what our concept of God is. Language is only a side issue. A person can have an incorrect concept of God while using the word "Allah", and likewise a person can have a correct concept of God while using the word "God". This is because both of these words are equally capable of being misused and being improperly defined. As we've already mentioned, using the word "Allah" no more insinuates belief in the Unity of God than the use of the word "God" insinuates belief in the Trinity – or any other theological opinion. Naturally, when God sends a revelation to mankind through a prophet, He is going to send it in a language that the people who receive it can understand and relate to.

 

Some of the biggest misconceptions that many non-Muslims have about Islam have to do with the word "Allah". For various reasons, many people have come to believe that Muslims worship a different God than Christians and Jews. This is totally false, since "Allah" is simply the Arabic word for "God" – and there is only One God. Let there be no doubt – Muslims worship the God of Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and Jesus – peace be upon them all. However, it is certainly true that Jews, Christians and Muslims all have different concepts of Almighty God. For example, Muslims – like Jews – reject the Christian beliefs of the Trinity and the Divine Incarnation. This, however, doesn't mean that each of these three religions worships a different God – because, as we have already said, there is only One True God. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all claim to be "Abrahamic Faiths", and all of them are also classified as "monotheistic". However, Islam teaches that other religions have, in one way or another, distorted and nullified a pure and proper belief in Almighty God by neglecting His true teachings and mixing them with man-made ideas

 

As Muslims, we think that it is unfortunate that we have to go into details on such seemingly minor issues, but so many falsehoods have been heaped upon our religion, that we feel that it is our duty to try to break down the barriers of falsehood. This isn't always easy, since there is a lot of anti-Islamic literature in existence, which tries to make Islam look like something strange and foreign to Westerners. There are some people out there, who are obviously not on the side of truth, that want to get people to believe that "Allah" is just some Arabian "God", and that Islam is completely "other" – meaning that it has no common roots with the other Abrahamic religions (i.e. Christianity and Judaism). To say that Muslims worship a different "God" because they say "Allah" is just as illogical as saying that French people worship another God because they use the word "Dieu", that Spanish-speaking people worship a different God because they say "Dios" or that the Hebrews worshipped a different God because they sometimes call Him "Yahweh". Certainly, reasoning like this is quite ridiculous! It should also be mentioned, that claiming that any one language uses the only correct word for God is tantamount to denying the universality of God's message to mankind, which was to all nations, tribes and people through various prophets who spoke different languages."

2. From http://understanding-islam.com/related/text.asp?type=question&qid=69&sscatid=8

Question:

What is the derivation of the word "Allah"? Some scholars say it derives from al+ illah ("the God"), but many Muslim Ulema and translators of the Qur'an (such as Maulana Muhammad Ali) disagree with this, and say that "Allah" is whole in itself, as a proper name for the Supreme Creator. But is there any philological relationship between Allah and other Semitic terms for "God" such as Eloah (Hebrew) and Alaha (Aramaic/Syriac)?

Thank you.

Peace and blessings of Allah be with you.

Answer:

Although a lot has been said about the philology of the word 'Allah', however, in my opinion, the former of the two opinions noted by you seems to be closer to the correct one. A detailed discussion compiling the opinions of various scholars of the Arabic language regarding the origin of the word can be seen in "Lisaan al-Arab" under the word "Aaliha" (a-l-h). In my opinion, 'Allah' is an Arabic word meaning 'the God'. According to the general principle of making proper nouns from common nouns in the Arabic language, the word "ilah" (common noun) has been converted to "al-ilah", which became "Allah" due to the turgidity and the slight difficulty of pronouncing the word "al-ilah".

The Qur'an, because its prime and first addressees were the Arabs, used the word "Allah" for the Supreme Being, as that had traditionally been the word used for the Supreme Being in that language. The same had been the case in the older scriptures. Those scriptures, like the Qur'an, used the particular words for the Supreme Being, which were already in vogue in those languages, to refer to the Supreme Being.

