For umpteen
years after independence, Malaysians were proud of their religious tolerance
and racial harmony.
But a string
of religiously insensitive incidents that occurred in recent years and voluminous
bigotry statements blurted out from leaders of political parties and
non-government organizations cast dark shadow upon an otherwise harmonious
society. The ban on the word ‘Allah’ in a Catholic periodical was the most
glaring stigma on religious intolerance.
The petty advice against festive greetings to non Muslims had left many jittery
and dumbfounded in bewilderment. Caution, the world is watching us !
Islam is one
of the greatest religions on earth. I have always been impressed and admired an
ancient case where an Arabic Judge had boldly ruled in favour of a Jew
litigant against an Arabic litigant, which demonstrated the highest degree of
justice and nobility in Islamic jurisprudence. However the uncultured and
unreasonable conduct of a handful Muslim extremists had marred the image of
this great religion in people’s mind.
Three latest
incidents pitted with religious insensitivity had irked Malaysians with rational
minds.
On April 21,
Subang Municipal Council enforcement units issued summonses and forcefully
pulled down restaurant signboards with beer advertisements. Apparently it was
because alcohol is a taboo in Islam.
Also on April
21, the Department of Islamic Development brushed aside and usurped upon the
powers of other governmental authorities, came out with the so-called (legally
non-binding) ‘latest entertainment guidelines’ to regulate the concert
organizers and artists who plan to perform in Malaysia, infringing upon their
personalities such as their hairstyles and attire, thinking that it would
ensure people will not be confused of their gender; and spectators of the two
opposite sexes are to be seated separately (but
one wonders where would the ‘pondans’ be seated) and entertainers must make sure that
their performances would not draw excessive laughters from the audience.
Apparently, again it was because of Islamic taboos.
A week ago,
the conduct of about 50 people at Taman Medan in Petaling Jaya, protested
against the placement of a cross on the façade of a church had shocked the
entire nation. Apparently, again it was because of Islamic taboo.
These
incidences demonstrated the increasing signs of rising religious intolerance in
our society.
The anti-cross
incident had drawn the wrath of sensible Malaysians; many moderate Muslims even
boldly condemned it. Former prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad blamed the current
prime minister Najib for the incident. But, it is not fair to blame Najib and
it is also not fair to solely blame the cross protestors. The reason is,
Mahathir was the main ‘culprit’ of religious intolerance today !
MAHATHIR
WAS THE MAIN ‘CULPRIT’ !
As a teenager
growing up in the rural areas i.e. the rubber estates in Pahang with neighbouring
Malay kampungs, the writer witnessed the Malay, Indian and Chinese continued to freely mingle around with not the slightest strain among the Pahangites even during the unfortunate May 13
incident.
One of the
most common scenes of thick and cordial relationship amongst the people, in
particular, the Malays or Muslims and the non-Muslims were their frequent
casual visits to each others homes, besides “lepak-ing” together, ‘minum kopi’
and chatting away in Chinese coffee shops.
Today, the
young Muslims seemingly shy away and dread to walk into the Chinese coffee
shops.
No thanks to Mahathir.
It all
started with Mahathir’s overzealous policy of instilling common Islamic value
into the government administration which prompted many administrative measures
and actions by local authorities and the Department of Islamic Development;
resulting to many religiously insensitive incidents that made the non-Muslims
uneasy. To quote a few instances at random.
In the early
80s, DBKL once came out with the ruling that hawkers must cover roasted pork
which they were selling with a white cloth. Reason, Muslims may be passing by
the stalls.
The Kuantan
municipal council ordered hotels to stop their practice of placing bibles in
hotel rooms.
In wet
markets across west Malaysia,
pork stalls were often pushed to quiet or dark corners separated by cement
walls with small entrances. In the supermarkets, pork and pork related foodstuff
were sold in isolated area with the signboard ‘TIDAK HALAL’; inevitably
creating the impression that non-Muslims were treated with disdain as they had
to ‘curi-curi buying’ the ‘unclean’ meat. Why can’t pork or pork related food
be simply described as ‘non-Muslim food’ instead of ‘TIDAK HALAL’ or ‘unclean’
food ?
State
banquets, restaurants or stalls in government buildings; and the national type
schools’ canteens, pork is banned and the non-Muslim pupils were not allowed to
pack ‘TIDAK HALAL’ food to schools.
Beef, which
is the taboo for the Hindus, Buddhist or Kuan Yin disciples continued to be
served publicly, whereas pork is banned. It appeared that there are no mutual
respect in that regard. In passing, the writer sincerely urges the government
to ban beef together with pork for religious reason so as to reflect mutual
respect to all religions.
Food stalls
along the highways only ‘allowed’ to cater Muslim food. This is outright
religious intolerance.
There seemed
to be no mutual religious respect under Mahathir’s ‘Islam is utmost supreme’
policy which had nurtured a handful swollen headed Muslims who become religious
‘bullies’ or hooligans, for example the anti-cross residents.
All
Malaysians respect the fact that Islam is the official religion of the nation
and Islam is in an unchallengeable supreme position enshrined by the
constitution.
But, Mahathir
regime which projected Islam and anything related to Islam as utmost supreme to
the extent that in 2001 he had openly declared Malaysia an Islamic state, may
be the ‘root’ cause of religious intolerance in Malaysia.
Mahathir
seemed to base on the fact that Muslims were the majority to justify his
contention that Malaysia was
an Islamic state. But when one mix black coffee with milk, they naturally
become the blend with the ingredients of both coffee and milk, irrespective of
their ratio. It would be irrational to claim that the mixture is coffee only because coffee forms a larger portion of the two.
On June
19, 2014, Mahathir changed his stance saying that Malaysia is
neither an Islamic nor a secular state, but an ‘ordinary state’ with Islam as
the official religion. The writer hopes Mahathir would be honest enough to
admit that he had blundered by declaring Malaysia as an
Islamic state.
Mahathir’s
religious ‘legacy’ had rendered UMNO leaders after his regime, including
Najib’s administration, facing incredibly uphill tasks of containing Islamic extremism.
Bluntly put,
Mahathir was the main ‘culprit’ which caused the religious intolerance today.
When
non-Muslims can bear the amplifying sound of morning prayers as well as the
daily calls for prayers, that's religious tolerance! But the 50 odd anti-cross
residents who could not even bear the sight of the cross and staged protest to
pull it down, that is definitely religious intolerance and in fact barbaric,
which must be condemned to the highest degree in order to preserve the spirit
and culture of religious tolerance.
The day when Malaysians
of different religious backgrounds truly respect each others’ eating or
drinking habits and appreciate that ‘one man’s meat is another man’s poison’;
sitting and eating meals together and drinking on the same table where one is
eating his meat and the other is eating or drinking his ‘poison’ and vice versa
(which is a common scene in east Malaysia), and accept and appreciate each
others habits and culture; then, and only then, we have truly achieved religious tolerance and harmony.
Mutual
respect is the key.
That said; we can take consolation that Islam is a peace loving and tolerant
religion, which is practised by majority of the Malaysian Muslim society.
