The Muslims in Malaysia have not seriously played the role of 'muballigh' Says Prof Khoo

Malaysia An Unusual And Complex Country, Says Prof Khoo
By Wan A Hulaimi

LONDON, April 14 (Bernama) - A veteran Malaysian academician has
described his country as "very unusual and so complex" before an
audience of British Muslims.

"Malaysia is truly Asia", Emeritus Professor of History, Datuk Dr Khoo
Kay Kim said in an interview-discussion which was part of the weekly
event of the London City Circle Islamic group, when asked the question
if there were lessons to be learnt from the role of Islam in
Malaysia's plural society.

"It is not that we don't have problems. We do have problems but they
stem from misunderstandings not hatred," he said.

He cited a recent event where Muslims demonstrated before a church
after rumours about a group of Muslims being prepared for conversion
to Christianity.

"It turned out that these boys were Indians, so the Hindu Indians made
loud noises about the conversion of their children, then it turned out
that these were the young children of Christian Indian parents being
prepared for religious initiation," he added.

"Non-Muslims in Malaysia generally do not understand Islam because
Muslims think Islam has nothing to do with non-Muslims. The Muslims in
Malaysia have not seriously played the role of 'muballigh' (spreaders
of religion).

"I can tell you that the Muslims are not explaining Islam to non-
Muslims. Muslims also should not distance themselves (from them). I
said this on TV and they got angry with me. You have to play your role
as 'muballigh'.

"The young are not taught Islam properly, the fundamentals of Islam.
As my Pakistani friend told me, the fundamentalist is a good Muslim
who knows the fundamentals of Islam. He is not a terrorist," Prof Khoo
said.

Citing the experience of his own family, he said that his son wanted
to do a doctorate in Islamic Studies in Britain but was disappointed
when he could not get financial assistance from Malaysian officials
who asked him why a non-Muslim would want to pursue the subject of
Islam.

There has been unrest in Malaysia even before the May 13 incident but
generally Malaysia is a tolerant country.

The biggest statue of the reclining Buddha in that part of the world
is not in Thailand but in the Islamist controlled state of Kelantan,
he told the audience.

He said that the government recently wanted to promote 'Islam
Hadhari', the idea of progressive Islam, but what is needed in
Malaysia now is not Islam Hadhari but Muslim Hadhari, progressive
Muslims who reach out to non-Muslims and explain their religion.

"Islam in Malaysia has never really been given the opportunity to
cross over to the non-Muslims because they (the Muslims) have been
told not to," he said.

Asked if the New Economic Policy affected the climate of tolerance in
Malaysia, he said that tolerance is always there but the division of
parties meant that the politicians are always looking at racial
issues.

"We have to make our young comfortable with one another," he said.

"People like to preserve their cultural identity. But you have to
explain to them that if they become part of a nation then questions
like cultural identity will no longer matter."

He said that the government is now realising this and is looking for
better ways to integrate the young through the education system.

Elaborating on the Rukunegara, he said that the children are asked to
learn the principles of nationhood by rote without understanding its
content.

"The Asian approach to education is very mechanical. They learn by
rote, they believe in the correct answer. The Malaysian education
system is like that, you must always give the correct answer, you must
always ask the correct question.

The students are asked to memorise the Rukunegara, the Rule of Law and
so on, but if you ask them what the Rule of Law is they don't know."
he said.

Forty years on, Prof Khoo, a member of the panel that formulated the
Rukunegara holds this view: "So far it has no serious effect on
society."

But even with all that, Malaysia is still a 'blessed society', he
said.

When a member of the audience told him that she was not as optimistic
on the future of the country, Prof Khoo replied that he had lived 70
years in Malaysia through thick and thin, and the country had always
been able to overcome its problems.

"You should not listen to people who complain too much; you should
listen to people who take the trouble to know the country," he said.

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