However, there have been scholars of the Arabic language who ascribe to the opinion that "Allah" is the actual name of the Supreme Being. It is indeed important to analyze the evidence that they have provided to support their opinion. Nevertheless, I feel that to give God a name is a requirement of us, humans. God, being the absolute being is in no need for a name.

3. From http://www.islam-info.ch/en/Who_is_Allah.htm

In the technical vocabulary of linguistics, the word Allâh is Jâmid, that is, it is not derived from any other word. In the pronunciation of Allâh, the letter ‘L’ is stressed. The word Allâh is not a construction of al-ilâh as some people think, but a different and an independent word. The first two letters Al in the word Allâh are an integral, inseparable part of the word. They do not denote the definite article Al of Arabic, which is equivalent to the English ‘the’. In Arabic, the prefix Al is added before the noun to emphasize the word in the sense of 'most' or 'all', for example al-Rahmân – the Most Gracious. Sîbwaih, the great grammarian, and Khalîl, the great linguistic, say, “Since Al in the beginning of the word Allâh is inseparable from it, so it is a simple substantive, not derived from any other word.”

If Al in All̢h were an additional prefix, the common exclamation y̢ All̢h, (O All̢h!), would not be permitted according to the rules of Arabic grammar, as the form y̢ al-il̢h or y̢ al-Rahm̢n are not permissible in Arabic. Moreover, this supposition would mean that there were different gods Р̢lihah (plural of il̢h), one of which became gradually known as al-il̢h and was then contracted into All̢h. This supposition is not correct. All̢h has always been the name of the Eternal Being (Hughes: Dictionary of Islam), nor has the word All̢h ever been applied to anyone else but the Divine Being. The pagan Arabs had numerous il̢hs or gods, but none of them was ever called All̢h.

This being the proper name of the Supreme Being has therefore no parallel or equivalent in any other language of the world. The English word ‘god’ is applied to any religious object of worship. Most probably it is related to ‘good’ and origins from heathen mythologies. Jehovah, which is the Aramaic or Hebrew expression Ya Howâ, literally means most closely ‘O! That’ or ‘O! Thou’ used to address a Deity, the emphasis is on Huwa which is to emphasize an Existence, therefore it can hardly be a proper name. The Hindus give their senior deity the name of Par-Mâtma (the Super Soul), Par-Barham (the Super and the Great), Par-Mishwar (the Great King or Owner), The Parsis give their supreme God the name of Yazdan and Hermes. In the Sikh religion, their great Deity is called Satt which means the Truth. The use of Jehova in the New Testament by the Witnesses of Jehova is a new invention. In the original Greek version and older versions of the New Testament this name was never used and Jesus never employed the name "Jehova". Although most Christians are unaware of it, the Aramaic speaking Jesus also used the word Allâh (or ‘Allaha’). Christians speaking the Semitic languages still use it. In the Greek and Latin writings this was then rendered to theos or deos, the generic words for ‘god’ in these languages. These words are derived from Dyeus, the name of a heathen god. The French ‘dieu’ or the English ‘deity’ are also etymologically based on that word.

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allah

The term Allāh is most likely derived from a contraction of the Arabic article al- and ʾilāh "deity, god" to al-lāh meaning "the [sole] deity, God" ( ho theos monos), L. Gardet states.[2] Another theory traces the etymology of the word to the Aramaic Alāhā.[2]. Cognates of the name "Allāh" exist in other Semitic languages, including Hebrew and Aramaic. [4] The corresponding Aramaic form is אֱלָהָא ˀĔlāhā in Biblical Aramaic and ܐܰܠܳܗܳܐ ˀAlâhâ or ˀĀlōho in Syriac. [9].

