The Nut Graph 23 Oct 09 : 3.25PM
CHORAL group The Canticle Singers presents a fresh restaging of Two From Galilee, a musical written by Robert Sterling and Karla Worley, in Kuala Lumpur from today, 23 Oct to 1 Nov 2009.
Two From Galilee is the fictitious account of the Biblical characters Mary and Joseph, a young couple in love who are forced to deal with circumstances beyond their expectations. Confronted with a hostile world and a heavy responsibility, they fight to fulfill their dreams despite being fraught with doubt and shame. Life, they learn, is more than just about love — it is about purpose.
Despite the religious source material, musical director HK Chong is confident that the show will appeal to a wide audience. "There will always be quarters who will see it as religious ... [but] you will find many novels, plays or musicals that are built around folklore, legends and historical events. Biblical events are also historical."
The show is based on a novel of the same title by Marjorie Holmes, which was on the New York Times 1972 bestseller list and one of the top 10 bestselling novels that year. The musical played at the Peter J Sharpe Theatre atSymphony Space on Broadway in 2006, and has since been staged in many countries.
Two From Galilee runs at Panggung Bandaraya, Jalan Raja, Kuala Lumpur. Tickets are priced at RM38 and RM58 and can be purchased through Axcess (Tel: 603 7711 5000).
Net proceeds from the production will go to the St Barnabas Home for Children and The Tondo Community Project, in aid of the transient community living at a garbage site in Tondo, Manila.
22 Oct 2009 The Herald
ReplyDeletehttp://www.heraldmalaysia.com/news/storydetails.php/Fifteen-thousand-Bibles-detained/2974-2-1
KUALA LUMPUR : More than 15,000 Bibles in Bahasa Indonesia have been detained by the government this past year.
On Sept 11, Gideons International consignment of 5,000 Indonesia Testaments (Vest) and 5,000 Indonesia/English Bilingual Testaments that Alpha Publisher sent from Jakarta to Kuching were detained by the Malaysian Home Affairs Ministry (Publication).
While in March this year, 5,100 Bibles in Bahasa Indonesia ordered by the Bible Society of Malaysia were also detained by the same ministry.
The reason given for the detention of the Scriptures was because they contain the banned words of Allah, Kaabah, Baitumal and Solat.
“The Borneo Evangelical Church (S.I.B) had written an appeal letter dated Sept 17 to the Home Affairs Ministry in Putrajaya for the release of this consignment. We are now waiting for the answer of the appeal,” said Low Boon Leong, National Field Officer of The Gideons International.
“Even now as the books are detained, we have to pay for the warehouse charges which cost a fair sum of money,” he added. “In the event that we are unsuccessful in this appeal, we will have to send this consignment back to Alpha Publisher in Jakarta,” Low explained.
Rev Wong from the Bible Society of Malaysia said that besides asking the people to pray, the society has written an appeal letter which will be hand delivered to the Prime Minister by representatives of the Christian Council of Malaysia (CCM) and the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM).
He added that there was a high demand for Bibles in Bahasa Indonesia and appealed to the ministry to release the Bibles as soon as possible.
The Christian Council of Malaysia is following up on their appeal to the Malaysian Government to release these Scriptures.