Allah

A Sabahan has urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to also lift the ban on the use of `Allah' as part of his commitment towards uniting the nation as professed by him in his newly-launched `1Malaysia' concept.

Ronnie Klassen, the initiator of the signature campaign appealing to the government against the ban on the use of the word `Allah' by non-Muslims in the country.

He said the Prime Minister's 1Malaysia concept is an inspiring in the sense that it is meant to promote unity which would mean no segregation or discrimination and fairness to all races in Malaysia.

"Being a former student of St John's Institution, I believe the Prime Minister could better understand what does religious harmony and respect for all human being means, " Klassen said in a statement released in Kota Kinabalu Tuesday.

Klassen also hoped that the Prime Minister used his wisdom to seriously consider the appeal of Christians in this country to lift the ban on the use of the word `Allah' in all Christian publication and literatures.

Klassen said together with Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, they would hoped to hand over the the Prime Minister next week the signatures collected during their campaign together with a memorandum of appeal.

He said so far they had collected 14,000 signatures and had until April 12 before closing down the campaign book.

He said that the campaign had garnered supports from the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, China, India, Japan, Korea, Europe and the United States of America. He thanked all those who supported the campaign, especially those from non-Christians.

"Our heartfelt, special thanks to our Muslim brothers and sisters who supported this campaign which is undeniably a major morale booster to us," Klassen said. He also thanked Rev Fr Lawrence Andres, editor of The Herald, for his support and guidance throughout the campaign.

Klassen said a special `thank you' to the media for their support in the campaign.