Azmin: Confiscated Bibles must be returned

(The Star) – The confiscated Malay-language Bibles must be returned to the Christian community, said Mohamed Azmin Ali.

“Islam does not allow for the disturbance of harmony. It is our duty to respect the other religions in our country,” said the Selangor Mentri Besar.

“If my understanding of Islam is correct, the Bibles must be returned to the Christian community,” he said.

Azmin said that he was responsible to the people of Selangor “irrespective of religion”.

“We are family,” said Azmin in Mandarin to the 1,000-strong majority Chinese audience at Petaling Jaya DAP’s fundraising dinner at the MBPJ Civic Hall, themed ‘New Chapter, New Hope’ on Monday.

Azmin said that he had spoken to the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) and Selangor Islamic Affairs Council (Mais), and the matter has been referred to the Selangor’s Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.

Azmin said that since he assumed the mentri besar post 43 days ago, he has had to deal with many sensitive issues such as the water deal, Bibles, Oktoberfest and dog-petting.

“My team and I are doing our level best to address these issues,” he said.

Azmin said that as state mentri besar, he wanted to be transparent as possible and had written to Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Dr Maximus Ongkili to ask for details of the water deal to be made public.

“But I have received no reply from the Minister,” he said.

Azmin also addressed the issue of potholes in Selangor, especially in Petaling Jaya

“I can’t accept this as we have huge (financial) reserves. We have to give these reserves back to the people,” said Azmin.

“I have given clear instructions that the entire amount allocated should be channelled towards road maintenance beginning 2015,” he said.

Azmin also said that he’ll would look at the state of garbage collection in Selangor.

“I gave three months for solid waste collection to be improved. I want Selangor to become one of the cleanest states in Malaysia,” he said.

Azmin also pinpointed education for Malaysian youths and an affordable housing program as two other areas he wished to address as Selangor mentri besar.