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17.05.2004
Recognise, Respect Differences
   
PETALING JAYA: Secularism is all about learning to live together despite cultural and religious differences. But to do so, people must be prepared to recognise and respect these differences.
“Without any acknowledgement of these differences, real understanding of how to live together cannot be developed,” said writer, theatre director and cultural critic Rustom Bharucha at a discussion entitled Religion’s Challenge to Secularism in the Contemporary Age held at Menara Star here yesterday.
Kolkata-based Bharucha, who was a panellist at the discussion, added that although religion was an important factor in a community or nation, it should not be the only factor.
Bharucha, who spoke to The Star after the discussion, said although there appeared to be a decline in the acceptance of cultural diversity globally at the moment, there were also instances that indicated otherwise.
“For every violation of secularism, there are examples of how people are coming together. But we do not have the luxury of taking this for granted,” he added.
Besides Bharucha, the other panellists who participated at the discussion jointly organised by Star Publications (M) Bhd, the Asian Centre for Media Studies (ACMS) and Kala Publishers, were University of Iowa’s International Writing Programme director and author Prof Christopher Merrill, leading Malay writer Khalid Jaafar and Kairos Research Centre director Dr Ng Kam Weng.
Dr Ng said that within the Malaysian context, the word secularism did not go down well with the nation’s grassroots communities as it was associated with certain Western ideologies.
He added that secularism, within certain quarters in the West, was associated with Godlessness as well as the denouncement of religion.
“That is why I prefer to use the term pluralist democracy instead of secularism. In some cases in the West, secularism has evolved into secular fundamentalism, which in principle opposes religion and is just as bad as religious fundamentalism,” Dr Ng said.
Khalid said there had never been a genuine debate or discussion about religion and secularism in Malaysia.
“There is a need for greater debate and discussion about secularism here,” he said.
He said that, currently, mainly Muslims and Malays identified with non-secularism, a phenomenon that took root in the 70s.
Prior to that, the leaders, the elite and intelligentsia used to be sub-conscious secularists and had a clear notion that religion was something private.
But the defeat of the Arab world by Israel in 1967, the May 13 incident in 1969 as well at the massacre during the Vietnam war were all turning points which changed the mindset of the Muslim community’s younger generation then.
“This resulted in young Muslim intellectuals seeking solace in religion and eventually, when they became leaders, they injected their private conviction into the public sphere,'' said Khalid.
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