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Malaysia's Islamic court late last week made a landmark ruling allowing a Muslim convert to return to Buddhism. The move may set a precedent that could ease religious minorities' worries about their legal rights. It was the first time in the country's recent history that the Shariah High Court permitted a convert to legally renounce Islam in the Muslim-majority country. Historically, the courts have always ruled against people seeking to leave Islam. But, last Thursday, Penang's Shariah court granted Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah's request to be declared a non-Muslim. She embraced Islam in 1998 because she wanted to marry an Iranian, but claimed she never truly practised the religion.

The Shariah court ruled that Siti's husband and Islamic authorities failed to give her proper religious advice. The verdict should be hailed as a step in the right direction in protecting religious rights in Malaysia and it should be viewed as a good example for the future.

Moreover, this could serve as an example for other countries like Thailand and the Philippines where relations between the majority populations and the Muslim minorities have not been all that great.

 Malaysia's most high-profile case is that of Lina Joy, a woman who was born to Muslim parents and tried to convert to Christianity last year. Malaysia's Federal Court refused to rule on the request and tossed the case to the Sharia Court.

But Siti's case has given some hope to Lina and others in similar situations.

As in any other ethnically diverse country, the majority's rights must be respected, the rights of minorities must also be protected. These relations must be managed and there is no cure-all solution.

In Thailand's deep South, an ongoing insurgency pitting Malay insurgents against government forces has taken its toll on the wider population, driving a bigger wedge between local Muslims and Buddhists.

In Malaysia, discrimination against ethnic Indians helped pave the way for the opposition to make a strong showing at the last general election. The outcome forever changed the political landscape of the country and paved the way for a more harmonious Malaysia.

In Singapore, relations between the Malay minority and the Chinese majority may be far from perfect; nevertheless there is an understanding that their coexistence must be managed carefully.

Thailand's approach has been to attempt to get the ethnic Malays in the deep

South to embrace a Thai identity through a policy of assimilation. But the Malays have consistently rejected such attempts.

And after 100-plus years of failing to make ethnic Malays in the deep South into something they don't want to be, it is high time for the Thai state to think outside of the box.

Throughout Southeast Asia, communities are negotiating their membership within their respective states while at the same time trying to maintain their own identities and unique ways of life. The Chinese Buddhists in Malaysia and the Malay Muslims in Southern Thailand are cases in point.

Unfortunately, too often the process of resistance has turned violent, as seen in southern Thailand and the southern Philippines.

It is true that renouncing one's faith is one of the gravest sins in Islam and a very sensitive issue for Malaysia. But then again, it would be unrealistic on our part to expect that these century-old religious writings - most if not all were collected, not composed - should be internally consistent and conform to modern thought.

The Malaysian Shariah Court did the most sensible thing. But the debate over apostasy must not stop here. Much more has to be said.