Holy books on display

SEMARANG: Six religious communities in the Central Java capital are holding an exhibition of scriptures as part of their efforts to boost interreligious harmony.

Among the holy scriptures displayed are the Dhammapada written in Chinese, English and Indonesian, the Koran written in Arabic with Indonesian and English translation and the Bible in Hebrew, Javanese, Indonesian and Arabic.

The collection of books vary in age. A Bible printed in Javanese, for example, was published in 1932.

Thio Tiong Gie, a local Buddhist monk who is coorganizer of the exhibition, said that the exhibition was aimed at promoting tolerance and mutual respect among religious believers, which he said had began to erode in the last couple of years.

The exhibition is being held at the Semarang Cathedral Church from Sept. 5 to Sept. 7. -- JP