JAN 14 — It has been said that we ought to “start the year as we mean to go on.” While this normally refers to those attempting to tackle personal New Year fitness and lifestyle goals, the Selangor Islamic Religious department (more fondly known as Jais) can now add “trampling on Constitutional religious freedoms” to its list.
I can only hope that the recent raid carried out on the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) where 321 of its Malay and Iban language Bibles were seized, and two of its members arrested, is not how Jais means to go on. If it does, I cannot be the only one concerned about the worrying trend towards “pragmatic” legislation, religious intolerance and extremism growing in the country.
Lest there be any confusion: I am a Muslim. Or at least, in primary school, I was made to attend Agama classes while my non-Muslim friends were shepherded off to sit through that dubious class titled “Moral Studies.”
I confess to envying them — it seemed much easier to “score” in Moral exams when the answers required nothing more than conventional morality and common sense. There is no doubt that from an early age I was acutely aware of the division between “Muslim” and “non-Muslim” in Malaysia — unavoidable when we are divided into “us” and “them” at the age of six.
As the product of mixed parentage and a secular upbringing, having attended both local and international schools, and now in my final year of university in England, I have always found the Malaysian obsession with putting everyone neatly into a box (or under a coconut shell if you prefer) problematic in the extreme.
When I first heard about the appellate court ruling back in October prohibiting the use of “Allah” in the Herald, the verdict sent a shiver down my spine because it undoubtedly resurrects the old ghosts of race and religion, while also trampling upon what are (or at least, should be) the Constitutionally protected rights of the non-Muslims.
Yet in Malaysia, the glaringly obvious (to most right-thinking citizens) is always muddied by self-seeking politicians, contentious legal decisions, and a base pandering to the least enlightened elements of society.
And now the “Allah” controversy has deepened, exacerbated by Jais’s seizure of Malay and Iban language Bibles which use the word “Allah.” BSM was accused of being in violation of the law by using the word, and two of its members were detained at a local police station, before later being released on bail. Understandably, BSM has questioned the legality of this raid, heralding it as an “erosion of minority rights” and a “sad day” for Malaysia.
There is no denying that we are witnessing only the most recent development in the trend towards religious exclusivity and extremism that has been gathering pace since the 1980s. The ban follows a depressingly familiar pattern of using religion as a pretext for protecting and promoting the “rights” of a majority ethnic group, while simultaneously trampling on the “rights” of the minorities.
While I make no secret of my dislike for the blurring of lines between public policy and private morality, I also don’t entirely blame the conservative Muslim parties in the country (these have always existed, and will continue to exist).
Rather, it is the apathy of the current government in confronting the problem that I take issue with. In a recent conference, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein nobly urged all parties to “stop politicising the issue”, before adding that the refusal of certain quarters to accept the court decision would only serve to cultivate hatred and disunity.
The irony here does not go unchecked — firstly, there is no doubt in my mind that the original ban itself was nothing more than an exploitative, politically motivated attempt at “face saving.” And secondly, it is precisely the government’s refusal to clarify the terms and conditions of this ban that has lead to the escalation of an already flawed and inept ruling.
Does the ban, as it applies to the Herald, mean that the word cannot be used in all other Christian publications and services? What measures are being taken to protect lawful non-Muslim communities from practising their religion without the interference of heavy-handed state religious departments? And finally, when will all this madness stop?
Perhaps I am cynical, but I find the government’s silence on this issue convenient given the recent Umno General Assembly, where Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak gave a speech aptly titled “Fortifying The Future”, advocating a “back to basics” strategy which included three main strategic thrusts — a turn towards Sharia law, a stronger Malay and Bumiputera agenda, and a “transformed Umno” looking towards GE14. It is time for Putrajaya to stand up for democracy and the rights of all its citizens.
Politics aside, it doesn’t take an analyst to figure out that “live and let live” is the only suitable mantra for a complex society such as ours. The recent raid only serves to highlight the growing racial and religious divide in the country; it also reinforces the need for younger, more liberal voices to articulate positions that take us forwards.
On second thought, I take back the reference to “younger voices” since it appears, and this is another Malaysian tragedy, that many of the more open-minded and liberal voices belong to a generation that saw its heyday in the 1960s and 1970s.
What is required, therefore, is a long-term, system-wide effort by my generation to affect and effect change. There is no doubt in my mind that we are capable of this — when, a couple weeks ago, Selangor Umno threatened mass protests outside churches, some 20 non-Christians turned up with flowers in a touching show of solidarity.
Obviously nobody is going to ask me (I am, of course, just a girl) but if I could start the New Year as I mean to go on, I would do the following: ban politicians from brandishing religion as an offensive weapon in a public place; reinforce the idea that real religious freedoms can only exist within an open-minded, secular state; and impress on young Malaysians that within a multi-cultural, multi-religious society like ours, religion needs to be first and foremost a private matter.
Alternatively, they could put me in charge of the Agama/Moral Studies curriculum in primary school. I’d soon teach them that “Allah” belongs to everyone.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
