Pakatan leaders call on Christians in Sarawak to reject 'lying' BN

Wong Choon Mei

Pakatan Rakyat leaders called on Christians in Sarawak to reject the BN government after the Christian Federation of Malaysia confirmed that the Malay-language Bible row has not been resolved and also indicated there had been pressure to settle the issue ahead of the Sarawak elections balloting day on April 16.

“All three – the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and the Chief Minister – have been caught out in a lie to Christians in Sarawak and throughout Malaysia," Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian told Malaysia Chronicle.

"All three said the issue had been resolved. They even tried to claim credit so that the community would forgive them. But it is not really forgiveness that they seek, they just want our votes. Why should we give it to them? Do they deserve it?” 

Earlier on Monday, DPM Muhyiddin Yassin had accused the opposition of trying to stir anger and hatred for the BN by harping on the issue, insisting it had already been resolved “in the BN spirit”.

Hot on his heels was Prime Minister Najib Razak, who too said that the issue had been settled. Najib even went a step further. He gave himself a pat on the back for making  “a good decision” and “giving attention to Christians in Sarawak”.

"I asked Datuk Idris Jala to negotiate on the matter and everything he did had my blessings. So it should no longer be an issue. We give attention to Christians in Sarawak,” Bernama reported Najib as saying.

As for Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud, he fired the first salvo on Saturday.

“It was I who talked to the prime minister. I said to him that it was a stupid idea to stamp serial numbers. I told him it should be stopped and he said 'yes I agree and I'll put a stop to it'. So he went and stopped the serial numbers. Now there's no more of this nonsense," Malaysiakini reported Taib as saying.

Lies

But as it turned out, all three BN leaders lied to the Christian community in one way or another.

A 10-point proposal by Minister in the PM’s Department, Idris Jala, had been announced last week. On Saturday night, Idris issued a surprise press statement that Bible importers BSM and Gideon had agreed to collect the 35,100 copies of Alkitab detained at the ports.

Idris gave the impression that Christian leaders had agreed to his proposal, which lifts all conditions on the importation of the Malay Bibles to Sabah and Sarawak, but requires the words “Christian Publication” and the sign of the cross to be stamped on the front cover of the books sent to the peninsula.

Christians had condemned the Idris proposal on the grounds that it would divide their community and feared that they would be forced to accept the double-standards inherent in the policy.

The confusion spurred Catholic publication, the Herald, to publish a fact-sheet in a Q&A format.

Pressure

Author of the fact-sheet, Rev Father Michael Chua confirmed that the Alkitab issue was still unresolved. According to him, the Christian Federation of Malaysia had yet to meet, let alone decide on the 10-point plan.

“No. Since, this is a new offer from the government, the Christian Federation of Malaysia would need to meet and deliberate on this matter,” said Rev Michael.

“There is no hurry for us to come up with an answer for the government’s latest offer, even though the government seem to have a dateline (Sarawak election on April 16). We should not be dictated by the timetable set by the government but rather the prompting of the Holy Spirit in our deliberations. “

The CFM clarification confrimed what many Christians had secretly suspected - that the BN leaders were lying.

Michael's indication the authorities had also tried to put pressure on the CFM to reach a decision favoring the BN government and before the Sarawak balloting took place also sparked widepsread anger.

“This is a desperate move by the BN to misrepresent the true picture of the Alkitab issue and the Christians in Sarawak would be justified in rejecting the BN government come polling day,” PKR vice president Sivarasa Rasiah told Malaysia Chronicle.

Bible impasse: CCM youth reject 10-point proposal

Hazlan Zakaria

The youth wing of the Council of Churches Malaysia (CCM) today rejected outright the government's 10-point proposal to appease Christians in Sabah and Sarawak over restrictions on the publication and import of the Bible.

The movement made this known in a tweet this morning:

"Say NO to 10-pointers. Malaysian Christians want FULL FREEDOM, FULL RIGHTS to practise their faith."
Contacted by Malaysiakini, CCM youth secretary Daniel Chai explained: "We don't agree with the suggestions because they represent no firm commitment from the government. We shall continue to observe and see how things develop."

Last Saturday, the government through Pemandu CEO Idris Jala issued a list of 10 proposals calculated to salve Christian anger after 30,000 imported copies of the Bible in the Malay language were impounded by the customs in Kuching and another 5,000 copies were seized in Port Klang.

But the suggestions delivered by Idris, who is a Christian despite his Malay-sounding name, were met with scepticism by Christian and church groups, which said they have received similar assurances from the BN government before, prior to the seizures of the Bible.