According to Gerhard Böwering, the contraction of al- and ʾilāh in forming the term Allāh (“the deity” in the masculine form) parallels the contraction of al- and ʾilāha in forming the term al-Lāt (“the deity” in the feminine form). [10]

Arabic-speakers of all Abrahamic faiths, including Christians and Jews, use the word "Allah" to mean "God". [4] The Christian Arabs of today have no other word for 'God' than 'Allah'.[6] Arab Christians for example use terms Allāh al-ab (الله الآب) meaning God the father, Allāh al-ibn (الله الابن) mean God the son, and Allāh al-ruh al ghodus (الله الروح القدس) meaning God the Holy Spirit (See God in Christianity for the Christian concept of God).

Deputy Minister Johari says the word is from Arabic language, so I suppose all those who speak Arabic can use it. Religion is a sensitive issue, so I hope this issue is not misinterpreted and offend those people of Arabic descent who may not be Muslims. Again, I'm not an expert, so my apologies if there's any mistake here.

Johari: Only Muslims can use 'Allah'
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/76302
Soon Li Tsin | Dec 21, 07 5:31pm

The word 'Allah' can only be used in the context of Islam and not any other religion, said the Deputy Internal Security Minister Johari Baharum.

Asked why a new condition will be imposed on Catholic weekly newspaper Herald when its annual publishing permit is next renewed, the deputy minister said this is to prevent confusion. 

"Only Muslims can use 'Allah'. It's a Muslim word, you see. It's from (the Arabic (language). We cannot let other religions use it because it will confuse people," he said when contacted today.

"We cannot allow this use of 'Allah' in non-Muslim publications, nobody except Muslims. The word 'Allah' is published by the Catholics. It's not right."

The Herald, the organ of the Catholic Church in Malaysia, had been facing problems in renewing its publishing permit allegedly because of the word 'Allah' was used in referring to 'God' in its Bahasa Malaysia section. 

The ministry has also allegedly told the publisher to remove the entire Bahasa Malaysia section or the permit will not be renewed when it expires in two weeks.

The Herald, which is published in four languages – English, Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil – has a circulation of 12,000.

Johari noted that other publications, such as Buddhist magazines, do not use the word 'Allah' when referring to God.

"The Herald can use other words but not 'Allah'. That will confuse people," he claimed.

Basis of decision

He said the decision was made based on a report submitted by the publications department of the ministry.

"Previously no one knew (about this). I made the decision based on a report submitted to me that was prepared by an officer," he explained.

However, when asked why the Herald is being told to remove its Bahasa Malaysia section – rather than use of the word 'Allah' – Johari was unable to comment.

"I'm not sure about it, I have to check again. As far as I know they used the word 'Allah' and we cannot allow that," he reiterated.

He further pointed out that the word 'Allah' cannot be printed on t-shirts or other garments and those who have done so have been warned by his ministry.

The use of 'Allah' outside of Islam has stirred controversy in Malaysia previously. Four years ago, the Bible in the Iban language was banned because it translated the word 'God' as Allah Taala, which resembles Islam's name for God. 

The ban was, however, lifted after protests from the Christian community.

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Khir Toyo on temple demolition

December 21st, 2007
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Again, the temple demolition is stated as done after Deepavali. Click below to read more on the confusing dates:

http://poobalan.com/blog/borninmalaysia/2007/12/09/khir-toyo-meets-padang-jawa-folks/

Maybe they are talking about the outer structure and temple building itself, while the most important is the deities.

Khir Toyo: I cry for the squatters too
source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/76264
Nash Rahman & Beh Lih Yi | Dec 20, 07 2:33pm

Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo said he had done his best in the handling of a series of emotionally-charged demolitions of squatter houses and temples in the state.

“I saw the pictures (of the demolitions), I feel very sad. I am in a difficult position – to choose between one family and 10 families. Of course, as a leader, I’ve to choose 10.

“If I adopt the minority view, I am not being fair to everybody. I also cried (for them), but I need to choose,” he told Malaysiakini when asked on the controversies in a 90-minute interview at his office in Shah Alam last week.

