KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 — Malaysia must watch its own backyard before promoting itself as a moderate Muslim nation to the global community, British High Commissioner to Malaysia Vicki Treadell said.
The Ipoh-born envoy said although Malaysia has seen much economic development since the early 1960s, society appears to have regressed.
“Each of us have to look at how we manage moderation at home. How can we preach moderation in the global stage if we don't practice it at home?”
“International rhetorics must be matched by what happens at home in terms of tolerance and moderation,” Treadell said.
The diplomat, who was speaking at the British High Commission’s forum “The Great Debate: Everything in Moderation” last night, cautioned that multi-culturalism and inclusivity in any country can be very fragile but said that if managed properly, diverse opinions and beliefs can be embraced.
“It is important that Malaysia looks attractive on a number of values and a number of fronts,” Treadwell added, urging Malaysians to embrace their differences and not to take one another for granted.
She said she was “disappointed” at how much things have changed in the country since the years she spent growing up here.
Back then, Treadell recalled, Malaysians enjoyed a sense of equality and were given sufficient space to practice their respective religions freely.
“Born in Ipoh, I know what Malaysia was like in the early sixties. I remember going to school with those of different races… the Chinese, the Indians, the Malays.
“I know what the friends of my parents were like when we went to their homes during festive seasons. There was a sense that everyone was equal.
“Faith was practised in one’s own way and it was between them and God,” Treadell said.
“So, there has been a huge positive transformation (economically)… I will be honest with you that what disappoints me is that there is less tolerance in Malaysia.
“There are many who don’t know each other as compared to the yesteryears,” she lamented.
Interfaith relations in Malaysia has taken a hit in recent years, compounded by the unfettered rise of right-wing Muslim groups like Perkasa and the Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma).
The country’s minority groups have repeatedly lashed out at the authorities’ allegedly nonchalant responses to remarks issued by Muslim fundamentalists against the sensitivities of the non-Muslims here, insisting that their inaction have only emboldened these groups and others into inciting more violence and hatred.
In April last year, a controversial seminar held at the Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) earned headlines when several Muslim speakers criticised Christianity, even saying that Christians should convert to Islam.
Isma has also been seen as taking a stronger stance on religion. Last year, the group labelled liberty and human rights as godless and faithless ideologies.
On April 30, influential UK paper Financial Times columnist David Pilling had written that growing religious intolerance in Asian countries could turn into a “disaster” for the region.
He cited Malaysia as an example of yet another country with “hardening ideology” but did not elaborate on the disaster this might cause.
Malaysia also made international headlines when it banned a Catholic Church publication from using the word “Allah”, which is deemed here as exclusive to Muslims, as well as the seizure of Malay and Iban medium Bibles from the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) last year.
Just last month, a group of Muslims protested against a church’s hanging of a cross on its facade, claiming the symbol was a threat to them and their religious beliefs.
