The beautiful Malay
By Haris Ibrahim
Here, I want to share with you about a little gathering last Friday in Shah Alam that, for me, at least, put on display all that is beautiful about our people.
Including the Malays.
Marina Mahathir had a posting entitled “The Ugly Malay” up two days ago.
She was referring to the uncouth, uncivilised behaviour of the same ‘cow head’ protestors who made their way to the Selangor state government dialogue last Saturday, hijacked the same and allowed no room whatsoever for the voices of reason from within the section 23 community to be heard.
More of my thoughts on that dialogue in another post.
Here, I want to share with you about a little gathering last Friday in Shah Alam that, for me, at least, put on display all that is beautiful about our people.
Including the Malays.
It will help us to take heart that the ugly Malay that Marina spoke of and that we all have had to painfully witness is not your typical Malay.
On Thursday last week, I received the following e-mail from a Malay friend.
“We are very concerned about last week’s protest against the construction of a Hindu temple through cow heads. As individuals we are very disturbed by this and the implications it has on the unity of Malaysia. We are therefore inviting our Muslim friends and colleagues to join us in an attempt to show our solidarity to the Hindu community in Shah Alam and our refusal to allow these provocative and disgraceful acts to be done in the name of Islam. Please join us this Friday,the 4th of September, 8:30 pm in front of the De Palma Inn Hotel in Shah Alam where we will be picked up by someone from the temple to take us there”.
Take us where?
To the temple in section 19, Shah Alam. The temple that was proposed to be re-located to section 23. The temple that sits in the eye of the controversy.
Jaya, Robert, Danny and I set out for the De Palma hotel on Friday evening. Dominic and Chin Huat were going to get there on their own.
We were all at the temple a little after 9pm.
Bearing flowers and fruit that Mas and friends had put together, we were greeted by temple committee members and welcomed into the temple even as prayers were going on.
Prayers were underway so we sat on the floor and joined the congregation.
As the prayers proceeded, temple committee member Selva and Shah Alam local councillor Uthayasoorian shared with us the problems that the devotees faced.
The issue of relocating the temple has been hanging over their heads for almost two decades.
If special prayers to be held might draw a larger than usual crowd, a police permit must be sought.
A police permit to pray?
Read more at: The beautiful Malay
