Outrage over call for DBP to translate Bible

PETALING JAYA: The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) is outraged by a “patronising” suggestion that the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) can provide “an official translation” of the Al-Kitab, the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia.

CFM chairman Archbishop Julian Leow Beng Kim ( pix) said in a statement yesterday that the suggestion was also an infringement of the Federal Constitution.

“The Holy Bible and the AlKitab in Bahasa Malaysia form part of the sacred patrimony of Christians, and any attempt by any person not authorised by the Christian churches to provide an authoritative version will be firmly rejected,” he said.

“This is not just an outrage to Christians and their sensibilities. It will be a most heinous form of offence against what all Christians believe to be divinely inspired scriptures, the Word of God.”

Leow said everyone should remember the recent statement by the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, that all the state’s citizens should respect the main principles in the Federal Constitution for the country’s harmony and peace.

He also said Malaysians should remember the statement on Oct 10 by the Conference of Rulers which upheld the core principles of the Constitution which were drafted based on the country’s religious and ethnic diversity.

The suggestion was made by Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla, the counsel for the Selangor Islamic Religious Council, in the High Court during Sarawakian Jill Ireland’s suit against the government over the constitutional right to use the word “Allah” for “God” in Christian publications.