The menteri besar, who took office in 2000, added that the state government has provided alternatives to the squatters including better housing scheme and financial assistance before asking them to relocate.

“We take action because we need to develop (the area) and fulfill our promise to the 80 percent (who agreed to move),” he said.

He described the 20 percent who refused to budge as a “minority group influenced by opposition parties”.

Open clashes

A visibly upset Mohd Khir also lamented that the minority group should have given in to the rest and not to “refuse everything” that was offered.

He revealed that even one of his relatives was not spared from eviction.

“In Kampung Rimba Jaya, one of them is my uncle’s son who lived there. He came and see me (to ask for help) but I said ‘no’. The land doesn’t belong to the state, (and) if I don’t settle the issue today, it will come up in future,” the 42-year-politician asserted.

Scenes of brutal confrontation emerged during the two most recent demolitions of squatters in Kampung Berembang near Ampang and Kampung Rimba Jaya in Shah Alam.

In both occasions, local authority enforcement officers openly clashed with residents when they forced their way in to the squatter area to demolish the houses – with the aid of tear gas and water cannons – when the residents refused to budge. Dozens of arrests were also made.

Since the demolitions, some of the defiant squatters, including women and children, are living in makeshift tents near their demolished homes.

The spate of squatters demolition done under the name of development is in line with the ‘zero squatter’ policy set by the Selangor state government, which it had targeted to achieve two years ago.

Social activists have criticised the high-handed actions in the demolition of squatter areas. Often the enforcement officers moved in even before the disposal of court cases where the residents had challenged the eviction order.

However, residents in Kampung Berembang – some of whom have lived there since the 1960s – won a minor court victory last week when a high court denied the developer possession of the land and set aside its injunction to prohibit evicted squatters from returning to the area.

Kept changing ‘golf pose’

On the demolition of temples in Selangor which has upset the Indian community, Mohd Khir said the state government had to face the intractable issue of temples being built on private or reserved land.

“If it is private land, we always put a condition that the landowner must provide (another piece of) land to relocate the temple. In fact, we force them to give some compensation to the local temple.

“When we discussed (with the local residents), there is often no problem. However, when outsiders come into picture, there is problem – they make the matter worse,” the menteri besar claimed.

Mohd Khir appeared to brush aside the criticism of MIC president and Works Minister S Samy Vellu who was irked by the demolition of a 100-year-old temple in Kampung Rimba Jaya in late October.

“They created the story of 100-, 200-year-old temple, (which is) not true. We know the oldest temple in the state… I don’t know what happened to him (on why Samy Vellu had reacted the way he did) – we demolished the temple only after Deepavali,” he said.

While the local authorities were stopped from demolishing the temple a few days before Deepavali, they however returned to complete the job soon after the Hindus’ most important festival.

Mohd Khir stressed that the state government’s move to demolish the temple was not made abruptly and they had started discussions and negotiations with the local residents for years.

“They kept on changing their ‘golf pose’ – we followed, but still we can’t do much,” he lamented.

‘No big impact’ on BN chances

Nevertheless, Mohd Khir remained optimistic and was of the view that such controversies would not jeopardise the ruling Barisan Nasional’s chances in Selangor in the next general elections due next year.

“After we give clear explanation, the people will become more reasonable and accept it. The issue turns into a big issue often due to no clear explanation… We are very caring actually,” he emphasised.

But he hoped voters do not cast their votes emotionally in the polls.

“Sometimes we have to make unpopular decision, but that is the reality that we have to face. We don’t want to be a party that promise yang bukan-bukan (something not workable) but can’t fulfill them after the election.

“The opposition knows they can never be the government so they promised macam-macam (all sort of things). They don’t really have commitment,” he argued.

