Dompok: It’s wrong to seize holy books

By Michael Kaung, Free Malaysia Today

KOTA KINABALU: Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Bernard Dompok has broken ranks with his Barisan Nasional cabinet colleagues over the seizure of bibles written in Bahasa Malaysia by the government.

He declared that the federal government was wrong in seizing the holy book and that it was duty bound to allow Christians in Malaysia free access to their bible written in the national language.

“Our (Upko) stand is very clear, we have in the past asked that the bible written in Bahasa Malaysia should be allowed in the country and its entry in Sarawak should not be stopped.

“After all we are all Malaysian citizens and there were never any incidents where the Christians in Malaysia had caused any problem for the country,” he said.

Dompok, who is the president of local BN component party, Upko, was commenting on the controversial seizure of 30,000 Malay language bibles in the Kuching Port.

He said the present problem must be resolved quickly and all these bibles must be released.

Dompok was speaking to newsmen when met at a Village Security and Development Committee election at Kampung Tuavon in his Penampang parliamentary constituency over the weekend.

The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) had said in a statement that 30,000 copies of “Perjanjian Baru, Mazmur and Amsal (New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs) were currently detained in the Kuching Port.

On the suggestion by MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek that the bibles in Bahasa Malaysa be printed locally by approved printing houses sanctioned by the Home Ministry, Dompok said that it would not solve the problem.

He said it can be printed anywhere, and it does not really matter where the bibles are printed.

“What of course it means is that even if it is printed locally, if the objection is because of usage of terminology, terms, words, there will be people who will want to stop it on the grounds that it is using terminologies which is in their words, not supposed to be used.

“You will hit a snag too until you resolve the principle that this bible should be freely available,” he said.

Lingering problem

A Christian and the MP for Penampang, Dompok reckons that it is a problem that needs to be urgently resolved in the interest of the people and the country.

“I’m not even talking about the opposition … a problem like this should not linger.

“It (lifting the ban) is good for the people, good for nation building. I would not want to connect it to any opposition view or the stand of opposition parties,” he said.

Dompok was alluding to how the seizure could become an issue during the impending state election in Sarawak