Are Peninsular Malaysia’s problems creeping across to Borneo?

I started travelling to the Borneo part of Malaysia quite late in my life. I was already in my thirties before I went there for the first time. But now I visit quite regularly.

Visiting that part of the country brings a sense of freshness in that it really feels like a totally different country because their culture and philosophy are totally different from that of the peninsula.

The most jarring difference is (yes, you know this was what I was going to bring up now!) the relationship between the different races and religions.

In the peninsula, everything is defined by race and religion. There are the Malays, Chinese, Indians and the Dan Lain-Lain (Muslims and non-Muslims).

But in Sabah it is basically just all the same people, and if any categorisation happens, it is merely between those who eat pork and those who don’t.

I cannot help but regale people with the story of the Francis Dakun the Christian priest and Nooraidah Hidayah Dakun the Muslim ustazah in Keningau who are brothers and sisters.

Half of their siblings are Christians and half are Muslims. And to top it all off, their two parents are old-fashioned, traditional Dusun pagans.

They don’t fight with each other, they don’t boycott each other and neither do they disown each other. They all come together at their parents’ for Christmas, Hari Raya and Hari Keamatan.

This kind of lifestyle and culture makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It is the inspiration that gives me hope that my Malaysia has the elements to turn out all right after all.

So it saddens me when news comes out that apparently a school in Keningau has been prohibiting their Christian students from wearing their crucifixes.

It seems that they are supposed to obtain permission before they can do so because it is considered jewellery, and jewellery is not allowed to be worn in school.

I feel uncomfortable with this piece of news because I am afraid that the racial and religious tension that has been plaguing the peninsula is slowly creeping into Sabah and even Sarawak.

All this while, I was hoping that the elements of multiracial and multi-religious harmony and respect in Sabah and Sarawak would creep into the peninsula.

Instead, it seems the negativity that has been rife in the peninsula is now spreading across the South China Sea and beginning to penetrate Sabah and Sarawak.

Granted, Sabah education director Jame Alip has since come out to say that the school has to abide by the Education Ministry’s rules and that freedom of religion is guaranteed.

He also went on to comment that the claims are baseless and the school’s administration of the particular rule was probably misinterpreted by concerned parents of the students.

But the fact that this issue has been raised in Sabah is a cause for concern because before, an incident like this would have not been conceivable in the state.

What I hope and pray right now is that this is just a one-off case and does not reflect a could-be terrifying trend. Sabah, the whole of Malaysia need to know that you are better than all this. – December 5, 2014.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.