A RAID on the offices of the Bible Society in Malaysia -
apparently by the government authorities - resulted in the seizure
of more than 300 Bibles.
United Bible Societies - comprising 146 Bible societies -
confirmed that the raid had taken place last week. In a statement,
it said: "Staff at Bible Society of Malaysia were surprised by a
raid on their offices on 2 January. Fifteen members of JAIS [the
Islamic authority for the state in which the Bible Society is
located] entered the Bible Society and seized 320 copies of the
Bahasa Malaysia Bible, and ten copies of the Bup Kudus, the lban
Bible.
"They also arrested Bible Society of Malaysia President Mr Lee
Min Choon, and the offfice manager Mr Sinclair Wong. Mr Lee and Mr
Wong were released on bail after two hours."
The Bible Society of Malaysia has appealed for Christians to
remain calm.
Christians are a religious minority in Malaysia, and represent
approximately nine per cent of the population of 2.6 million. In
recent years, tensions have grown be-tween Christian and Muslim
communities, leading the Malaysian government to introduce the
"10-Point Solution" in 2011. The Solution was intended to foster
peace and harmony between Muslims and Christians.
The Council of Churches of Malaysia called on the Prime
Minister, Najib Razak, to act to stop any further raids.
The recently formed National Unity Consultative Council - set up
to promote harmony and integration between cultures - said that the
raid showed a "blatant disregard" for the agreed solution to the
distribution of Christian publications, and that it was
"regrettable".