After a month of fasting and self-reflection, it is Raya tomorrow! Eid-ul-fitr or Aidilfitri is considered the most important celebrations for the Muslims. In countries such as Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, especially, the festival is akin to Chinese New Year. Every household cleans the house on the eve of Aidilfitri, prepare new clothes, and big feast is cooked on the night of the eve, to serve the friends and family members on the big day.
This is not just a day of returning home (balik kampung) to have big feast, but it is a time to forgive and forget. Hari Raya Aidifiltri sees family and friends seeking forgiveness from each other, by saying Selamat Hari Raya Aidifitri, Maaf Zahir dan Batin , meaning Happy Eid, I seek your forgiveness .
[Reuters]
Malaysian Christians are allowed to use the word “Allah” to refer to God in educational publications, a High Court ruled on Wednesday in ending a decades-long ban, which the court said was unconstitutional because it restricted religious freedom.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court further ruled that a 1986 directive by the home ministry to bar the use of Allah and three other Arabic words in Christian publications was illegal and irrational, because Malay Christians had used these words for more than 400 years, the state-run Bernama news agency reported about the verdict.
“The use of the words would not disrupt public order,” Judge Nor Bee Ariffin said in her ruling allowing Christian publications to use not just “Allah, but also the words “baitullah,” “kaabah” and “solat.”
“max fac”
When referring to the Brexiters’ preferred partnership use maximum facilitation at first mention, then “max fac” (quotes on first use). Adjectival use requires a hyphen, eg the max-fac option.
maxidress
may or might?
The subtle distinctions between these (and between other so-called modal verbs) are gradually disappearing, but they still matter to many of our readers and can be useful.
may implies that the possibility remains open: “The Mies van der Rohe tower may have changed the face of British architecture for ever” (it has been built);
might suggests that the possibility remains open no longer: “The Mies tower might have changed the face of architecture for ever” (if only they had built it). Similarly, “they may have played tennis, or they may have gone boating” suggests I don’t know what they did; “they might have played tennis if the weather had been dry” means they didn’t, because it wasn’t.