Idris Jala must not defend the 10-point solution – Bob Teoh

FEBRUARY 25, 2014

Datuk Seri Idris Jala's defence of the cabinet's position over the “Allah-Alkitab” crisis and 10-point solution is untenable because it is fundamentally flawed.

Although he made it clear that this is his personal opinion, Idris is basically defending the cabinet over an indefensible policy.

Cabinet's 10-point solution in 2011 is flawed because it is essentially a one-country-two-laws policy. This is both wrong and unacceptable.

The 10-point was imposed unilaterally by the cabinet although discussions with some church leaders were held behind closed doors.

The Christian Federation of Malaysia's, the umbrella body, response was to reject the 10-point solution.

Other church organisations, denominations and pastors' fellowship adopted a similar posture with
the exception of the Bible Society of Malaysia, which is not a spokesman of the church in any case but a Bible bookshop.

The use of the word “Allah” pre-dates Islam. It is not exclusive to Islam.

The 10-point solution fails to understand this. A senior pastor said last week that on the Day of Pentecost, as described in the Book of Acts in the New Testament, Arabs as well as people of other
ethnicities were present on that occasion, 600 years before the Quran was compiled.

The Bible also pointed out each people group was declaring "the wonders of God in their own tongues" (Acts 2:11). The Arabs would have no doubt used the word “Allah” to refer to God.

In the Malay-speaking world, portions of the Bible were first translated (in Indonesia) in 1612 in which the word God was translated as “Allah”.

This was not only the first non-European translation of the Bible but it was done well ahead of any translation of the Quran into Malay.

Even the legendary Munshi Abdullah translated the Bible into Malay preferring the word “Allah” for God.

The Christians were, therefore, first to use the word “Allah” in the Malay-language Bible.

This puts to rest the argument that the word “Allah” is exclusive to Muslims. The principle is that the first to use the term is entitled to claim priority over those who used it later.

Again, the 10-point solution has missed this moot point.

Even as Islam is the religion of the Federation, freedom of religion remains a most fundamental human right of every citizen recognised and protected by the Federal Constitution.

This, the cabinet has failed to accept or understand.

So fundamental is this right that even when a state of emergency is proclaimed under Article 150 of the Constitution, among other things, our right to freedom of religion cannot be tampered with or
removed.

We have lived through several emergencies or marshal law periods in our short history. Yet not once has our fundamental right to freedom of religion been curtailed or set aside.

Sub-clause 6A of Article 150 is clear: "nor shall Clause (6) validate any provision inconsistent with the provisions of this Constitution relating to any such matter or relating to religion…"

This plainly means freedom of religion remains protected and guaranteed by our Constitution even under emergency rule.

The supremacy of the Constitutional guarantee and protection of our freedom of religion becomes clear at once, when read together with Articles 3 and 11.

The safeguard of freedom of religion, as rightly pointed out by Idris, is further amplified in what is known as the 18- and 20-point agreements submitted by the Sarawak and Sabah governments for inclusion into the new Constitution for Malaysia in 1963.

We are also acutely aware that freedom of religion is also a cornerstone of United Nations conventions on fundamental human rights and that the state should not intervene in matters of religion.

This was the position rightly taken by the High Court in the Herald case when it decided on December 31, 2009, that the home minister was wrong in imposing a condition that the weekly Catholic Herald's annual publishing permit would only be renewed if it did not use the word “Allah” to refer to God in its Bahasa edition.

Sadly, last year the Court of Appeal reversed the High Court judgment by ruling that the use of the word “Allah” is not integral to Christianity.

In doing so the Court of Appeal went beyond its jurisdiction and has usurped the ecclesiastical jurisdiction that belonged solely to the Church in Malaysia. It is up to the Federal Court now to restore the status quo. The remedy can be by a consent judgment.

Idris's contention is that Article 11 (4) allows for the various so-called State Islamic Enactments to "control or restrict the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the religion of Islam".

That may be so, but the operative words are "control" and "restrict". But the various State Islamic
authorities started gazetting fatwas "prohibiting" non-Muslims from using a slew of words like “Allah”.

This "prohibition" is clearly in violation of the Constitutional provision. This strikes at the heart
of the supremacy of the Constitution.

Many have called for Idris to resign from the cabinet over the 10-point solution.

Many are also aware of Idris's Christian heritage from the Kelabit Highlands, the Bible Belt of Malaysia.

He preached his first sermon while in Form Three back in October 1973. Some believed him while some others doubted. The rest is history.

