Inclusivity unites

Mar 03, 2023

By Ivy Chai
The Malaysia Interfaith Harmony Week Forum 2023 was held on February 20. Organised by the Unit for Other Religions (UNIFOR) under the Premier’s Department, the forum was held in conjunction with the 60th anniversary of Sarawak Merdeka. The event was graced by Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.

Seven panellists representing the various religions and faiths of Baha’i, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, and Taoism in the country, shared their perspectives on the theme: Love of God, Love of the neighbour, Love of the Good, and Love of the neighbour.
Chairman of the Association of Churches in Sarawak (ACS), Archbishop Simon Poh shared on Christianity.

Archbishop Simon began by saying that harmony is “God’s design for the world.” Quoting from the Bible, he said the chapter on Creation in the Book of Genesis said that out of chaos, God created a world that is in harmony. God saw everything that He had created “and it was very good.”

He pointed out that God is the source of all goodness, and nature and the human race belong to one ecosystem. It was God who gave life by breathing His Spirit into man who became a living being on earth. (Genesis 2:7)

Archbishop Simon explained the consequences of sins. Good relationships and harmony are broken by humanity when the following happens — harbouring hatred and resentment in one’s heart, oppressing the lowly through arrogance and pride; being prejudiced leads to racism, and intolerant of others’ beliefs, to name a few.

However, religion seeks to overcome sin and selfishness with forgiveness, mercy, love, and reconciliation.

The prelate said that the pandemic “brought NGOs, government, and many of us together to respond to the needs of all who lacked food and basic needs. I have learnt that the COVID-19 virus does not distinguish race, creed, or social status. The pandemic showed us that we are all in it, together as ONE human family.”

Archbishop Simon said love cannot hurt our neighbours, but “love builds harmony, trust and neighbourhood” as seen in the Scriptures (James 2:14-17). “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,’ and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”

Faith in action can be seen in individuals and families, by being good neighbours with families around (my/our) home, doing acts of charity like blood donations and charity drives, and protecting (my) heart so as not to allow prejudice, malice, jealousy, resentment, hatred or anger to grow within.

Quoting John 15:12-13, Archbishop Simon said, “Let our willingness to make sacrifices for others be the tangible expression of following our Lord. Our faith will then be visible and experienced by others through our actual actions of love towards neighbours, strangers, and poor.”

In closing his sharing on Christianity, Archbishop Simon Poh expressed his preference to adopt the concept of sincere love of God and neighbour through “a behaviour of mutual acceptance and respect” and to embrace a mindset change of “tolerance” for diversity in unity of the various race, faith and culture in Sarawak. We need “to love God and love our neighbour as God loves us.”

As an anak Sarawak, the Archbishop credited Sarawak leaders for setting up UNIFOR to address and promote the welfare of various Faiths. He implored that “the harmony and unity be protected and promoted at all levels of education, employment, and civil service,” and “work for the development of the common good and welfare of all peoples, irrespective of race, culture or creed.” --Today's Catholic