A DIVERSE group of participants from multiple faith and religious groups had a fruitful and enlightening discussion at the Unity Symposium at the Penang Harmony Centre in Jalan Scotland today.
Presenters from different faith groups shared their faith that can contribute to peace and also discussed how diversity can be celebrated through education in Malaysia.
The programme was initiated by the office of Chong Eng, the state executive councillor for Social Development and non-Islamic Religious Affairs, and chairperson of Penang Harmony Corporation (Harmonico) with the support of organising partners Article 19 and Projek Dialog.
“We’re delighted to work with Article 19 and Projek Dialog towards promoting diversity and inclusivity among Malaysians, and celebrating freedom of expression at the same time.
“While we want to have the right to speak or express, it has to come with responsibility. Not the right or freedom to defame anyone or hurt others untruthfully.
“Let’s start with acknowledging that there are differences between religions. Then, we must respect that differences, focus on our shared values and from there, we will be on the high road to be Pulau Pinang, a City of Harmony.
“In Penang, we aspire to be a City of Harmony where religions and traditions are practised freely and openly.
“We’re indeed very fortunate because we have different cultural celebrations happening at our doorstep for us to find out and learn more about them.
“It is in the state’s best interest to grow together toward unity in diversity,” Chong Eng said in her opening remark at the symposium.
She added that every year, Penang is lined up with various religious activities and celebrations.
Some of the major festivals that had happened this year were Thaipusam in January, followed by Chinese New Year, Nowruz, Vaisakhi, Good Friday & Easter, Ramadan and Eid-Fitr.
Chong Eng said since Harmonico was set up in March 2021 by the state government, it has been conducting events and programmes to establish itself as a safe platform for inter-faith dialogue and exchange among communities in Penang.
For instance, last year Harmonico organised Peace 21, an online forum titled ‘What Can You Do to Bring Peace’.
Chong Eng said from the discussion, they reached a conclusion that there are mutual values across religions.
“Compassion and empathy are the values that transcend across all religions and these are the values we want to promote through Harmonico,” she said.
Also present were Harmonico manager Paul Au, Harmonico public relation coordinator Lau Bei Jie, Harmonico programme executive Wan Atikah, Article 19 representatives Nalini Elumalai and Cheryl Lee, Projek Dialog representatives Khadijah Mohd Zainal and Victoria Cheng, and representatives from several religious organisations.
Nalini thanked the state government and Harmonico for the collaboration with Article 19 and Projek Dialog for holding the symposium.
She said Article 19 is an international human rights NGO working mainly on freedom of expression and countering hate speech.
“The irony is today is International Day for Countering Hate Speech which is celebrated by the United Nations every June 18 from this year.
“Countering hate speech, we believe, is a whole society approach. We talk to all stakeholders in society to promote and create a society that is inclusive and free of hate and discrimination based on who we are and what we believe
“Today’s occasion is one of such that we believe everyone in this room has a role to play and I hope through dialogues and constructive discussion, we can understand each other better.
“We can build a society that can agree to disagree. Coexist but also accept and be kind to one other. We can build a society where we can speak about the differences on a more comfortable platform,” Nalini said in her speech.
Story by K.H. Ong