Highlights of the interview

On Kg Berembang and Kg Rimba Jaya

Those in Rimba Jaya and Berembang are a minority group which is not happy. They are less than 20 percent (of the total residents). We have discussed with them at the initial stage until we reached a decision that the majority are satisfied with, only then we act. These squatters are to be moved to a better place and housing rental is being paid by the developer, state government or local authority until their houses are completed.

But there is a small group not happy because they applied for the land to be given to them or they argued the land was developed by them. We have explained that the land is privately-owned, not government-owned. We have many discussions with everybody. Take Rimba Jaya – we started talking about the issue five years back. Berembang was four years back.

On the temple demolition in Shah Alam

They created the story of 100-, 200-year-old temple, (which is) not true. We know the oldest temple in the state. There are about 810 big temples in Selangor and thousand of small temples. I don’t know what happened to him (MIC president S Samy Vellu who was upset over the demolition). We demolished the temple after Deepavali.

Impact on BN’s chances in general elections

Rakyat has to see the performance of the BN government. We are not simply doing something, we are doing it for our future. Sometimes we have to make unpopular decision, but that is the reality we have to face. We don’t want to be a party that promise yang bukan-bukan but can’t fulfill them after the election. The opposition knows they can never be the government, they promised macam-macam. They don’t really have commitment.

Like (PAS-led) Kelantan. Last time, they said they want to push for hudud law, what happen to that now? We don’t want to be a government that cheat the people. We want to be a government with integrity.

On the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf)

Hindraf is not something new, it has been moving in Selangor for three, four years. They have the agenda to turn the Malays into their enemy. We see it, it has been there for a long time. They questioned why Islam is higher than other religions when we know Islam is the official religion and it was agreed to during the Independence. They also questioned the bumiputeras’ rights.

Criticisms against his leadership

I already have done my best. If people want to criticise, I can’t say anything. So far, Selangor is doing quite well. We have clear direction. We know what to do for the next five years.

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murder charge againts 31 detainees dropped

December 17th, 2007
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The drama is about to end soon. After nearly 3 weeks of high-octane action of creating mountains out of molehills, the story now spirals towards an anti-climax, with a predictable ending. Everyone will go back happy (except those 5 blokes) and pretend nothing ever happened. Status quo is maintained. Malaysians value peace, money, and things that does not need much thinking over street protests.

I remember that there’s a quote saying “melayu mudah lupa”. how about the indians? So far, about 80% of the people i talked to in the last two weeks clearly know who they are going to vote (or not) in the next election (hmmm…the may say one thing and do another!). the longer BN waits to call for election the better. time heals, as the saying goes.

Hindraf 31: Attempted murder charge dropped
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/76127
Soon Li Tsin | Dec 17, 07 12:41pm

Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail today dropped the attempted murder charge against 26 Hindraf supporters who were alleged to have gathered illegally at the Batu Caves temple in the early hours of Nov 25.

However two counts of causing mischief and illegal assembly against the 26 remain.

Also dropped are all charges against four students.

In all 31 Hindraf supporters were charged with attempted murder of a policeman and they have been in remand since Dec 4 after being denied bail.

Representations were made by several Indian-based political parties, including MIC and MIC and some Indian-based non-government organisations for the attempted muder charge to be dropped against the 31.

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Samy Vellu provides statistics on community

December 9th, 2007
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1. indians form 6% of university intake for 2007. does it show a downtrend or an uptrend? Can a graph showing the intake for last 30 years be provided? The same should be for all races so that we can nip any reduction of intakes as soon as possible.

2. "Many schools have been built for the community". Tamil school or national school? i thought the number of tamil schools is still at 523.

3. there was a slow increase in the present 1.2% ownership of share capital of limited companies because many Indians believed in investing in property and not in the share market. “Investing in property is also a good move as the price of property will appreciate,” – How true is this? does this mean that an abnormal number of indians are investing in properties as compared to others?

