Christians angry over seizure of bibles

Luke Rintod of FMT

CFM was disillusioned over the repeated
confiscation of the bibles by the authorities.

KOTA KINABALU: A Christian group is fed up and angry over the alleged seizure of 30,000 copies of the Malay language bibles or Alkitab in Kuching, Sarawak.

 

The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) said it was disillusioned over the repeated confiscation of the bibles by the authorities.

Chairman of the executive committee of the CFM, Bishop Ng Moon Hing, said that efforts to import the Christian holy books from Indonesia have also been thwarted.

“Some 30,000 copies of the ‘Perjanjian Baru, Mazmur dan Amsal or the ‘New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs’ are currently being withheld by the home ministry.

“This is despite the government’s assurance that the bibles in Bahasa Malaysia will be freely available, at least in Sabah and Sarawak,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Ng also claimed that since March 2009, the home ministry has prevented the import of bibles from Indonesia through Port Klang or Kuching Port.

(Ironically, Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country, allows bibles to be printed there.)

“A previous consignment of 5,000 copies of the bibles imported in March 2009 is still being held up in Port Klang,” said Ng.

He claimed that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had decided in December 2009 to release the bibles following repeated appeals by the CFM.

“But in absolute disregard of this decision, the 5,000 copies of the bibles are still being held up. When the prime minister was told about it at a hi-tea last Christmas, he expressed surprise that his order had not been obeyed,” he said.

Little Napoleons

Ng also said that even before 2009, several shipments of the bibles had been stopped.

“It would appear as if the authorities are waging a continuous, surreptitious and systematic campaign against Christians in Malaysia to deny them access to the bibles in Bahasa Malaysia,” he said.

“Christians, especially in Sabah and Sarawak, have grown up with Bahasa Malaysia as their principal medium of communication.

“So they should have access to the Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia in order to read, comprehend and practise their faith.

“Freedom of religion, which is guaranteed under the Federal Constitution, is rendered meaningless if adherents to a religion are denied access to their religious texts in a language that they can understand,” said Ng.

Ng also took to task federal leaders who deprived Christians of their sacred scriptures. “Many are wondering why their scriptures are considered a threat to national security,” he said.

“How can the government’s transformation programme be successfully implemented if civil servants can blatantly refuse to obey the prime minister’s order? Is the government powerless to act against these ‘little Napoleons’?”

“We urge the government to prove its sincerity in dealing with the Malaysian Christian community on this (bible) and all other issues,” he said.