I did my oral presentation under this theme on 3 March 2012. It was a happy coincidence! (Lily)
1. Union of Catholic Asian News (http://www.ucanews.com)
Alkitab bible still controversial, 2 March 2012
Christians must demand legal protection and not settle for government promises
by Joachim Francis Xavier, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
This year marks the 400th anniversary of the Alkitab, the Bible in the Malay language. The Bible Society of Malaysia and the Protestants’ Theological Seminary of Malaysia are organizing an academic conference and public forum March 2-3 in Seremban and Petaling Jaya to mark the anniversary.
While the holy book has been for hundreds of years the source of spiritual nourishment for many Malay-speaking Christian communities in Southeast Asia, it has never stirred the kind of controversies that have emerged in modern Malaysia in recent years. The controversies had much of their roots in startling interventions by the government of the day.
In 1612, the Gospel of Matthew was translated into Malay by a Dutch tradesman, Albert Cornelisz Ruyl. Millions of Malay-speaking people have been able to learn and experience the richness of the Christian faith in their lives because of the effort of Albert and many more after him.
This sense of appreciation is probably most intense in the territories of Sarawak and Sabah in East Malaysia. A great majority of the people there speak their indigenous languages as well as Malay, Malaysia’s national language.
Of the more than two million Christians in Malaysia (approximately 9.1 percent of the population), 70 percent of them are in East Malaysia. So we can say the Christian population in Malaysia is a largely Malay-speaking one. Since the early 17th century, Malay has been the medium of worship, preaching, prayer and religious education in what is now East Malaysia. So it is their spiritual language.
Thus, it is no surprise that recent developments concerning the Alkitab have left them distressed and disillusioned.
The Alkitab uses the word Allah for God. This became a controversy when the home ministry in 1986 issued a circular banning use of this word by non-Muslims on grounds of national security. This was followed by a string of state enactments that basically gave the circular the force of law. The rationale for the ban apparently was that the term is used in the Qur'an for God, and so using it in Christian publications would confuse Muslims in the country.
Never mind that the ban clearly violated freedom of religion guaranteed in the federal constitution. Never mind that the rationale peddled to justify the ban was never substantiated with any statistical or other cogent evidence.
What is astonishing is that some parties would actually believe that the 9.1 percent minority Christians could possibly have the kind of extraordinary influence and resources to convert the 60 percent majority Muslims who yield political power in a country that has constitutionally entrenched Islam as its official religion and fortified it with laws that expressly make it a criminal offence to proselytise to Muslims.
Not only does that attribute an enormous credit on the largely passive Christians, it simultaneously demeans the intelligence of Muslims and the impact Islam has had on this region since its advent here from the 12th century.
Sometime in late 2008, the Home Ministry threatened to stop issuing the Catholic weekly newspaper Herald its annual publication permit unless it complied with an order to stop using the word Allah in its publication. The Herald then decided to go to court on the issue.
On December 31, 2009, the High Court declared illegal, null and void the order from the Home Ministry. The government applied for and was granted a stay of the decision pending an appeal to the Court of Appeal.
The issue created a storm, and before the dust had even settled, in March 2009, some 5,100 copies of the Alkitab imported by the Bible Society of Malaysia were confiscated upon arrival at Port Klang. This was in addition to an earlier confiscation of 30,000 Alkitab in Sarawak – the state with the biggest Christian population in the country.
This elicited a chorus of condemnation, and Christian authorities immediately engaged with the government mainly through its umbrella body, the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM).
To make matters worse, the home ministry in a futile attempt to appease the Christian community said it would release the bibles on two conditions – that the words “For Christians only” be printed on the cover of the bibles, and secondly the importer was required to serialize each and every bible. However, before the Christian authorities could respond to this new set of demands, Home Ministry officials went ahead and stamped the confiscated bibles with the prescribed words.
The CFM blasted the government for “defacing” the bibles. Realising that it had stirred a hornet’s nest, the government eventually backed down. After a series of meetings with the CFM, the government released the bibles and promised to pay for new ones to replace the defaced ones.
A potential factor in the eventual release of the bibles was the fact that Sarawak was about to hold its state elections approximately one month after the issue exploded. Considering that Sarawak was home to the largest percentage of Christians in the country, it dawned on the government that the confiscation may not have actually been a prudent political move.
What is clear is that both of these issues have not reached a resolution. The Allah issue has been pending in the Court of Appeal for two years now, while the Alkitab resolution rests on government assurances that have no real legal basis on which the Christian community can firmly rely.
