Alkitab still in shadow of fight for Sarawak votes
By Sheridan Mahavera, The Malaysian Insider
KUCHING, March 21 — While Malaysian Christian leaders seethe over the seizure and stamping of Bahasa Malaysia Bibles by the Home Ministry, their frustration is also shared by the faithful in Sarawak.
However, whether that sentiment is going to be translated into votes in the state election is still unclear.
In Serian, some 60km from Kuching, the issue barely registered among Catholic Bidayuhs The Malaysian Insider spoke to.
“We’ve never heard of any problems about the Alkitab. It was not mentioned in gereja,” says Nyaupan Langkin of Kampung Rayang.
“I think the issue was just played up by certain groups but it’s not really an issue here,” Langkin says.
Serian, where Christian Bidayuhs are a majority in the hilly district, was the first rural stopover for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his Deputy Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in their headline state tour on Saturday.
The importance of the unprecedented visit was noted by Najib himself to the crowd when he pointed out that he had brought three senior ministers who were the three Umno vice-presidents.
Yet, issues about the Alkitab, how the consignments were detained and were stamped by the Home Ministry were not mentioned at all his speech.
Instead, Najib spent considerable time detailing to the crowd the vast sums of money the federal government had poured into building Sarawak’s infrastructure.
What really grabbed their attention was the announcement of RM252.82 million for rural electrification and water supply projects in part of Serian.
One way of looking at the absence of any mention of the Alkitab to a mainly Christian audience was because the government wanted to avoid tripping over an issue which has been characterised by conflicting statements.
Or because the issue has not really been resolved as the Christian Federation of Malaysia refuses to accept the stamped Bibles.
A Christian Sarawak United People’s Party activist claims that the issue has no currency among his congregation.
“I’ve spoken to Christian youth groups in the SUPP. To them and me personally, the stamp is only a stamp. What is important is what the Bible teaches us,” says the 40-year-old Kuching-based activist who requested anonymity.
“This issue is only an issue to the Christian leadership not to ordinary Christians. It’s being politicised.”
An officer with the Information, Communications and Culture Ministry reveals that by and large, surveys showed that voters even in Sarawak’s urban centres are mainly concerned with “pocketbook” issues such as land premiums and the rising cost of living.
“Ideological” issues such as the Alkitab dispute and even the battle over Allah does not resonate with a majority of voters.
After all, the churches in Sarawak are still able to use Allah in their services and the Bibles currently in circulation among Christians do not bear the stamp.
But another Christian state civil service officer feels that these attempts to limit how Christians practise their faith will snowball once the election mood starts.
“Me and my friends feel troubled by them (Alkitab and Allah),” replies the officer who refused to be named, when told that the BN thinks that they are non-issues.
Though it may not be publicly spoken about in churches and in services, he says it is still a hot topic.
This may explain why it is hard to gauge how intense the frustration is among Sarawak Christians.
A Sarawak church official says that unlike Muslims, for instance, Malaysian Christians to do not take to the streets whenever a religious issue crops up.
In other words, there aren’t Christian versions of the after-Friday prayer protests conservative Muslims are fond of staging.
“We prefer the quiet way of expressing our feelings, through the ballot box.”
