PETALING JAYA, April 15 — The Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) announced today its decision to relocate its headquarters from Selangor to Kuala Lumpur, citing its disappointment with the state government’s decision not to interfere in the seizure of its bibles.

BSM president Lee Min Choon said the federal government has given “better protection” to the society’s operations, and has even upheld the Cabinet’s 10-point solution to the “Allah” row by allowing free movement of its bible shipments.

Selangor, on the other hand, has continued to refuse to help the society recover the over 300 Malay and Iban language bibles that were seized by the state’s religious authorities earlier this year, Lee said.

“Therefore, I wish to announce that BSM will be moving its headquarters and operations out of Selangor to the Federal Territories where better protection is given by the federal government to religious minorities,” he said.

When asked if BSM would consider staying put at Selangor's request, Lee pointed out that the society had given the state government three months to straighten out the raid issue.

He said BSM's last engagement with the state dated as far back as January 27, over three weeks after the bibles seizure by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS).

“Up till now, the state executive council has not shown or announced any measures to make JAIS accountable and responsible, and to make JAIS respect the rights of minorities,” he said.

Earlier this month, Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said the state government has decided not to interfere in the ongoing controversy over the 300 seized bibles, saying that it is up to BSM to officially write to the Attorney-General (AG) to have the holy books returned.

He said the state executive council decided that the onus was entirely on the BSM to “show their determination and desire” to get back the Malay- and Iban-language bibles, which were confiscated over the use of the word “Allah” in the translations.

Lee affirmed today BSM's decision not to write to the AG, saying the issue has nothing to the with the country's top lawyer.

“I don't think the AG even wants to look at this,” he said.

The BSM president added that the society has also discussed the possibility of mounting legal action to recover its seized bibles but decided against it “for the moment”.

He said BSM's move from Selangor will likely take place within the next two months, once the society obtains approval from the Registrar of Societies (RoS).

By moving BSM's operations out of Selangor, Lee added, the society expects to avoid future bible seizures by the religious authorities.

Apart from the change of its base, Lee also said BSM will stop importing its bibles through Port Klang in Selangor.

“But we will ship our Bahasa Malaysia bibles directly to east Malaysia where most of the BM bible readers are.

“As for west Malaysia, we will ship through the state of Penang, which does not have a law like the 1988 Selangor enactment,” he said.

Lee was referring to the enactment used by JAIS when it raided BSM's office here on January 2 and carted off 321 copies of its Malay and Iban language bibles.

The 1988 state enactment prohibits non-Muslims from using 35 Arabic words and phrases in their faiths, including “Allah” as part of measures to control the propagation of other religions to Muslims.

Lee said Christians from Selangor who wish to purchase bibles from BSM would have to get their copies from the society's outlets outside the state from now onward.

He added that apart from Kuala Lumpur, BSM hopes to set up shop in Penang, Kuching, Miri and Kota Kinabalu.

“Christians residing in Selangor will have to personally undertake the risk of transporting and using the BM bible in Selangor territory.

“For the rest of the country, we do not anticipate such problems,” he said.