But history repeats itself. Today, when Idris tries to preach religious tolerance, there are many who believe in him just as there are doubters.

I may disagree with Idris, but as a fellow believer, I would still listen to his sermon. – www.sinchewdaily.com, February 25, 2014.

Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/idris-jala-must-not-defend-the-10-point-solution-bob-teoh

Idris Jala should go

FEBRUARY 24, 2014

Now Malaysians know why Datuk Seri Idris Jala (pic) has been quiet for so long as the debate on the Allah issue raged on.

He did not have a plausible explanation for the government's flip-flop on the so-called 10-point resolution on outstanding issues involving Christians of which he apparently was the architect of.

He was also searching for a nonsensical reason to justify Putrajaya's clueless response to the seizure of Malay-language Bibles by Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (Jais) officers.

And finally, he was hard at work trying to figure out how to explain this mind-numbing dichotomy: the government's decision to allow Allah to be used in Sabah and Sarawak and not in the Catholic weekly, the Herald.

Problem solved.

Today, Jala wrote in his column for the MCA mouthpiece, The Star, and offered a cockamamie reason why the use of Allah in the Catholic Herald is treated differently than Allah in the al-Kitab.

It was disingenuous and plainly dishonest of the minister. Really?

Does he consider a publication sold in the confines of churches to several thousand Catholics a widely distributed publication? The use of the word Allah in the Herald is limited to the Bahasa Malaysia section which is for Catholics who live in Sabah and Sarawak. At the height of its circulation, it sold 14,000 copies but now only an average of 8,000 copies.

Jala is just repeating that rubbish argument the Home Minister used in justifying the order prohibiting the Herald from using the word Allah.

The only reason why the Kuala Lumpur Archbishop took the government to court was because Catholics/Christians finally realised that the word of Malaysia's Prime Ministers cannot be relied on.

After all, the Mahathir cabinet allowed Christians to use Allah despite the 1986 directive only for Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar to engage in point-scoring when he was the Home Minister under Tun Abdullah Badawi.

There is only one take away from Jala's column: Christians should not look to any Christian ministers in the cabinet for help in untangling the Allah mess.

The 10-point solution has been found to be ineffective although Jala wrote that it was done in a very tight spot with the fact that Sabahans and Sarawakians make some four million trips annually to Peninsular Malaysia.

The thing is, there are a large number of Sabahans and Sarawakians who work in the peninsula and they worship in many churches in Bahasa Malaysia. Should they only know about events in the church in English rather than Bahasa Malaysia?

What about them, Mr Jala?

One final thought: Father Lawrence Andrew be praised. Your little known publication has wider readership and influence than the Bible! – February 24, 2014.

Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/idris-jala-should-go

Idris: 10-point solution on Alkitab issue most pragmatic

BY RAZAK AHMAD

PETALING JAYA: The Federal Government’s 10-point solution on the Alkitab issue remains the most pragmatic solution to manage the matter, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Idris Jala.

Addressing the issue for the first time since the seizure of Bahasa Malaysia Bibles and other Christian literature by the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) in January, Idris urged all parties to “think very carefully about jumping the gun on solutions that lead to a win-lose solution”.

“Either way, I am convinced any one-sided solution will certainly create a fault-line in the Malaysian religious and social fabric. We don’t want to go there,” wrote Idris in his Trans­formation Unplugged column in The Star today.

Idris reiterated the Cabinet’s position which supports the 10-point solution, but maintained that all sides must abide by existing federal and state laws.

The announcement of the 10-point solution in April 2011 by the Home Ministry has cleared the way for the distribution of thousands of Alkitab – a term collectively referring to Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Indonesia and indigenous languages – in peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.

“Unless someone comes up with a better and more acceptable way forward, I think the 10-point solution remains the most pragmatic and workable compromise to help us manage this highly sensitive issue,” Idris said.

He said many people had queried him over the past two years on the 10-point solution with regards to whether it was consistent with related policies, laws and practices, which he narrowed into several key questions.

One was over how the 10-point solution could co-exist with the respective states’ Islamic Enactments that prohibit non-Muslims from propagating their faiths to Muslims.

Idris said the Alkitab is allowed for use by Christians, their churches and congregations and non-Muslims.

However, if anyone uses the Alkitab or uses words prohibited under state laws to propagate non-Islamic faiths to Muslims, then he will contravene the relevant Islamic laws.

