April 18 , 2003 22:52PM

Bup Kudus” Status To Be Known After Meeting With Churches – Abdullah

KUALA LUMPUR, April 18 (Bernama) — Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Friday that a decision on the status of the banned Iban-language Bible Bup Kudus will be made after he has met the Council of Churches of Malaysia.

The Acting Prime Minister said he had discussed the matter in the Cabinet, and he had agreed to meet the Council of Churches soon.

“(Datuk) Leo Moggie (an Iban, who is Energy, Communications and Multimedia Minister) explained to me that the book is actually the Bible translated into Iban language,” he told reporters after chairing the Umno Supreme Council meeting here.

Abdullah, who is also Home Minister, said this when asked to comment on the Council of Churches’ call to the government to clarify the banning of Bup Kudus by the Home Ministry.

The Bup Kudus has been widely used by churches in Sarawak since the first edition was published in 1988. It was among 35 books banned by the ministry last week. Abdullah said there were several problems relating to translation in the holy book that led to its banning by the ministry.

“For example, in the (Iban-language) Bible, God was translated as Allaah Taala (pronounced as Ala-taala in Iban language),” he said.

Asked whether the ministry would rectify the translation problem, he said: “If that is the word meaning God (to the Ibans), why should we object?”

He said another possible solution would be to state on the front cover of the book that it is a translation of the Bible.

Asked why the ministry was banning the Bup Kudus now when it had been in use in Sarawak for 15 years, he said the problem was detected after the ministry had received complaints from certain quarters.

“The important thing is the translation in this book is understood by the Ibans, the majority of whom are Christians,” he said. — BERNAMA