Embrace pluralism

In light of recent attacks on places of worship in Malaysia, the best way forward for the country is to embrace pluralism.

When places of worship are destroyed, a society loses its ability to live together.

During my Asian Public Intellectual research project in Indonesia, I learnt from Indonesians of all walks of life how pluralism keeps together families, marriages, communities and the nation.

For Indonesia, its survival hinges on the development of a pluralistic democratic state affirmed a wide range of Indonesians I had interviewed in 2007.

Farmers, religious leaders, social activists, corporate leaders, local government officers, santri (students in pesantrans/ Islamic schools) and academics said Indonesia has stayed as a nation because its people work hard to make diversity a way of life.

The Sanskrit words in the state motto 'Bhinneka Tunggal Ika' means Unity in Diversity. The motto reflects the people and the environment of Indonesia which has one of the richest biodiversity in the world.

There are about 1,000 ethnic and sub-ethnic groups in the country, according to the 2000 Population Census. The major ethnic groups are Javanese (41 percent) and Sundanese (15 percent).

The major religions of the world, Budhism, Islam , Hinduism and Christanity have also influenced the socio-cultural landscape of Indonesia. People with diverse backgrounds from culture, ethnicity, religion, language, to customs and traditions co-exist peacefully.

There have been periodic unrests such as the attacks on the Chinese in 1998 which was due to social injustices and economic reasons rather than race or religion.

Indonesians are often reminded that to continue to live peacefully as a nation, they must celebrate and strengthen their diversity and pluralism.

Coming to terms with increasing diversity

For example, when Indonesia celebrated its 60th year of independence from the Dutch two years ago, seminars and media articles emphasised that if Indonesians remain bound to ethnic and religious frameworks and limitations, the country would decline.

The late Abdurrahman Gus Dur (left), Indonesia's fourth president (1999-2001), who passed away on Dec 30, 2009, was hailed as the "father of multiculturalism and pluralism" by current president SB Yudhoyono.

Gus Dur was also a former chair of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the largest Islamic organisation in Indonesia, which urged Indonesians not to emulate Malaysians who damaged places of worship.

The Archbishop of Jakarta, Julius Darmaatja, said of Gus Dur: " He was a Muslim, but he became a blessing to all faiths."

Gus Dur campaigned tirelessly for pluralism, exclusivity and democracy. He inspired many across the barriers of Islam and non-Islam, wrote Kornelius Purba recently in the Jakarta Post.

We need a politician like Gus Dur who can inspire the Malaysian nation and strengthen our diversity and pluralism and get us out of the religious contests.

We need Islamic scholars like Azyumardi Azra, former rector of the State Islamic University of Indonesia, who passionately promotes pluralism and has examined compatibility of pluralism and Islam and roots of religious conflicts.

Azymurdi says: "The invocation of pluralism has become as much as a summons as a celebration, an urgent exhortation to the citizens of the world to come to terms with their increasing diversity."

He calls for better recognition and management of religious pluralism " to advance the principles of inclusiveness, which would enhance accommodation, not conflict, among competing claims to religious truth in religiously and culturally heterogeneous societies."

Politicians creating a tinderbox

Sadly, Malaysian politicians from both sides of the divide, are creating a tinderbox by accusing each other of "manufacturing" the current uneasy situation in Malaysia.

Threats of use of draconian laws like the Internal Security Act (ISA) are not helping the situation. Do we want Malaysia, a melting pot, to become the tinderbox of Asean?

Already, the foreign press has gone to town on the fire-bomb attacks on churches in the country. Such news could impact the economy too.

On Jan 9, the Financial Times pointed out that "Malaysia suffered the biggest foreign exchange outflows of any Asian country in 2009."

The positive actions taken by various leaders to the church attacks must be recognised as embracing pluralism to protect this nation. Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak (right) and the Selangor Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim visited the sites of the attacks.

The government is contributing RM500,000 for rebuilding the Metro Tabernacle Church. Nazir Razak, CEO of CIMB contributed RM100,000 from the CIMB Foundation.

Many ordinary Malaysians and NGOs have come together to send strong messages to the perpetrators of violence on places of religious worship.

Malaysians must continue to confront critical issues of cultural and religious diversity in the face of the current crisis. We are experiencing new tensions in appropriating a more complex multicultural sense of who we are.

We have often be told to be tolerant. But tolerance is a "deceptive virtue" as tolerance sometimes stands in the path of engagement. Tolerance does not require us to understand each other.

But pluralism requires us to participate and engage actively, to cultivate public spaces, to express differences, to be with people of different ethnicity/race and religion and understand each other.

But in our multi-cultural discussions and activities, we avoid talking about one important issue -religion. We must admit we have religious differences.

As such, we need to put in place an infrastructure to embrace pluralism, to discuss religious and cultural matters, to learn about the religions of all Malaysians. A story from the United States illustrates the need for such an infrastructure .

"When a Hindu temple in Pittsburgh was vandalised and its sacred images smashed, or when a mosque in Quincy, Mass. was set ablaze by arson, or when a Vietnamese monk in Dallas found a cross burning in his front yard there was no infrastructure of relationships in place to respond." (From Harvard University's Pluralism Project)

A religious council is not the solution, it may be confined to religions only. We need a Council on Pluralism to promote active participation and engagement among all Malaysians, to celebrate our diversity, enhance our religious and cultural literacy, and to educate politicians and government officials on what to do when it comes to attacks on ethnic or religious groups.

Every successful civilisation in history constituted a hybrid society. Embrace pluralism.

JOSIE M FERNANDEZ is currently an Asian Public Intellectual Fellow, director of Philanthropy Asia, researcher and engages with Transparency International Malaysia in anti-corruption measures. An educationist, Josie moved on to citizen's advocacy as founder president of ERA Consumers and regional director (Asia Pacific) for Consumers International. She holds a masters degree in development management from the Asian Institute of Management, Philippines. Working on sustainability, philanthropy and anti-corruption actions are some of her current passions besides writing.