Inter-Religious Roundtable Dialogue
On June 4th 2008 the Centre for Public Policy Studies organized a dynamic inter-religious roundtable dialogue to facilitate discussion of issues confronting different religions in Malaysia and elsewhere. The forum was convened to host 30 students from National University of Singapore and University of Malaya as part of their Inter-religious Study Tour (in Malaysia and Turkey), in particular to discuss issues and challenges faced in Malaysia with regards to religion and interfaith interactions. The roundtable brought together a number of religious leaders, as well as students interested in inter-religious issues.
The delegation of students was headed by Associate Professor Dr. Syed Farid Alatas from the Department of Malay Studies, National University of Singapore and other notable participants included: Goh Keat Peng (Malaysian Consultative Council for Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism), Tricia Yeoh (Centre for Public Policy Studies), John Gurusamy (Malaysian Interfaith Network), Sanggat Singh (Board member MIN), K. Rajkumar (vice Chairman of INSaF), Dr Thilla (Member of MIN), Father Michael Chua (the Ecclesiastical Assistant of the Kuala Lumpur AMIEA), Revered Dr. Albert Walters (Adjuct Faculty in Seminari Theoloji Malaysia), Sherman Kuek, (Convenor for RoH Malaysia) and Rev. Sivin Kit (Bangsar Lutheran Church). At the request of the delegation, these represented a unique range of individuals that would complement the group of students’ exposure to other experts in religion they would have the opportunity to interact with at other sessions in Kuala Lumpur.
The dialogue started by allowing each of the prominent religious representatives to introduce themselves to the students in attendance, from the University of Singapore and the University of Malaya. Following introductions each speaker briefly addressed what they felt were some important current issues regarding religion in both Malaysia and other countries. During the opening comments by the participants there were several common themes, which were touched on by a number of the speakers. One was the idea of respect, in which members of different religions must learn to respect both the similarities and differences between religions in order to maintain an open and constructive dialogue between religions. Another prominent idea was the notion that there is a need to avoid the politicization of religion and focus on true understanding of other religions in order to dispel misinformation. The last and perhaps the most significant commonality that the speakers shared was the need for members of all faiths to treat others regardless of faith, as they to would like to be treated.
Among the suggestions regarding achieving the common ideas, which the leaders espoused were the promotion of inter-religious public service projects through which members of different religions can interact while working toward a common goal. Another suggestion was the continuation and promotion of inter-religious dialogue as a means to ease inter-religious tension and make progress towards mutual understanding.
When it came time for the question and answer session the students were ready to engage the speakers and their fellow students with a variety of tough questions and uncompromising perspectives. The main themes of the session revolved around the interplay of elements of government and religion, and how this interaction plays out differently when comparing countries such as Singapore and Malaysia. Some of the specific question topics included; the role of Sharia and civil courts, the influence of changes in Middle Eastern Islam on Islam in other countries, the role of the state versus federal governments in determining the role of Islam, the debate between Malaysia as a “secular” vs. an “Islamic” state, how the recent elections in Malaysia have affected the inter-religious dynamics in Malaysian society, and perhaps most importantly how religion can be used both in Malaysia and around the world to promote unity rather than division.
Ultimately, the inter-religious dialogue did not solve any of the inter-religious problems that face Malaysia and other countries around the world. It did, however, serve as a model for the way in which leaders and members of different religions can come together to discuss their similarities and differences in a constructive manner. Ultimately, it is only through dialogue and a position of mutual respect that inter-religious harmony can ever be achieved.
From cpps.org.my.
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