Pointing out that the national language belonged to all Malaysians regardless of religion, he joined Christians nationwide in their chorus of disapproval
The outspoken politician appealed to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to order the immediate release of all 35,000 such Bibles presently confiscated at the ports of Klang and Kuching by the Home Ministry and allow for the holy books to be printed in Bahasa Malaysia in Malaysia.
“Bahasa is no longer a language that belongs to Malays and Muslims. It belongs to all Malaysians. If we had retained English as a medium of instruction, then perhaps we can say that Bibles must continue to be in English.
“But we had insisted that Bahasa is the sole medium of instruction so it is unreasonable to expect Christians to understand the Bible in any other language,” he wrote in an email response to The Malaysian Insider today.
Zaid added that Muslims in Malaysia had no reason to fear that the use of the Malay language in Bibles would influence them into converting to Christianity as the country already had strict laws on such matters.
“There are already laws to prohibit Mulsims from being proselytised. As cases such as Lina Joy showed, it is almost impossible for Muslims to become Christians as such conversion require the approval of the religious council,” he said.
He also noted that there was no shortage of Muslim classes and religious programmes on the television and the radio to ensure that the community's faith in the religion stayed strong.
“Muslims in Malaysia are adequately protected from external influences so why deny other Malaysians from using their holy books in their own language, Bahasa?” he said.
Zaid pointed out that the use of Malay-language Bibles had gone on for decades in Sabah and Sarawak without any opposition from the local Muslims.
“It is the Muslim bureaucrats in the peninsular who have caused the issue to be regarded as sensitive... hence the embargo and prohibition of Malay Bibles.
“I agree with the suggestion b y (MCA president) Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek that Bibles should be printed in Bahasa here in the country so that the authorities can monitor its distribution,” he said.
Zaid also said that Najib should use the opportunity to “make his mark” by releasing the confiscated Bibles, predicting that the prime minister would not lose Malay votes but would gain urban votes.
“But more important than votes, he would be doing the right thing,” he said.
The Home Ministry’s move to hold the Bibles worth RM78,000 in the ports of Klang and Kuching has angered Christians in Malaysia.
They have lashed out at the federal government for what they see as a systematic move to deny their religious rights enshrined in the country’s highest law.
The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM), which represents 90 per cent of churches here, demanded yesterday that the government immediately release all Bibles detained.
