1. Malaysian Insider(http://www.malaysianinsider.com)
Malay bible row as Sibu vote looms, 14 May 2010
by Neville Spykerman
KUALA LUMPUR, May 14 — The Bible Society of Malaysia is fighting to prevent the destruction by the federal government of 5,000 copies of “Al-Kitab: Berita Baik,” a Malay-language Christian bible, in the latest controversy which could have a bearing on this Sunday’s Sibu by-election.
The BSM has appealed to the Home Ministry not to destroy the bibles, which were seized in Port Klang on March 20 last year, but it may already be too late.
Its president, Lee Min Choon, said the society was informed in a letter from the Home Ministry Publication Control and Al-Quran text department, dated March 3, 2010, that the bibles would be destroyed within 30 days.
“We have since sent an appeal to the Home Ministry and the prime minister but our copies still have not been released,” Lee said.
The controversy comes as campaigning for this Sunday’s Sibu vote heads into the final lap.
The majority of voters there are Christians and the issue may have an impact on the contest between Barisan Nasional’s (BN) SUPP and Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) DAP.
Lee said today the copies of the Bahasa Malaysia-version of the Christian bible were imported from Indonesia and meant for Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Christians in the country.
However, Home Ministry Publication Control and Al-Quran text department deputy secretary Abdul Razak Abdul Latif told The Malaysain Insider that he was uncertain about the “status” of the bibles, since the letter issued by the ministry was dated March 3 and 30 days has since lapsed.
“But the importers can still write to us and if the bibles have not been disposed off, we can arrange for the copies to be returned to the country of origin.”
He added that the bibles were not seized but only barred from being imported into the country.
“We never seized the bibles and we don’t want to keep them.”
Police have already issued a ban against politicians raising the issue about the restriction on the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims, during campaigning for the Sibu vote.
The ban has been criticised by the DAP, which has been campaigning heavily in Christian churches.
Meanwhile, Lee pointed out that the society had been appealing to the Home Ministry to release the bibles since they were seized last year but their pleas had fallen on deaf ears.
Lee said the society was issuing the statement to clarify an article in the New Straits Times on May 12, which indicated that impounded bibles had been released.
“We understand the government has ordered the release of 10,000 copies of Al-Kitab, imported by another agency, that was impounded in Kuching. We hope the Government will release our 5,000 copies,” he concluded.
2. New Straits Times(http://www.nst.com.my)
Church got back Bibles before Xmas, 12 May 2010
by Desmond Davidson (news@nst.com.my)
IT is is a matter of setting the record straight. Allegations that the Customs Department had seized copies of the Bible last year have been refuted by the department.
Last November, Customs allegedly impounded 10,000 copies of the Bible at the Senari port in Sejingkat -- but details have emerged that the Bibles were released before Christmas.
State Customs deputy director Kamaruddin Ahmad said the impoundment by the Home Ministry was resolved when Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein ordered the release of the Bibles two days before Christmas.
They were released to the small evangelical church at Simpang Tiga that had imported them. The release was completed on Dec 24.
Kamaruddin clarified the Customs Department had been requested to assist the ministry in making the seizure.
"So it's inaccurate for DAP to claim that the Customs Department had made the impoundment," he said in Kuching yesterday.
DAP member of parliament for Bandar Kuching Chong Chieng Jen had in Sibu on Monday claimed about 15,000 copies of the Bible from Indonesia were impounded last year.
He added that the last impoundment by the department here consisted of 5,000 copies.
He did not say when or at which entry point this took place.
3. Union of Catholic Asian News (http://www.ucanews.com)
Religion and politics go together, Church people say, 14 May 2010
PENANG, Malaysia (UCAN) — The Church must engage in politics for the benefit of society, say Church people as Malaysia readies itself for a by-election in a Christian-majority constituency.
“Religion and politics are two sides of the same coin. Here in [Eastern society], you cannot separate them,” asserted K.J. John, a Catholic writer.
The former civil servant and now an online media columnist said that “Jesus was the first politician. Jesus intervened at a particular place and time, and that is already a political intervention.”
