Maglin, the Umno stooge, asks the Catholic community to open to dialogue

It takes two to dialogue — The Malaysian Insider

September 19, 2010

SEPT 19 — Newly-minted Information Deputy Minister Datuk Maglin Dennis D’Cruz took some time to get into the news cycle but did a fine job yesterday asking the Catholic community to keep their hearts open to dialogue with the government in addressing any problems.

National news agency Bernama, which is under his ministry’s watch, reported him as saying that through these dialogues, the government would have better understanding of the needs of the community.

“No one will know our needs if we do not explain or tell them,” he said at the St Mary Catholic Society’s dinner in conjunction with its centenary celebration here.

That really isn’t an issue or a problem, dear deputy minister.

While you might not have alluded to any problems, the biggest issue this year began just a day before New Year’s Eve when the High Court in Kuala Lumpur agreed that the Catholic Church has a constitutional right to use the word Allah to describe the Christian God in its Bahasa Malaysia publication.

The government through the Attorney-General’s Chambers have since applied and received a stay of execution pending their appeal to a higher court. There has been no date set for the appeal and the High Court decision remains a paper victory.

Be that as it may, what use is a dialogue after the government unilaterally decided that the Roman Catholic Church cannot use the word Allah in its publication? Was there a dialogue before the decision was made?

After all, the publication is clearly marked for non-Muslims.

These are the questions one expects a minister or deputy minister to ask before shooting from the hip and advising a community to be open to dialogue.

A dialogue is only possible among two equals. Otherwise it is a monologue.

D’Cruz must see the chronology of the issue before asking the community to open its heart to a dialogue. There was never a problem until the executive decided it was a problem, as far as the Allah issue is concerned.

Even then, it isn’t a problem with Muslims outside the ruling government, according to Parit Buntar MP Mujahid Yusof Rawa when he read excerpts from his book “Menuju PAS baru” at the Central Market Annexe today.

A dialogue is great. But D’Cruz asked the wrong party to open its heart to a dialogue. He should instead tell that to the government that he serves.