PKR DUN 19 Kepayan P174 Penampang, Sabah. |
| Restriction on Bible Circulation & Stamping of Bible Posted: 31 Mar 2011 04:04 AM PDT
PKR Supreme Central Council Member- Dr Roland Chia Ming Shen voiced the concern of a systematic restriction on the practice of Christianity in this country. This systematic restriction will be even made worst if the Rakyat continues to support the present ruling Barisan Nasional Government. Now in Sabah & Sarawak , there are relatively freedom of practice, but if the present BN regime continue to rule, freedom of practice will be restricted systematically. He lamented this in response to the recent stamping & delay release of the Bibles in Port Klang & Kuching. More than 35,000 copies of the Malay-language Al-Kitab were detained in Port Klang and Kuching as the books were deemed a threat to national security. We are against the restrictions placed on the Bible as well as the language of choice in "the practice of our religion."This is definitely contravened with Malaysia's guarantee of freedom of religion in Article 11(1) of the Federal Constitution, and Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is only after much public pressure, the government agreed to release the bibles but not before stamping the Home Ministry's official seal on them, along with a "For Christians Only" label. This led the bibles' importers to refuse the copies, with numerous Christian groups around the country accusing the government of desecrating the holy books. Dr Roland Chia said that the government needed to respect the Christian community's right to use the Al-Kitab. "We call on the government to remove every impediment, whether legal or administrative, to the importation, publication, distribution and use of the Al-Kitab," he said. He added that this included revoking orders made under the Internal Security Act (ISA) 1960 that considered the Malay-language bible a security threat. The Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) 1984 should not be applied to the affected bibles either. Nearly half of Sarawak's population is Christian, with many believers there more familiar with the Malay language. In Sabah more than 30% populations are Christians whom majority of them too are familiar with the Malay Language.  |
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