So here goes my rant.
I've written about this issue several times and even shot a documentary about it before, and I thought that was it for me and my role in nation building. But it looks like my calling has come again.
I'm not a fan of Ibrahim Ali, and I dare bet my right pinky finger and my left pinky toe that neither are many other sane, rational and normal people in Malaysia.
That's why when he announced that he wanted to burn Bibles, I just kept silent and didn't comment at all. That guy just isn't worth a single drop of my saliva.
But then, when I think of Malaysia and all my fellow countrymen, I have to do something or I wouldn't be deserving of that flat piece of plastic in my wallet called a MyKad.
Now, I recently got back from Sabah and Sarawak where I was shooting a documentary series with Karim Raslan called 'Ceritalah Malaysia' (on Astro Awani, Mondays, 9:30pm, of course!).
While in the small Sabah town of Keningau, we met a Dusun brother and sister pair who I think are absolutely fantastic! The older one is Father Francis Dakun and the younger sister is Ustazah Nooraidah Hidayah Dakun.
Take a guess which of the two is a Catholic Christian priest and which one is a Muslim teacher in a sekolah agama? Congratulations! You win no prize for the correct answer!
The Dakun family story amazes me. Half their siblings are Christians and the other half are Muslims. They all converted when they became adults. And their parents were... pagans!
Both of them stressed the fact that they all entered into their beliefs without any force or coercion from anyone and that they made their own decision. Father Francis adds that their parents were very supportive.
In fact, their father, Dakun, even built two kitchens in the house so they can always gather as a family to enjoy meals together at anytime. And that is exactly what they do till today.
The whole family gets together at Christmas, Hari Raya Aidilfitri and even during the Dusun's Hari Keamatan (Harvest Festival). They celebrate it all together without any doubts.
The important thing is, says Ustazah Hidayah, that they all respect and love each other. And they believe wholeheartedly that each of them has a right to practice their own beliefs.
The beautiful thing to me about this story is that situations like this are commonplace in Sabah and even Sarawak. Religion is religion and it has nothing to do with a person's race, nationality or family.
It would be really good if the government would actually force Semenanjung Malay Muslims to head on over to East Malaysia and live amongst the locals there, then call it a course on ‘How to be Malaysian’.
I see a lot of similarities between Father Francis and Ustazah Hidayah's family with mine. My family is multi-religious too.
We have Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Taoist and even Atheists in my family. And when it comes to open houses and food, I think the Atheist cousins get the best end of the deal (all they do is party and eat with none of the dishwashing!)!
But of course, this concept is totally alien to the standard Semenanjung Malay Muslim. It would be incomprehensible to have different faiths in the same family (for some, even in the same village).
Believe me because I have experienced that first hand! I'm a Semenanjung Malay Muslim (with a dash of Chinese) and I've been the butt of many jokes and even insults when it comes to race and religion.
I was utterly confused when I first started primary school and was told by other kids that I was going to hell because my family celebrated Chinese New Year and I get a lot of Ang pows every year.
They also told me that I would go to hell if I ate from the same plate as a Chinese. What was I to do? I was living with my mother and grandmother in the same house. They were the ones who cooked for me and they’re both Chinese!
But thank god I was quite the intelligent kid (don’t know about that now that I’m an adult!) and I learned quite fast that these people who told me that crap were idiots and that ignoring them (or laugh at them) was the best thing to do.
But that was then. These days, I feel a sense of responsibility and obligation to bring these people to the right path. Hence, I cannot ignore them (or Ibrahim Ali) and let them go through life as idiots.
And so I will continue to write my articles and books and shoot my videos and documentaries. That’s what I do best (I could be wrong. I might be worst at what I do best!). And that would be my contribution to nation building.
