Dear Dr Maza On Good Friday, I bought your book, 'Islam in Malaysia' and I have been reading it this past weekend. One of the reasons I bought your book was the recent Sarawak State Election. I am a Chinese Catholic from Sarawak and having followed the events leading to and after the state election, I was rather worried at the amount of racial issues brought up by all the parties involved. And it did succeed in making me rethink about race and religion in Malaysia. I did not understand why there was a need to analyse the political situation in racial terms which indirectly had religious undertones. What happened to simply voting for the best and most sincere candidate for the job? Plus, there was the recent news of Pembela declaring jihad on Christians in Malaysia. And not least, there was Utusan's rather racially insensitive columns on ignoring a race group simply because they are thought to be the cause of BN's loss in certain seats and the need for '1 Melayu, 1 Bumi.' All these events, of course, worried me as a Chinese Catholic. I felt that the Malaysia I had returned to after being overseas for so long was no longer the Malaysia I knew in as a child. Or perhaps, I lost my naivete and ignorance and became more aware of the more sinister intentions of politicians. This was why I picked up your book at Popular Bookstore. I wanted to understand Islam better as after all, I am a citizen in an Islamic country. Having read your book, my faith in human goodness is somewhat restored. It is so refreshing to hear rationale arguments and explanations put forth to explain Islam. It confirmed my belief that a religion should not be followed dogmatically because it is suppose to be accepting and tolerating of its believers as well as non-believers. It helped me see that the actions of some politicians were not caused by their religion or lack of it. They are simply greedy and unthinking beings whose self interests drown out the nation's interests. More importantly, it reminded me that there are non-Malay Muslims as much as the mainstream media may sometimes forget. I appreciate how you propagate Islam as a moderate and loving belief for Muslims as well as society as a whole. Too often, I forget this and guiltily associate evil-doers with religion. Of course, this only made me equally aware that perhaps, this is might be how Muslims or other religious groups view Catholicism, Judaism, Buddhism, Taoism, and other religions and their believers too. We have all at one point or another, fallen into the trap of stereotyping a group for the mistakes of a few individuals. And I hope that with more people reading your columns, website, and books, that they will remember that this sort of discrimination is the last thing any religion wants for its believers and non-believers. And, lastly, your book has renewed my respect for Islam. Although I may not agree entirely with all your points, you helped me understand some of the issues often hotly contested by various groups in the media. In spite being a Catholic, I hold firmly, that each person, regardless of their race or religion, must seek knowledge and truth not only within their comfort zones, but also beyond them. This reminds me of something I read before about how various religious group leaders used to have intelligent discussions and discourse without fear of a backlash from their own people. Perhaps, you read and know about this practice too. In fact, my parents, who are both freethinkers, have amassed an English Koran, Mandarin bibles, Taoist and Buddhist texts, as well as Mormon readings in their library. They read for the love of knowledge which is why they do not understand why there was so much ruckus about Malay bibles. Although fighting extremism and wrongdoing in the name of religion is an uphill task, I think you have done a great job so far with educating the public with your teachings and writings. I will certainly recommend your book to both my Muslim and non-Muslim friends. Regards,Val
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