1. The Star Online (http://thestar.com.my)
Dewan Bahasa to be given enforcement powers, 5 November 2009
KUALA LUMPUR: An amendment to the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) Act 1959 will be tabled at the Cabinet next year to give DBP enforcement powers to enhance the use of Bahasa Malaysia, said Deputy Education Minister Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi.
He said the amendment was being checked by the Education Ministry’s legal advisers.
“The ‘bahasa rojak’ now frightens us, I am worried about this problem, and given the lessening use of Bahasa Malaysia in society, the amendment needs to be implemented.
“If before DBP could not enforce use of Bahasa Malaysia in society, we hope that with this amendment things will be different,” he said at a news conference after officiating the DBP Quality Day here Thursday.
He said he was also saddened with the situation where society was not fully committed to enhancing the use of Bahasa Malaysia and also the cold reception given in marking the national language month last month.
“We hope that before the Act is amended it is important to identify what needs to be done urgently in terms of DBP manpower, programmes and projects for the language,” he said. (Bernama)
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2. The Malaysia Sun (http://story.malaysiasun.com)
Malaysian Christian group slams government seizure of Bibles , 4 November 2009
(IANS)
A Christian group in Malaysia Wednesday criticised the government's confiscation of some 15,000 Malay-language Bibles which contain the word 'Allah,' or God in Arabic.
In a statement, the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) called for the immediate release of the Bibles, saying that withholding the holy books would be denying Malay-speaking believers the right to practise their faith.
The government in March banned the use of the word 'Allah' in non-Muslim publications, sparking fierce condemnation from religious groups who argue that the government had no legal right to ban the use of a word that predated the Koran and Islam.
Earlier this week, Christian groups said that the government seized 15,000 Bibles, most of which were to be sent to the eastern states of Sabah and Sarawak, where the Malay language is most commonly used among people of all religions.
The CFM said in its statement Wednesday that the reason given by the authorities, which was that the Bibles were 'prejudicial to public order', was ridiculous and offensive.
'Bibles in (Malay) have been used since before the independence of our country and have never been the cause of any public disorder,' said Bishop Ng Moon Hing, chairman of the group.
'It is this action by the authorities themselves which is an affront to good public order,' he said in the statement.
'We call on the relevant government officials who have neither the authority nor the right to act in this unconscionable manner to explain their action to the church leaders and to the public.'
Malaysia's constitution declares it a secular state but with Islam as its official religion. About 60 percent of Malaysia's 25 million people are Muslims.
Minority religious groups have often complained that their constitutional right to practise different faiths have come under threat by what is seen to be an ultra-Islamisation move by the government in recent times.
3.CBS News World (http://www.cbsnews.com)
Malaysia Won't Return "Allah" Bibles, 4 November 2009
10,000 Bibles Remain Confiscated; Government Says Use of "Allah" in Reference to God Illegal for Christians (AP)
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(AP) The Malaysian government has refused to release 10,000 Bibles confiscated for using the word "Allah" to refer to God, a banned translation in Christian texts in this Muslim-majority country, an official said Wednesday.
An official from the Home Ministry's publications unit said the government rejected pleas by church officials to allow the Bibles, imported from Indonesia, into the country. Christians say the Muslim Malay-dominated government is violating their right to practice their religion freely.
Such religious disputes are undermining Malaysia's reputation as a harmonious multiethnic, moderate Muslim nation. About 30 percent of the country's 28 million people practice Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism or other faiths.
A Home Ministry official said the government told the importer last month to return the Indonesian-language Bibles, which are still with customs.
"Actually the publications, the Bibles are already banned," said the official, refusing to elaborate. He declined to be named because he is not authorized to make public statements.
The Bibles contain the word "Allah," which is banned by the government for use by non-Muslims in an apparent bid to appease Muslims.
Church officials say the word "Allah" has been used for centuries to refer generally to God in both Indonesian and Malaysian languages, which are similar. The Roman Catholic Church is challenging the ban in court.
The government maintains that the Arabic-origin word "Allah" is an Islamic word and its use by Christians and others will upset Muslims.
Another 5,100 Bibles, also imported from Indonesia, were confiscated in March and have not been released. But the ministry official did not immediately have any information on those.
The Christian Federation of Malaysia, which had called for the release of all Bibles, described the seizure as "ridiculous and offensive."
"This constitutional right (to practice freely) is rendered illusory if Christians in Malaysia are denied access to Bibles in a language with which they are familiar," the federation's chairman Bishop Ng Moon Hing said in a statement.
He also rejected concerns that Bibles in the Malaysian language, or Bahasa Malaysia, containing "Allah," will upset Muslims.
"Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia have been used since before the independence of our country and have never been the cause of any public disorder," he said. Malaysia gained independence in 1957.
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