Comments on: Why Religious Tolerance The Malay Way (Surprisingly) Works

By: Anil Polat

Anil Polat — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 17:02:37 +0000

In reply to Ruzhi. Nowhere is perfect I suppose but it's good to hear things are moving in the right direction :) Thanks for your insights!

By: Ruzhi

Ruzhi — Wed, 14 Aug 2013 08:02:49 +0000

Nice take on my country foXnoMad! However, being Malaysian I have to say that what the world perceives of us as being tolerant etc is largely untrue, unless you compare it with other war-ravaged countries like Bosnia of course. Yes it’s true that the races and religions coexist, but every now and then we are discrimated and have our culture and beliefs insulted by other citizens and even members of Parliament. And we have many ugly incidences like a pig’s head thrown at a mosque, our Indian friends being called ‘keling’ which is very insulting to them AND the word IS legally incorporated into the national dictionary, and the Chinese are told to scram back to China.

But with that said, the people get by with good relations and interracial relationships and marriages are on the rise. So there’s progress after all.

Cheers and keep up the travels! I especially love your stories about dangerous countries like Iran 🙂

By: Anil Polat

Anil Polat — Thu, 04 Jul 2013 10:53:59 +0000

In reply to Gayla. I believe all peace negotiations should be done over large meal tables - a great way to strike early common ground.

By: Gayla

Gayla — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 21:21:05 +0000

I like your comment about mixing of national ingredients. I always look to food as a way to help understand a culture.
I’m greatly disturbed by the tension between religious groups and truly believe that we fear that which we do not know or understand and by mixing and living amongst various groups, we learn to find the common traits and cultural similarities…they do exist.

By: Anil Polat

Anil Polat — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 09:15:47 +0000

In reply to Barbara Weibel. Hi Barbara, I didn't know about such a ban on attending religious services but it sounds like one of the many 'additional' religious rules applied only to the Muslims in Malaysia. With conversion, it is technically still covered under religious freedom laws and allowed, the legal catch being that a sharia (Syariah court) must approve the conversions... which almost never happens.