PETALING JAYA: The “Maaf Zahir Batin Hari Hari” campaign (#MZB365) is a sign of unity in the season of unrest, especially with partners from groups representing different religions and ethnicities.
Ideas chief executive officer Dr Tricia Yeoh said #MZB365 arose from events testing the country’s pre-existing multi-religious and multi-ethnic harmony, and Malaysians must work towards preserving peace and unity.
“There is genuine love and respect we have for each other, and we are the majority. We will not let fringe minority voices tell us what Malaysia should look like,” she said.
Conflict is natural in any relationship, she added, but Malaysians must accept the misforgiving and reconcile.
“Keep befriending other communities ... we need to bend over backwards to reach out to the other side,” she said.
Projek Sama member Thomas Fann said that forgiveness is the most powerful act not only to heal relationships but to save the entire nation.
“It is the antidote to inevitable offences when human beings interact with one another, especially in multicultural communities with strong religious identities,” he said.
Writing on his blog site, he referenced Rwanda marking its 30th commemoration of the genocide against the minority group, Tutsi.
“The root causes that led to the massacre were their colonial legacy where ethnic divisions were exacerbated and then perpetuated by local politicians after independence in order to gain political power,” he said.
Fann cautioned that genocides, wars and civil wars are firestorms that flare up when hate and anger are left unattended by the authorities and fanned by opportunistic politicians.
Leading by example: (From left) Yeoh, Fann, Dr Helmy and Syed Sadiq.
“Some may think that Malaysia is far from such scenarios, but so was Rwanda 30 years ago until the plane crash that killed the then-president,” he said.
Fann commends the #MZB365 campaign to promote the spirit of forgiveness as a core national value to counter the provocative narrative that seeks to divide Malaysia.
Social and economic research initiative senior policy adviser Dr Helmy Haja Mydin totally agrees with the concept of #MZB365.
“We cannot just choose when and who we want to forgive. Instead, we should be reminded that the principles required by our religion should be sown and practised at all times, not just during Hari Raya,” he said during an interview with campaign media participant Astro Awani.
Dr Helmy added that the best way to defend Islam is to practise it well, and there is no need to speak or act in ways to aggravate hatred. Differentiate between unintentional ignorance acts and racial hate crime, he said.
Project 57 founder Syed Sadiq Albar said harmony starts with the effort to understand and respect one another’s sensitivities.
“There’s a saying in Malay: ‘Tak Kenal Maka Tak Cinta’ (How can you love when you don’t know),” he said.
Syed Sadiq also said understanding intent is important.
“People in general always have good intentions and that’s the first thing we should recognise instead of jumping to conclusions that people have ill intentions,” he said.
The campaign stands strong with major media organisations and civil society organisations (CSOs) participating in it since its launch on April 6.
There is a growing number of participating CSOs and among them are Projek Sama, Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, G25, Architect of Diversity, Muslim Professional Forum, Ideas, Patriot, Gerakan Belia Sepunjabi Malaysia, Pure Life Society, Buddhist Missionary Society Malaysia, Gabungan Bertindak Malaysia, Allied Coordinating Committee of Islamic NGOs and Ikram Malaysia.
