The Najib administration relented today to demands from the Church not to attach serial numbers to impounded Malay-language Bibles as it prepares itself to face a Christian-majority electorate in Sarawak in the coming state polls.
It also promised that all future shipments of such holy books written in the national language would be released as long as they sported the words “For Christianity” in the Arial font, size 16, either printed at source or stamped at the receiving port.
For the consignment of 35,100 Alkitabs still held in Port Klang and Kuching Port, the administration said it was willing to provide “stickers” to cover the present stamps and serial numbers already marked on the books.
Should this fail to be satisfactory, it also said that it had made arrangements with Christian donors to help replace the entire consignment of Bibles with new ones, which will then be stamped only with the words “For Christianity”.
The announcement was made in a statement released to Bernama today by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala following a meeting held last week between government leaders and Christian groups.
“An arrangement has been made by the government with the help of Christian donors to pay for the cost of all 30,000 impounded Bibles in Kuching and the 5,100 Bibles in Port Klang free of charge.
“The importer can take these Bibles completely free of charge at no cost.
“If the Christian groups do not wish to take the Bibles, then the Christian donors have agreed to pay for the cost of bringing in new Bibles as replacement and these will be printed or stamped with the words ‘For Christianity’,” Jala said.
No other words or serial numbers, he added, would be marked on the holy books in future shipments.
The government had last Tuesday ordered the release of the 35,100 Alkitabs but on condition that they were stamped with serial numbers and a Home Ministry seal that reads, “Peringatan: ‘Al Kitab Berita Baik’ ini untuk kegunaan penganut agama Kristian sahaja. Dengan perintah Menteri Dalam Negeri” [In English: “Reminder: This ‘Al Kitab Berita Baik’ is for the use of Christians only. By order of the Home Minister”].
Following the order, the books were then stamped at both ports without the permission of the importers, earning the ministry criticisms from the Church community and many political parties.
The importers of both consignments later refused to retrieve the shipments, charging that the government had defaced the holy scriptures.
But Jala pointed today to a statement from Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein that the practice of stamping and serialising the books was a standard protocol that was even used on the Quran.
“Qurans which are imported into the country are also checked as authorised copies and are stamped with serial numbers before they are released.
“Qurans which are not authorised are impounded and destroyed. The act of stamping and serialisation of the Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia and the Qurans should not be perceived as desecration of holy scriptures,” said Jala.
“The focus should be on getting the Bibles into the hands of people who want to read them; it has been established that the Home Affairs Ministry is not singling out the Bibles for stamping and serialisation because this is also the same practice as they appear in the Quran,” he added.
Despite this, however, Jala noted that the government was willing to forgo its practice to serialise the Christian Bibles and to ensure there was no misrepresentation in implementation by civil servants on the matter, a special directive would be issued by the Home Ministry’s director-general.
“As with all similar directives, failure to comply with this directive will subject the relevant officers to disciplinary action under the General Orders,” he said.
Jala said the meeting with Christian leaders had been called on Friday, March 18 following a special Cabinet committee meeting the day before between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and several other senior ministers.
They included himself, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Hishammuddin, Prime Minister’s Department ministers Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon (unity affairs), Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz (parliamentary affairs and law) and Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom (Islamic affairs) and Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail.
Friday’s meeting, Jala said, was held among himself, Abdul Gani, and representatives from the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM), the Council of Churches Malaysia (CCM) and other relevant Christian groups.
“At the end of this meeting, the representatives from Christian groups requested for time to meet and discuss and have advised the government that they would revert on their decision as soon as practicable,” he said.
Jala also said that Najib and the special Cabinet committee had formally authorised him and Abdul Gani to convey the government’s proposed solutions to the Christian groups.
He clarified that his appointment to this task was in his capacity as a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, a Christian and as he was the only Cabinet member who was not a member of any political party.
“The government wants this matter to be resolved amicably in a non-partisan manner and in line with the spirit of 1 Malaysia.
“The Attorney-General’s involvement is obviously necessary because we have to ensure that the solution must be in the context of the existing laws of the country,” he clarified.
Earlier, Jala’s announcement on the Bibles’ release had been called into question by DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, who raised suspicion over the government’s sincerity in the decision as the minister was not elected but appointed.