They expressed fears that the government was only trying to "buy them over" for the Sarawak election and that it would and go back on its word after that.

Meanwhile, in a more pointed move, the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship Malaysia, a coalition of Christian evangelists formed amidst concerns over the right of Christians to have access to the Bible in the Malay language, have organised a prayer session they hope will influence the election of a Sarawak government that will be more favourable to their plight.

The coalition, which also pledged to represent the Christian community on issues and matters affecting the Church and society at large, is made up of more than 15 Christian and church groups. It members include the Salvation Army, Sidang Injil Borneo and the Baptist Church.

Prayers for Sarawak and its people

"As we draw nearer to the Sarawak state election, more calls for prayers have been sounded out. The Sarawak Ministers Fellowship has issued a call for a 12-day prayer," NECF executive secretary for Prayer, Rev Andy Chi, wrote on the website.

He explained that the body was mobilising churches and intercessors to cover Sarawak in prayer in preparation for their coming state election.

"We would like to stand together with our Sarawak brethren in prayer as they face their state election. We believe through united prayer, we can alter the course of a people," the reverend added.

Chi said the prayers, to cover all 31 parliamentary and 71 state seats in Sarawak and last 12 days from tomorrow until Sarawakians go to the polls on April 16, will be to:

• Give thanks to God for His love for Sarawak and for blessing us with abundance of resources, no natural disasters, peace and harmony amongst people of many races and religions;

• Pray for the coming state election for a peaceful, free and fair event, with good weather, good voter turnout as our people carry out their responsibilities as good citizens of the state to vote for leaders who are capable, God-fearing, full of integrity and hate dishonest gains;

• Pray for the incoming state government (to be) one that will love and take care of the people, is righteous and just, full of wisdom to bring development and take care of the poor, needy and marginalised;

• Pray for the people of Sarawak, that they will be good and responsible citizens, law abiding, respectful of the government, love one another and live in peace and harmony with one another; and

• Pray for religious freedom in Sarawak and Malaysia, that God will grant our authorities much wisdom, justice and fairness in upholding constitutional freedom of religion for our multiracial, multi-religious nation.

Pembela mulls court action over '10-point solution'

Coalition of Muslim groups Pembela has said it is mulling taking legal action over what it described as the 'Idris Jala Formula' over the Malay-language Bible issue that it said violated the federal constitution and national laws.

Bishop denounces 'divide and rule' policy

Terence Netto

Catholic Bishop Dr Paul Tan Chee Ing has denounced as “insidious” and “evil” the imposition of two sets of rules - one for Sabah and Sarawak and the other for Peninsular Malaysia - with regard to the dissemination of the Malay Bible, Al-Kitab.

Minister in the Prime Minister Department, Idris Jala, had announced yesterday a formula for the resolution of the controversy over the impoundment since January of thousands of copies of the Al-Kitab in ports at Kuching and Port Klang.

The formula allows for the dissemination in Sabah and Sarawak without conditions of the Al-Kitab, but for Peninsula Malaysia, copies of the Al-Kitab have to be stamped with the cross and have the words 'Christian Publication' on them.

Speaking to Malaysiakini in his capacity as the titular head of the Melaka-Johor diocese, Bishop Paul Tan (above), who is also president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Malaysia, said:

“If the policy is one for Sabah and Sarawak and another for Peninsula Malaysia, this is tantamount to using the insidious tactic of 'divide and rule.' I adamantly condemn and reject such means.”

The Christian Federation of Malaysia, the umbrella body for 90 percent of the denominational congregations in Malaysia, is to meet soon to discuss the government's latest offer for the resolution of the controversy.

Some Christian groups appear to be leaning in favor of the government's latest offer while others are loath to accept the differentiation of the rules between the Borneo states and the peninsula.

“There should be one policy for the whole Christian population in the two parts of the country,” said Bishop Paul Tan.

“You can put 'Christian Publication' on each copy since this is what was agreed to in 2005 by the CFM with the Abdullah Badawi administration.

“But there should be no differentiation between the rules for Sabah and Sarawak and the rules for Peninsular Malaysia,” insisted Bishop Paul Tan.

Bishop Paul Tan, a past president of the CFM, noted that the latest announcement by Idris Jala made no mention of the term 'Allah', the legitimacy of which use is being contested in the courts.

He said any decision by Christian groups on the government's latest offer must take due note of this uncertainty.

“It is better to stick by a practice already agreed to in 2005 than opt for changes that carry the prospect of being rendered moot by a pending decision of the courts,” he said.

'Above all, there must be no differentiation between the rule for Sabah and Sarawak and the one for the peninsula,” he emphasized