Catholic paper gets permit

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: November 16, 2009, (PCTV Newsdesk)

A MALAYSIAN Catholic newspaper will be allowed to continue publication after the government withdrew a controversial decision to cancel its publishing permit, the editor said Sunday.

The Herald said earlier this week the government had told it that its permit for next year had not been approved. Under Malaysian law, all publications must renew their permit every year.

The move came amid a long-running dispute over the weekly's use of the word 'Allah' as a translation for 'God' in its Malay-language section. The government argued 'Allah' should be used only by Muslims, who dominate the country's population.

The Herald's editor, Father Lawrence Andrew, said government officials in a meeting on Friday said the paper's permit would be approved, but rejected its request to publish a supplement in a language used by indigenous group on Borneo island.

'They have asked us to ignore the September letter which says the permit is not approved and stick to an earlier letter in August stating a new licence will be given, there is no more confusion,' he told AFP. 'On our application to publish an additional page in the Kadazandusun language, we are sad it has been rejected. We will put the plan on hold and won't be using the language for the time being.'

A home ministry official confirmed The Herald was allowed to continue publishing, and attributed the controversy to 'miscommunication'. -- AFP

News source: http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_454696.html