“What we need today is public theology, which is a Christian faith that can interact in the public arena, to speak for goodness, righteousness and truth, and to live by these,” said John.
In Malaysia, he continued, people are now recognizing the role of civil society movements and the need to be involved in the governing of their community. This includes the Churches where people need to stand up and make their voices heard. Church leaders are now engaging state leaders in dialogue and vice-versa.
John was one of several Church people who spoke with UCA News recently at an event in Penang that brought together Church leaders and the head of the state government.
Anglican Bishop Ng Moon Hing, president of the Christian Federation of Malaysia , said dialogue among Churches and the government should be an ongoing exercise to understand each other.
“It should not be done merely during elections but all the time,” he said on the sidelines of a recent meeting between 380 leaders and representatives of Churches and Christian bodies in Penang and Lim Guan Eng, the Chief Minister of Penang state.
Pastor Edward Lim of Gateway City Church said common objectives of both Church and state include eradicating poverty and serving marginalized people.
Pastor Lim also suggested the various Churches unite as one body to share the blessings of God and the love of Jesus with people without any strings attached.
Christianity and politics are again coming to the forefront of national consciousness as both the ruling coalition and opposition coalition campaign head of a parliamentary by-election in Sarawak, eastern Malaysia, on May 16.
The use of the word “Allah” for God by Malay-speaking Christians threatened to become an issue during campaigning. However, police have banned all political parties from bringing up the controversy, vowing to take action under the Sedition Act or the Internal Security Act which permits detention without trial for up to two years.
Copyright © 2009 UCA News. All rights reserved.
4. Malaysiakini(http://www.malaysiakini.com)
(1)‘Allah' ban: Police presumption feeds on itself, 12 May 2010
by Terence Netto
COMMENT In paraphrase of Lord Action's aphorism on power it could be said that presumption begets presumption and, unchallenged, the constantly presumptuous soon become a new power unto themselves.
Sarawak CID chief Huzir Mohamed was yesterday reported to have warned campaigners in the Sibu by-election to stay clear of the 'Allah' issue.
No prizes for guessing out of which book of presumption Huzir took a leaf.
Barely three weeks ago, Huzir's boss, inpector-general of police Musa Hassan, had the gall to say that if the public were unduly alarmed by the shooting death of Aminulrasyid Amzah, he could pull his men off the streets.
As far as we know, Musa's boss, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, did not upbraid him, as he ought to, for the presumption.
Now the virus has spread and a satrap has taken after the master.
If debate on the use of the term 'Allah' is indeed proscribed, several publishers would have gotten into problems under various laws because the letters' column of their publications in recent months would have been deemed to have been in contravention of these laws.
That no such thing has occurred is because so such construction could be made that the ongoing debate is in violation of such laws.
On what basis then could like-minded debaters on the hustings in Sibu be warned, on pain of prosecution, to stay clear of the issue?
Home minister cannot be relied upon
Looking at the plaintive cry of SUPP president George Chan that the 'Allah' matter is a Peninsula phenomenon that should not be dragged into Sarawak where it has never been an issue, one wonders what the hubbub is all about in the first place.
Surely what this says about our polity where what is sauce for the goose is not sauce for the gander cannot be complimentary.
At least there's some justification for the above phenomenon on the basis of different histories and cultures.
But presumptuous construction of the extent of police authority is not something that can be taken lightly.
Unfortunately, the home minister cannot be relied upon to stop undue presumption by the police.
Perhaps he will wait until September when there will be a changing of the guard with Musa's retirement.
But by that time, the phenomenon could become a hydra, sprouting new heads even as individual ones are sawn off.
Lord Acton's aphorism about power's corruptive effects is not easily confined.
・TERENCE NETTO has been a journalist for close on four decades. He likes the occupation because it puts him in contact with the eminent without being under the necessity to admire them.
(2) Police declare 'Allah' issue off limits in by-election, 11 May 2010
by Joseph Sipalan and Wong Teck Chi
The police are enforcing a ban on the use of the 'Allah' issue in the Sibu by-election campaign, warning all campaigners of stern action if they do not cease and desist from speaking on the issue.
