In Southeast Asia, the Malay language is the lingua franca of
about 215 million people. In Malaysia, there is an estimated 2 million
Christians of which for some 70 % Malay is their mother tongue and main
language.
The Malay language was the first non-European language into which the
bible was translated. A Dutch East India Company junior trader, Albert
Cornelius Ruyl, who had no formal training in linguistics but seemed to be extraordinarily gifted, translated the Gospel of Matthew into Malay in 1612
which was only one year later after the release of the King James’
Version. His pioneering work would lead to the first complete Malay
bible completed in 1733.
Read more about it: Logos