Bible society hopes new Selangor MB will help return seized bibles

(Malay Mail Online) – The Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) has expressed hope that Azmin Ali, the new Selangor Mentri Besar will help it regain the 300-odd copies of bibles seized by state Islamic authorities earlier this year.

BSM president Bishop Datuk Ng Moon Hing told Malay Mail Online yesterday that his hopes of a favourable outcome are also based on the Attorney-General’s decision that there was no legal basis to back the seizure of the Malay- and Iban-language bibles.

“Because it’s law. This law says there is no problem. He is a man of law, so he should look into the whole matter, and the matter happened in his state,” Ng told Malay Mail Online yesterday at the St Mary’s Cathedral.

“Jais, Mais are all his state departments,” Ng said of Azmin.

Jais and Mais are the Selangor Islamic Religious Department and Selangor Islamic Religious Council respectively.

But Ng also said yesterday that BSM does not want to “pressurise” Azmin who had just stepped into office.

The bishop clarified that BSM is not “seeking his help” but was hoping for pro-active gestures from Azmin.

In June, the AG said the bibles seized were not controlled items and did not constitute a national security issue, adding that Jais would then take the “next step” in accordance with the law. That next step has not materialised. Jais and Mais said instead they will be seeking a court ruling to enable them to dispose of the Christians’ holy books.

Using a 1988 Selangor state law that prohibits non-Muslims from using “Allah” to refer to God, Jais carried out a surprise raid of BSM’s Selangor office on January 2, and seized over 300 copies of the bible in Malay and Iban languages.

After months of waiting for the bibles’ release, the BSM’s then president Lee Min Choon said in April that it would move its headquarters to the federal government-ruled Kuala Lumpur to get “better protection” and avoid future bible seizures.

Ng said that while his predecessor had spoken about it a decision to move has not been decided.

“Actually there is no plan to move headquarters. It was just the former president who just said he feels that we should, but we have never made a decision on this.

Former BSM president Lee had also in April said that the organisation may consider importing bibles through Selangor’s Port Klang, opting instead for Penang or east Malaysia where Christians often use  the Malay-language bibles.

Ng said yesterday that while such options exist, they would be costly.

“We have talked about it. It’s just that we have to find the logistics first, we are doing the study and see worthwhile or not, do we have the money or not,” he said, pointing out that BSM is a not-for-profit organisation.

While Ng said BSM has never said it will go to court to seek the return of the bibles’ return, he said there is still “a lot of time” for it to consider such action.