Sarawak CID chief SAC II Huzir Mohamed said they are ordering a blackout on the issue as it could stoke religious tension.
"We have been monitoring the ceramah and found that certain parties have been raising the Allah issue.
"This is a sensitive issue and if they (campaigners) insist on raising it, we can take action for sedition or even under the ISA (Internal Security Act)," he said at the police's daily press conference this morning.
The ban comes hot on the heels of a Christian gathering with Pakatan Rakyat leaders last night, where PR leaders pleaded with Christian voters, who make up around 52 per cent of Sibu's electorate, to make their stand against the federal ban on the use of the name 'Allah' by non-Muslims.
Nothing from Narawi
Meanwhile, Huzir said that the police had so far monitored 40 campaigning activities and issued 101 permits to hold ceramah to both sides (BN and Pakatan) but did not receive any application for the purpose from independent candidate Narawi Haron.
He also said police had received three complaints on by-election campaigning but upon investigation found they had no substance.
On another matter, Huzir said he had given instructions to his men to arrest anyone from any political party who drove around with loud speakers blaring to broadcast their campaigning statements.
He said such action could cause road accidents.
"It is okay if the vehicle is stationary and used at places designated for ceramah," he said.
'Very dangerous game'
At another press conference, SUPP president George Chan slammed the Pakatan for using the churches in their attempt to bring a 'Semenanjung problem' to Sarawak.
He said the Pakatan and DAP are playing a "very dangerous" game by mixing religion with politics merely to gain the upper hand in this by-election.
"This gets me very angry. We live in harmony and they bring this culture here... we do not want that," he said in an uncharacteristically harsh tone.
But when asked about SUPP's campaign tactic in equating a vote for DAP with a vote for PAS and its vision of an Islamic state, Chan sidestepped the issue saying it is unrelated.
"We are not discussing a religious issue, we are just saying that we don't want PAS or an Islamic state.
"The majority of people here fear PAS... we worry that like in Perak where DAP had the majority and could form the government, yet they let PAS be the chief minister.
"That could happen here also, so people get a bit worried," he said.
Earlier at the DAP's daily press conference, party advisor Lim Kit Siang challenged Prime Minister Najib Razak to "explain whether this is his directive".
Lim said the ban is a case of double standards as Home Minister Hishamuddin Hussein would also be implicated for sedition as it was he, among other, who spawned the issue by prohibiting the use of the name 'Allah' by non-Muslims.
DAP's candidate for the Sibu by-election, Wong Ho Leng, added that they will defy any move to subvert their campaign.
"Nothing will deter us from continuing to speak to the people, especially in Sibu," he said.
(3) DAP to ignore police's warning on 'Allah', 11 May 2010
DAP will continue to use the 'Allah' issue in its campaign in the Sibu by-election, ignoring a police warning to all political parties that any offender could be detained under the Sedition Act and Internal Security Act (ISA).
Its candidate for the by-election, Wong Ho Leng, said the police warning would not deter him and other Pakatan Rakyat leaders from conveying what he termed as "the truth" to the voters in the constituency.
“The facts must be made known,” he told a press conference in Sibu today.
Meanwhile, Sarawak United People's Party president George Chan Hong Nam said 'Allah' had never been an issue in Sarawak.
"Churchgoers are people who always do the right things. Please don't bring religion into this," he told reporters in Sibu.
Moreover, Chan said, it had always been a practice in Sarawak where if the church wanted land, the state government would fulfill their request.
"The same goes if they don't have enough funds to build a church. The government will help to fund it.
"It's always been the practice all this while. It's not a issue at all here. Let us live in peace and harmony. Don't bring this culture of raising religious issue here," he added.
Therefore, Chan said he hoped the majority of the voters in Sibu, particulary from the Chinese community would give their support to the BN and endorse the leadership of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to continue to lead the country with his reform and 1Malaysia agenda.
"1Malaysia is a very strong message. I hope this message gets down to the Chinese here.
"We have to show that we support 1Malaysia, not any other way. This is the only way, we have to support it," he said.
- Bernama
(End)
