Are we ready for Inter-faith dialogue?

Patience and perseverance needed

The Bar Council's forum on ‘Conversion to Islam’ was forced to a premature end by Islamic groups who protesting outside the premises where the forum was held. It is not the first time that such a civil forum had to be abruptly stopped by aggressive and angry protesters, and we have yet to learn from previous experiences. It is sad that civil dialogue had to be halted because of the unruly behavior of a small group of protesters claiming to be acting in defense of their religion.

All sorts of opinions have been expressed but the whole episode goes to indicate that the nation is not ready for such open civilized debates. When we are not ready for debates even on general issues how can we expect to debate on sensitive racial and religious issues. This can be blamed on the political system that ruled the country for the last 50 years. As our political system is based on race, instead of becoming more Malaysian, the people have unfortunately become more Malay, more Indian and more Chinese. In fact this has created a situation where, after 50 years of merdeka, we now have 2 nations in one, a Malay and a non-Malay Malaysia.

Dialogue is the only peaceful way to overcome the inter-ethnic and inter-religious problems in our country.We must strive to promote dialogue and debate but we have take into consideration that the Malaysian society that is so divided along racial and religious lines. There is suspicion of each other and unfortunately this suspicion may be leading to hate if it is not stopped immediately.

The various ethnic groups have their own fears to justify their actions aimed to protect their race and religion. The Malays fear that their special rights and their political dominance are being threatened by the non-Malays. They believe that they can only protect their race and religion by depriving the non-Malays their dues.

On the other hand the non-Malays fear that their rights as guaranteed in the Federal Constitution are ignored and they fear for the future of their children. They are not questioning the special privileges of the Malays but questioning why theirs are not honored.

Both these fears are justified and the political system must find ways to allay them. It is time for the Malays to accept the non-Malays as rightful citizens and cater for all their needs. At the same time the non-Malays must accept a Malay-dominant political system. In short everybody must uphold and abide by the constitution that is of paramount importance.

After years of despair we are beginning to see signs that things are to change for the better. Let’s not stand in the way by our own selfish racist attitude. The March 8 verdict of the people has given new hope. Racist policies are being rejected by all the people, the Malays, Chinese and Indians alike. We have waited 50 years why can't we wait a bit longer? The changes we aspire need to be brought about by evolution not revolution.

Meanwhile we must continue to strive for a time when Malaysians of all ethnic groups will be able to accept one another as Malaysians. It will take time, a really long time, to change the mindset of the people to accept one another as Malaysians. We need patience and plenty of goodwill to succeed, which I am sure we will one day. To realize this dream, there is a need for sacrifice on the part of all the races, sacrifice that will one day result in a win-win situation for all.

A lot of goodwill,tolerance,unselfishness and above all love for fellow men is needed for inter-faith dialogue.I am afraid Malaysians in general do not adequately possess these very virtues that are propagated by all faiths. Until we do so, inter-faith dialogue remains a just a fanciful term.