LEADER ARTICLE
Multi-racial Malaysia

Go to any restaurant in Malaysia and you'll find beef, pork, fish and chicken served together on the same buffet table. Its sizeable Muslim majority and Hindu minority are not at loggerheads with each other on who is eating what and why. 'Take what you want from the table and get on with your lives,' seems to be the general motto in this multi-racial society. And that is precisely what the general population is doing. Tolerance is being practised in the country, not through angry, soul-searing rhetoric as seems to be done in India but through creating a spirit of bonhomie in which everyone can partake. The completion of a month of fasting during Ramzan was followed by a month-long season of festivity. Prime minister Mahathir Mohammed's 22-year-old government has shrewdly decided to convert important events and festivals including Diwali, Id, Christmas and the Chinese New Year into something uniquely South Asian. The federal government led by the king and queen hold a Hari Raya or open house to which the public is invited. This year, probably in acknowledgement of Mr Mahathir's contribution to nation-building, the first Hari Raya was kicked off in his own hometown of Kedah. The Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra arrived with an entourage of cabinet ministers. The Malaysian king and queen were also present. Surprisingly, there was little security and whoever had the patience to stand in line and shake hands with these leaders was welcome to do so. The public, comprising nearly one lakh people, was far more interested in the sumptuous dinner laid out for it by the government. Malaysia's pop stars were present in abundance. The most popular songs were Bollywood's Tu cheez bari hai mast mast and Chhamma Chhamma and a Shah Rukh Khan look-alike regaled the crowds with dialogues from popular Hindi movies. The average Malay does not speak Hindi but laps up Bollywood hits. Mr Mahathir, never one to lose an opportunity to be centre-stage, held another Hari Raya in the city of Putrajaya to celebrate his birthday. The invitees comprised a mixed bunch of officialdom, college students and orphans. Almost like the Durbar-e-Aam that formed a key aspect of Mughal life, invitees were free to express their grouses against officialdom at these functions. Whatever the expenses involved in playing host to the public, these functions have tremendous propaganda value. Lim Kim Tong, 53, who arrived for the Hari Raya at Kedah felt proud that the government had thought it appropriate to highlight the achievements of his city. Jaya Raman, 18, a college student whose parents had migrated from Chennai, believed this was the ideal way to achieve integration among the communities. "When people come together and say good things about one another, it helps to create a wave of goodwill," Raman said. Malaysian intellectuals dismiss these open houses as being little more than soap operas. But it's a soap opera from which the government is doing good business. It's helping break down traditional mindsets. Malaysians of Chinese descent will not hesitate, if they feel the need, to get married Malay style. Instead of the traditional Chinese tea reception for the newly-weds, this would mean hosting a sambut menatu in which the daughter-in-law is welcomed with a traditional ceremony where family members sprinkle rose water and confetti made from pandan leaves. Malaysia is determined to present itself as a moderate Islamic state with consensus-building comprising a key to the nation's economic revival. The average Malay believes that economics should be the driving force in the nation's success. Stability has ensured a domestic savings rate of 40 per cent of the GDP, one of the highest in the world, and which is being used to finance investment and growth. Whatever critics may say about Mr Mahathir's despotic streak, he does not hesitate to call a spade a spade. Unlike president Musharraf, Mr Mahathir will not spare right-wing Islamists if he believes they are overstepping the limit. "They are trying to give the wrong interpretation of Islam, it's our duty to show them the correct one," he said in one of his recent interviews. Over-zealous Malays are warned against trying to deny the right of the Chinese and Indians to learn their own languages. "They are trying to introduce Islamic practices into the school system to the extent that non-Muslims have become alienated... you can't complain afterwards and say that other communities have moved ahead and we are behind." As part of his retirement agenda, Mr Mahathir wants to write a book on the Koran because he believes that the right-wing Islamic fundamentalists are misinterpreting it. To go one step further, he also plans to become an Imam. "To be an Imam is simple, it is just a matter of learning. If you can learn to be a prime minister, then you can learn to be an Imam. It is only a matter of being able to recite the verses," he said recently. Much of Malaysia's extraordinary growth during the last two decades can be attributed directly to its leader's willingness outrightly to reject incendiary and divisive politics. Any backsliding on this will result in the chaos and hatred witnessed during the sixties, something everyone wants to avoid.