The Federal Government has no plans to rename a 30-year old Malaysian research institute despite it having an identical acronym with that of the notorious militant organisation Islamic State.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Shahidan Kassim said the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) will not undergo a name change simply because its acronym is identical to that of Islamic State, also known as ISIS, which is short for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
“There are differing acronyms given to the movement by different countries. In Arab they are known as ‘daesh’ an acronym for Islamic State of Syria and Iraq, which means crunching something under foot.
“ISIS Malaysia was formed more than 30 years ago and since its formation, it was knowns as ISIS to all in and out of the country,” Shahidan said, as quoted by The Malay Mail Online‘s Yiswaree Palansamy.
Malaysia’s ISIS was founded in 1983. Islamic State has also been known as ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant).
When asked in Parliament on whether Putrajaya would issue a statement clarifying that Malaysia’s ISIS was not connected to Islamic State, Shahidan replied that the two entities were in no way related to each other.
“This is the official government’s stand, this ISIS (institute) has got no link to the ISIS that is being discussed by the world,” he asserted.
“There are variations to the way the militant movement is addressed and are we then to insist on changing names of our local institutions or buildings all the time?”
“Looking at the big role this institute plays in and out of the county for over 30 years, there is no reason why it cannot be maintained as it is,” he added.
Shouldn’t be too much of an issue. ISIS is a pretty common name, right?
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