4. "46,054 Indians were employed in the public sector with another 3,642 in the police force". – That is about 4.18% (if govt staff is 1.1million). these 46,054 indians are at what levels and ranks? how about intake rate per year? increasing or reducing?

if the household income and unemployment rate is as stated, then it is a good thing indeed. in face of the adversity and imbalance in many areas, the community has struggled and improved their living conditions to a certain extent. By the way, what is the source of all these numbers? 🙂

NST: Samy Vellu: Indian community doing well

source

KUALA LUMPUR: The MIC president quoted hard figures yesterday to show that contrary to what Hindraf says, the Indian community is doing well. 

Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said that close to 12 per cent of the working Indian population are professionals or are in managerial positions. And many more could join them, as 2,447 Indians have enrolled in public universities this year.

Samy Vellu was responding to questions on the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), and its allegations that Indians in the country were facing ethnic cleansing, after the opening of the International Convention of Nagarathars. Some 650 Chettiars are attending the three-day conference.

Pressed to comment on whether he had made any effort towards a dialogue with the Hindraf leaders, Samy Vellu said: “I attempted on a few occasions to ask them to sit down and talk with us, but they do not want to. They have an agenda that is only known to them.” 
 

Samy Vellu said that Malaysian Indians could gauge for themselves how far they have come with the support of the government. He added that the Indian students who got placements in local universities this year represent six per cent of the 40,116 students who were enrolled this year.  Currently, Indians make up about eight per cent of the population.

And of the 847,900 Indians in the workforce, 46,054, or 5.12 per cent, are in the civil service. The unemployment rate among Indians is at 3.1 per cent. The national average is about 3.4 per cent. “We are also getting some help from the government for the AIMST Medical College in Sungai Petani. Many schools have been built for the community and funds are continuously allocated to upgrade the older schools,” he said.

He added that the government’s commitment to the Indian community is clear from the fact that under the microcredit scheme RM40 million has been budgeted for loans to Indians. “The aim is to create at least 5,000 Indian small businessmen under the Ninth Malaysia Plan,” he said, adding that many squatter families are now housed in government flats. He explained that the decision was made to rent out the units for five to six years, rather than sell them immediately to the occupants, to prevent those eligible for the homes selling for a quick gain. After that, a decision will be made as to whether the occupants can buy the unit.

Commenting on the convention, he said Malaysians could learn a lot about entrepreneurship from the Chettiar community, as they are known to be business savvy. The chairman of the Law Commission of India Dr Justice A.R. Lakshmanan and Indian High Commissioner to Malaysia Ashok Kantha also attended the opening of the convention.

THE STAR: Malaysian Indians have achieved much, more needed

source

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Indians have achieved progress in various fields over the last 50 years, although more needs to be done to make them competitive in the face of globalised realities, MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said here. 

He said more than 80% of them were concentrated in urban areas compared to 60% that previously lived and worked in the estates. “This migration has provided better incomes for the Indian families,” he said in a statement Sunday. 

He said 847,900 Indians were in the workforce currently, 11.5% of them professionals and managers, 19.4% associated professors, lecturers and nurses, 22.9% in sales, 4.9% in agriculture, 9.4% in craft and trade, 20.1% of them machine operators and 16.3% elementary workers. 

Samy Vellu said about 2.9% of Indian households were below the poverty line but the mean monthly household income of Indian families was RM3,456, compared to the national figure of RM3,022. 

He said 46,054 Indians were employed in the public sector with another 3,642 in the police force. 

On the participation of Indians in the economy, Samy Vellu said there was a slow increase in the present 1.2% ownership of share capital of limited companies because many Indians believed in investing in property and not in the share market. “Investing in property is also a good move as the price of property will appreciate,” he said. 

He said MIC obtained micro-credit business loans for 4,000 Indian businessmen over the past few years through Bank Negara and financial institutions. “We have also assisted in getting business licences for Indian businessmen,” he said. Samy Vellu said the Government provided business-training programs to Indian youths through the National Entrepreneur Skills institute while RM3mil has been allocated for business loans for Indians through the Tekun foundation. 