Many, including Catholics, have questioned the Church for dragging the issue to the courts, saying it destroyed whatever goodwill the Christians had with the government or that the Church should have been more forgiving. This view does not appreciate the factual experience the Christian community has had with the government and smacks of ignorance of what forgiveness truly means.
Over the years, the government has dealt with issues raised by Christians in Malaysia by doling out piecemeal promises, assurances and ad hoc measures. This appeared to satisfy, at least temporarily, the Christian community only for them to see later that these very promises, assurances and measures were being ignored or contradicted wholly.
Thus, it is incumbent on the Christian community to learn from these painful experiences and begin to insist on solutions that have a firm footing in law. After all, a government itself is a legal creation and thus everything it does must have a legal basis, particularly when it concerns the rights and duties of parties involved.
When Jesus walked the earth more than 2,000 years ago, he was no doubt controversial. The Scribes and Pharisees accused Jesus of confusing the people with his teachings. They regarded him as a threat to “national interest.” Similarly, Pontius Pilate realized Jesus was likely to become a “security threat”’ if he refused to bow to the Jews’ incessant cry for Jesus’ blood.
It should come as no surprise that the Alkitab, 400 years after it first came into existence, is now alleged to be a source of “confusion” and a “national security and interest”’ threat. After all, Jesus did say that he is the Word. And since we believe the Alkitab is also the Word, we can draw the incontrovertible conclusion from what is happening that Jesus is very much alive and continues to walk in our midst.
Joachim Francis Xavier is a legally trained social activist who has served the Catholic Diocese of Penang for over 10 years. He is now chairperson of the Malaysian bishops’ Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants
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2. The Malaysian Insider (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com)
Christians mark 400 years of Malay Bible as ‘Allah’ case drags on, 2 March 2012
by Debra Chong
KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 — The opportunity to use the word “Allah” in a non-Muslim context remains a struggle for Christian Malaysians as they mark 400 years since the Bible was first published in the Malay language.
Christian scholars are huddling at a seminary in Seremban today, on the 400th anniversary of the Alkitab, in a conference that could shore up the Catholic Church’s case after it won, in 2009, the right to use the Arabic word to refer to God in its newspaper, The Herald.
The Malay version of the Bible embossed with the words ‘Christian Publication’ and a cross appeared from 2005 following a Home Ministry agreement with local distributors. — Picture by Choo Choy May
While Putrajaya has allowed churches nationwide to import the Malay-language Bible — first translated in 1612 — government lawyers refuse to withdraw their appeal against the Catholic Church’s suit.
Organised by the Seminari Theoloji Malaysia (STM) and the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM), the two-day conference kicked off this morning at 10 with an examination of the historical and theological perspectives on the translation of the Alkitab as well as the legal aspects concerning its print and distribution here.
The day-long closed-door conference will see speakers representing, among others, the BSM, local Christian think-tank Kairos Research Centre and the United Bible Societies, the world’s biggest Bible translator, publisher and distributor organisation with 146 members across 200 countries and territories.
Among the highlights of the conference is an exhibition of the Alkitab, first published in 1612 with the Malay translation of the Gospel of Matthew.
A similar public discussion will take place at the Trinity Methodist Church in Petaling Jaya tomorrow, STM spokesman Reverend Lim Kar Yong told The Malaysian Insider when contacted.
However, he stressed that the event was strictly for Christians.
Despite the Catholic Church winning a High Court decision on December 31, 2009 to publish the word “Allah”, its weekly paper The Herald has been blocked from doing so the past three years pending the Home Ministry’s appeal.
The case has been languishing in the Court of Appeal since.
But the controversy spilled over into the rights of Malaysia’s Christian population at large as shipments of Malay-language bibles catering to the Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Bumiputera Christians were also blocked or confiscated last year.
It was turned into election fodder in the run-up to last year’s Sarawak polls as Christians there make up nearly half of the state’s total population.
And despite Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s historic meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in Rome last July to establish diplomatic relations between Muslim-majority Malaysia and the Vatican, there has been little progress in resolving the “Allah” dispute.
Christians form 9.2 per cent of Malaysia’s 28.3 million-strong population.
The Christian and Muslim religious communities have been engaged in a tug-of-war over the word “Allah”, with the latter group arguing that its use should be exclusive to them on the grounds that Islam is monotheistic and the word “Allah” denotes the Muslim God.
