KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 — While Malay-Muslim rights groups like Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) and Perkasa demand that the special position of the Malays be upheld, another group led by a Malay has quietly taken to Facebook to raise over RM9,000 in just three weeks to repair desecrated Christian graves.
Azrul Mohd Khalib, convener of Malaysians for Malaysia, told The Malay Mail Online today that the group started the Facebook donation drive in the first week of February to reach out in solidarity with the Christian community in Tanjung Api, Kuantan, after 12 gravestones at the Christian cemetery there were vandalised in January.
“We have the frustration of seeing extremists putting out statements and saying that only one group should be dominant,” said Azrul.
“They’re misusing Islam. What we're trying to do is to provide a voice for the moderates,” added the social activist.
Azrul also said that the donation drive had brought members of the Wesley Methodist Church and the Church of St. Thomas, a Catholic church, together for the first time.
He said the two Catholic and Protestant churches were just 200 metres apart, but that the church leaders had never met each other until his donation drive brought them together at the money presentation ceremony at the Wesley Methodist Church yesterday.
“So what happened was the presentation of the money was done at the Methodist church, but the Catholic church hosted lunch. We're trying to bring people together; we feel that there's a strength in the diversity of the country,” Azrul said.
Local daily The Star reported today that crosses, flowerpots and other stone markers at a Christian cemetery in Tanjung Api, Kuantan, were smashed to pieces last January.
Azrul told The Malay Mail Online that 30 per cent of the 53 donors contributing to the Facebook donation drive were Malay-Muslims.
He added that Malaysians for Malaysia initially decided to help fund half of the total cost of repairs that were estimated at RM9,800, after reading about the incident in the papers.
But when money started pouring in after the donation drive kicked off in the first week of February, with some contributions amounting to RM500, the group decided to continue until RM9,010 was collected by the third week of February.
Donors sent money by banking in to the group.
“The smallest donation was RM5 and the largest was RM500,” said Azrul.
Azrul also said that Malaysians for Malaysia’s next project is creating a video similar to Coca-Cola’s “It’s Beautiful” Super Bowl advertisement.
The commercial by the global soda company recently sparked controversy for featuring Americans of various ethnicities singing the patriotic song, “America the Beautiful”, in a succession of single voices and different languages, including English.
“It's quite a powerful ad and we're trying to see if we can do something similar,” said Azrul.
The project is being planned amid increasing racial and religious tension in multicultural Malaysia, where Isma recently said that Malaysia is the birthright of the Malays and that non-Malays should stop questioning the “position” of the country’s dominant community.
“These people don't speak for us. We're hoping our involvement can change the current narratives in the country,” said Azrul.
Malaysians for Malaysia’s recent project was a peaceful walk to various houses of worship in Penang last month, including a church, a Taoist temple, a Hindu temple and a mosque.
The “A Walk In The Park” event saw some 50 Malaysians walking with purple balloons and handing out stalks of carnations to people they met along the way.
According to Azrul, Malaysians for Malaysia is a multi-racial group with an 18-person committee that aims to create solidarity and unity among Malaysians.
