Bible Society on a wing and a prayer

It wishes that the 1988 enactment will be rescinded but mindful of realities, it hopes authorities would stick to the 10-point agreement signed in 2011
VIDEO INSIDE

PETALING JAYA: The Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) is hoping against hope that the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988 will be repealed.

Its president Lee Min Choon, however, admitted that the removal would cause another set of problems.

“I would like to see the state law repealed. This is also the stand of the Bible Society. People co-existed peacefully until 1988,” said Lee.

“There are many people, politicians and bloggers who have called for the removal of the enactment but it would create another set of problems,” said Lee, a lawyer by profession.

“As such we have no plans to call for the removal of state law but we can hope,” he said.

Yesterday, Lee and his general secretary, Reverend Simon Wong were arrested by the police in a raid conducted by Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais).

Jais officials confiscated about 300 copies of the Al-Kitab (Malay Bibles) and 20 copies of Bup Kudus (Iban Bibles) catering mainly for Christians from Sabah and Sarawak.

The raid was conducted in accordance with the 1988 enactment.

The Bible Society of Malaysia was established in 1985 to provide Bibles in various languages to the Christian community.

Prior to that, Christians obtained their bibles from the Bible Society Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

Lee told FMT that the enactment was actually an off-shoot of Operasi Lalang in 1987.

He said there were inter racial issues in Terengganu in 1981 and the Terengganu BN was the first to table such an enactment. However after Ops Lalang, all the states began to follow suit.

‘Democracy is not rule of the majority’

Lee added that the authorities should just stick to the 10 point agreement made in 2011 as a solution to the current debacle.

“We have been in discussions with the officials at the Home Ministry since 2004 until 2011. We even agreed to print the cross on the bible on the cover and state it is a Christian publication,” he said.

Lee was also asked to comment on the Selangor Sultan’s decree which prohibits non-Muslims from using ‘Allah’ in November 2013.

“It puts a burden on Christians. The word ‘Allah’ has been used by indigenous Christians in this region for the past 400 years.”

When asked if the state government has done enough to protect the interests of Christians, he gave a philosophical reply.

“Democracy is not rule of the majority. When people don’t understand this, it becomes tyranny of the majority.

“The state and federal governments have an obligation to protect human rights of the minority. That

is the hallmark of a democracy,” said Lee.

The question about the role of the state government was raised because Jais comes under the purview of the state as provided for under the Federal Constitution.

At 12 noon, Lee had a meeting with two representatives from the Prime Minister’s Department.

“The officials from the Prime Minister’s Department understood our position. We told them about the raid. They have requested for more time and space to resolve the issue,” he said.

Meanwhile, three DAP Selangor lawmakers, Yeo Bee Yin (Damansara Utama), Rajiv Rishyakaran (Bukit Gasing) and Lau Weng San (Kampung Tunku) said they would propose that amendments be made to the enactment.

“It should not be used to restrict anyone from practising and professing their own religion in their preferred language,” the trio said in statement, adding that the amendments would also ensure that Muslims continue to be protected from proselytisation.