Christians, however, have argued that “Allah” is an Arabic word that has been used by those of other religious beliefs, including the Jews, in reference to God in many other parts of the world, notably in Arab nations and Indonesia.
3. The Vatican Today (http://www.news.va/en/news)
ASIA/MALAYSIA - The Bible in Malay language celebrates 400 years, but the use of the word "Allah" remains a challenge
Kuala Lumpur (Agenzia Fides) - The Christian community in Malaysia celebrates in 2012 400 years since the first publication of the Bible translated in the Malay language (the "Bahasa Malaysia", the official language in the country). As sources of Fides report, at a convention held recently in Seremban by the "Bible Society of Malaysia", numerous Christian scholars recalled that, although the first edition of the Bible is dated 1612, the use of the word "Allah" to denote God, in the Bible and in Christian publications, remains a challenge.
The controversy between the Catholic Church and the government, in fact, is still open and remains "pending", though Christians won in 2009 the first court case, which established their right to use the term "Allah" in the Catholic newspaper "The Herald". The government lawyers appealed and are still awaiting a definitive solution of the question.During the convention in Seremban, prominent Christian scholars and of international provenance examined the historical and theological perspectives on translating the Bible into Malay, and the legal picture for the printing and distribution of Bibles in Malaysia.
In recent months, in fact, protests erupted when the government of Malaysia limited the circulation or confiscated Bibles in Malay language that came from abroad. Malaysian Christians note that, although in July 2011, the government had officially established diplomatic relations with the Holy See, currently there is no progress in resolving the controversy associated with the use of the word "Allah", or clarifications on the right to distribute Christian publications or copies of the Holy Scripture. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 05/03/2012)
4. Free Malaysia Today (http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com)
Christians seek dialogue on education review, 2 March 2012
by Stephanie Sta Maria
CCM Youth also calls for a bilingual SPM Bible Knowledge examination paper so that indigenous Christians are no longer sidelined.
PETALING JAYA: The Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM) Youth today asked that the Christian community be consulted in the impending review of the country’s education system.
The call was prompted by Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s statement last Sunday that Malaysia’s current education system was due for a thorough review and that a detailed proposal would be completed by year-end.
In a press statement, CCM Youth secretary, Daniel Chai, stated that the Christian community was an important stakeholder as far as the subject of Bible Knowledge was concerned.
In conjunction with the 400th anniversary of the publication of Al-Kitaab (translated into the Malay language), they have called on the ministry to make the SPM Bible Knowledge examination paper bilingual.
Chai pointed out that the 2010 Housing and Population Census report showed that Christians accounted for 2.6 million or 9.2 percent of the nation’s population.
“Furthermore, a majority of Christians, mainly in Sabah and Sarawak, actually speak Bahasa Malaysia instead of English,” he said. “They have been left out all this while and this needs to be corrected.”
Chai noted that the Bible Knowledge examination paper is only available in English and is currently the only Christian-related subject in SPM for secondary schools.
“Despite the majority of indigenous Christian believers, the Education Ministry appears to have overlooked students in Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.
“The misconception that Christian students only speak English has resulted in this group being deprived of their right to study and sit for the SPM Bible Knowledge paper in Bahasa Malaysia.”
God-fearing nation
Chai added that the Gospel of Matthew in the Malay language was published in 1612, which made it a “historic and significant” publication as it was the earliest translation of the Bible into a non-European language.
The CCM Youth has laid out four recommendations to the Education Ministry as part of the proposed reforms for the SPM Bible Knowledge examination paper.
Aside from a bilingual paper, they have asked for full teaching facilities and resources for indigenous Christian teachers to be trained to teach Bible Knowledge as a core examination subject.
The group has also requested that Christian teachers set the questions for the SPM Bible Knowledge examination paper as well as mark the papers.
“We will persist in seeking justice and upholding the rights of all Christian students and students of all other non-Muslim faiths to be allowed full access to teaching resources that will help strengthen their faith, and in doing so, help build a righteous and God-fearing nation,” CCM Youth pledged.
A copy of the statement was also issued to the Education Ministry, the Teachers’ of Christian Fellowship and Malaysian Christian Schools’ Council.
The ministry has since appointed nine working groups to look into various aspects of the review but Chai told FMT that it was not crucial for Christian representatives to be included in those groups.
“If the ministry wanted to include Christian representatives, it can easily do so via the Teachers of Christian Fellowship,” he said.
“But of greater importance is that the existing groups seek and gather input from the Christian community before making recommendations that concern us.”
(End)