On education, he said 2,447 Indians were offered places in public universities in the 2007 intake.

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Housing discounts, stop buying?

December 5th, 2007
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Just to add,

Lets assume the following values:

Developer A's project:

Num of units: 1000

Cost price: RM70,000

Selling price: RM110,000

Profit per unit: 40,000

Total profit: RM40 million

Allocated to bumi: 20% = 200 units

Discount: 7%

A) Total sales if all units sold without discount: RM110 million

B) sales if include 200 units sold with 7% discount: RM108.64 million

difference between A and B = 1.54 million

Question: Isn't that depriving honest income of the developer? Taking from one group and giving to another?

Well, ok, lets say that the developers are rich and Rm1.54 million is like small change to them. Fine. Let's look at Case2 – What if the developer is adamant that he wants his money in one way or another. Let's say he hikes up his unit price so that he gets back his 1.54 million and achieves net profit of RM40 million (his initial target). If the developer hikes the price of units from RM110,000 to RM111,562 (extra Rm1,562), he make a total profit of RM40.000132 million (including sales of 200 units at 7%)!

Question: in the Case 2, price is artificially increased by the developer. Aren't the public being cheated and is paying for others to purchase at cheaper price? Each unit will cost RM1562 extra, while bumi lots will cost RM1452.66 extra.

Now, this can be easily adapted to other house prices and also mixed properties. I'm sure that developers would plan properly to ensure their targets are achieved. Thus most likely Case 2 will happen.

Housing discounts – let’s stop buying (M'siakini)
S Nathan

The discussion about the bumiputera housing discount needs action and not more debate. The discount could be five percent, 10 percent or whatever. The numbers do not matter. The fact is the policy is racist.

It is racist because it gives an advantage to individuals based on their race and not because of their economic situation. That's why it is a racist policy. I have absolutely no problems to give discount to poor people.

Let's give 10 percent discount (only for their first home) to anyone who is earning RM2,000 or less. This applies to anyone (man or woman; any race; only Malaysian citizens). So in theory, a couple that buys their houses before they marry can actually own two houses at a 10 percent discount each.

Make it simple. Anyone who earns less than RM2,000 can get this 10 percent discount. The house price must be less than RM350,000 so that they, too, can stay in towns and not be relegated to urban ghettos.

The house and the loan must be in their name. After buying, they cannot sell it before five years. No other rules because policing complicated rules will not work and will only lead to corruption. With this, all low income people can buy at homes at discounts, which – if we are to believe official statistics – would include a great many bumiputeras.

I have no problem with paying a ‘social tax’ to the low income earners and hope they and their family will have a nice and happy home and that they will be my neighbours in Petaling Jaya. Welcome!

Okay. That is to solve the housing discounts issue. Now, if the government does not take up the proposal or a version of this proposal, we have then at least two choices.

Option 1 – Don't vote for BN. Vote for BA. This will have to wait until next general election. Too long.

Option 2 – Don't buy houses that are being sold based on racist discounts. Why must you buy now? Rent first. Don't worry as the construction sector is already suffering due to the government cutting down mega-projects.

If we stop buying new houses for just six months, the BN government will feel the pain. What's so difficult in delaying your home purchase for six months? Sometimes the legal and banking documentation itself can take up to six months. So six months is nothing.

Spread the word. Stop buying houses. Use your economic power to stop this racist policy. There is nothing illegal. Just stop buying house for six months. Nobody will be homeless. It is because all of us queue up like fools at the developer’s office, that they continue being racist.

Now, if you cannot vote for BA and cannot stop yourself from buying houses that are sold based on a racist policy, you then deserve to pay more. So stop complaining. If you agree, please pass this message on to your friends. Make it happen.

Let's see if Malaysians have got brains and are not just motor mouths when it comes to complaining.

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