Citing an example, Idris said that although the word Injil was another prohibited word for non-Muslims in Selangor, the Federal Govern­ment and the Selangor state has not prohibited his church, one of the fastest growing in Kuala Lumpur, from calling itself Sidang Injil Borneo KL (SIB KL).

Another question was why conditions were imposed for the Alkitab in Peninsular Malaysia when there is no such conditions in Sabah and Sarawak.

Idris said Christians in Sabah and Sarawak have long used the word Allah in their own indigenous language unlike in peninsular Malaysia, where the sensitivities of the Muslim community should be taken into account.

“However, recognising the interests of the minority Christian communities and also other communities and religions such as the Sikhs, who also use the word Allah, it is reasonable to allow them access to Alkitab and their own holy books on a conditional basis,” he said.

Source: http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/02/24/Idris-10point-solution-on-Alkitab-issue-most-pragmatic/

Recap the 10-point solutions to Bahasa Malaysia Bible from 2011 news

Sunday April 3, 2011

Solutions to address Bible issue

Press statement by Datuk Seri Idris Jala, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, on a 10-point solution.

THE Government confirmed that it has been in dialogue with the Christian groups to look into their specific requests on the Bahasa Malaysia/Indonesia Bible and also other religious issues. Taking into account the polarity of views of the different religious groups, including the Muslims, the Government decided on a 10-point solution.

»I hope this 10- point solution will be received positively« DATUK SERI IDRIS JALA

1. Bibles in all languages can be imported into the country, including Bahasa Malaysia/Indonesia.

2. These Bibles can also be printed locally in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. This is a new development which should be welcomed by the Christian groups.

3. Bibles in indigenous languages of Sabah and Sarawak such as Iban, Kadazan-Dusun and Lun Bawang can also be printed locally and imported.

4. For Sabah and Sarawak, in recognition of the large Christian community in these states, there are no conditions attached to the importation and local printing of the Bible in all languages, including Bahasa Malaysia/Indonesia and indigenous languages. There is no requirement for any stamp or serial number.

5. Taking into account the interest of the larger Muslim community, for Peninsular Malaysia, Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia/Indonesia, imported or printed, must have the words “Christian Publication” and the cross sign printed on the front covers.

6. In the spirit of 1Malaysia and recognising that many people travel between Sabah and Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia, there should be no prohibitions and restrictions for people who bring along their Bible and Christian materials on such travels.

7. A directive on the Bible has been issued by the Ketua Setiausaha (KSU) of the Home Ministry to ensure proper implementation of this Cabinet decision. Failure to comply will subject the officers to disciplinary action under the General Orders. A comprehensive briefing by top officials, including the Attorney-General (AG), will be given to all relevant civil servants to ensure good understanding and proper implementation of the directive.

8. For the impounded Bibles in Kuching, Gideon, the importer can collect all the 30,000 Bibles free of charge. We undertake to ensure the parties involved are reimbursed. The same offer remains available for the importer of the 5,100 Bibles in Port Klang, which have already been collected by the Bible Society Malaysia (BSM) last week.

9. Beyond the Bible issue, the Govern­ment wishes to reiterate its commitment to work with the Christian groups and all the different religious groups in order to address inter-religious issues and work towards the fulfilment of all religious aspirations in accordance with the Constitution, taking into account the other relevant laws of the country. In order to bring urgency to this work, the Prime Minister will meet the representatives of the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) soon to discuss the way forward.

10. The Christian ministers in the Cabinet will meet on a regular basis with representatives of the various Christian groups in order to discuss their issues and work with the relevant ministries and the PM in order to resolve them.

I hope this 10-point solution will be received positively by the Christian groups as being fair and reasonable. We have to look for a solution that deals with the Bible issue and also put a way forward to handle other issues raised by the Christian groups.

I think the Bible issue is very unfortunate, and in the spirit of Lent, it is time for sacrifice, reconciliation and forgiveness.

In our history, as a young nation, we achieved a lot in a short period of time, but we have our shortcomings.

The Government and our civil servants are not perfect as indeed all human beings are “beautifully imperfect” in the eyes of God.

And for all our shortcomings in handling the Bible issue, I hope the Christians would find it in their hearts to forgive us.

In my Church at SIBKL, we have been praying for a Christian revival to take place in our country. For all the hurt that exists as a result of our differences, I believe that we need healing, forgiveness and reconciliation in this country.

The Bible says in Matthew 18:21-22 – Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered: “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?sec=nation&file=%2F2011%2F4%2F3%2Fnation%2F8407376