1.“Associated Press” (http://ap.google.com)
Bible Confiscation in Malaysia a Mistake, 5 February 2008
By JULIA ZAPPEI
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Malaysian government official said Tuesday that customs officers were wrong to seize 32 Bibles from a Christian traveler, after church groups alleged that it was another sign of religious intolerance in this Muslim-majority country.
Juliana Nicholas, a Malaysian national from whom the Bibles were taken on Jan. 28, has been told she can go and collect the Bibles, said a senior official from the Internal Security Ministry's publications control unit. He declined to be named, citing protocol.
Nicholas was stopped by customs officials at an airport in Kuala Lumpur when she returned from the Philippines. The Bibles were subsequently passed to the Internal Security Ministry.
The ministry official indicated the confiscation was arbitrary and wrong.
The customs officers "shouldn't have detained them. You shouldn't do anything with these religious books," the official told The Associated Press. "They didn't countercheck with us."
By acknowledging its mistake, the government is apparently hoping to placate Christian groups and other minorities who have become increasingly worried that their constitutionally guaranteed right to worship is being gradually eroded in Malaysia.
They cite a string of cases including demolition of Hindu temples, a recent ban on the word Allah from Malay-language Christian literature, and court judgments favoring Muslims in disputes with non-Muslims.
About 60 percent of Malaysia's 27 million people are Muslim Malays. The remaining 40 percent are mainly Christians, Buddhists and Hindus from the minority Chinese, Indian and other communities.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has been criticized for not doing enough to stem the rise of Islamic tendencies in the country, which many blame on overzealous Muslims in positions of authority.
Nicholas, a 44-year-old missionary, confirmed that she had been told she could pick up the Bibles. She said she is willing to forget about the matter.
"I just don't want it to happen again. It's like you've done a criminal offense when they take you (into the customs office at the airport) and everyone is looking at you," she told the AP.
The Customs Department said Monday that the Bibles were seized to check if they were being imported for commercial purposes.
But Nicholas said the customs officers disregarded a letter by her parish priest stating the Bibles were not for sale but church use.
She said she had brought Bibles from Philippines before because they were cheaper there, and had never been stopped.
"Now they are more fanatic," she said.
Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
2．“Reuters India” (http://in.reuters.com)
‘Hands off Bibles, church body tells Malaysia’ 5 February 2008
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's government should stop harassing Christians by seizing their Bibles especially at entry points, the country's biggest church group said on Tuesday amid a new furore over the imports of the holy book.
The Christian Federation of Malaysia's statement came a day after a Malaysian Christian complained that airport custom officers seized 32 English Bibles on her arrival from Manila.
Federation chairman Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing said the incident, which happened on Jan. 28, was not an isolated case.
"We have received many complaints from Christians being told to hand over religious books to custom officers at various checkpoints in the country," he said in a statement. "Now they even want our Bibles."
"We will not comply with any directives from the government or its agencies that infringe on our right to use our sacred book and other Christian literature," said Tan, who represents the country's three main church groups.
The Bible seizure is the latest in a series of disputes that are stoking fears of an erosion of non-Muslims' rights ahead of the coming general elections, widely expected within weeks.
Politically dominant Malay Muslims form about 60 percent of the population of about 26 million, while the ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities include Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and Sikhs.
© Reuters2008 All rights reserved
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