Will NUCC's 'kuih talam' meetings put out embers?

National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) chairperson Samsudin Osman is in an unenviable position, and he knows it.

Only a few weeks since the group was tasked with putting together a national unity blueprint, more than 300 local language copies of the Bible were seized by the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) and temperatures have been rising.

“Good luck Tan Sri,” one reporter said.

“Well I need it,” said Samsudin, a friendly approachable man, who appeared somewhat flummoxed by the press conference that followed the NUCC's inaugural working meeting yesterday.

For most parts of the impromptu press conference - the media weren't expected but arrived in droves - Samsudin's expressions were not unlike someone walking a tightrope.

The questions came thick and fast:

By saying NUCC regrets the raid, are you saying Jais is wrong?

Samsudin: We have chosen these words after much deliberation. NUCC cannot take a partisan stand. We should rise above it. Like a father, the NUCC cannot blame our children.    

The church is continuing their service in Bahasa Malaysia and using ‘Allah’, neither parties are budging. Are you confident of a peaceful settlement?

I'm not confident. I cannot say I am confident or not. We are hopeful. We can try.

There is an issue of state and federal jurisdiction in the issue of religion. What is the NUCC's take on this?

I don't have the answer now.

Since Jais is under the Selangor sultan's purview, will the Malay rulers be brought into the discussion?

We didn't think of that. No one brought it up except for you now.

So can we say that NUCC will 'bawa semua pihak berbincang'(bring all parties for discussion)?

Oh, no we can't. We can only propose this to people, and it's up to them to take up the offer.
    
How soon do you forsee the closed-door meetings taking place with the religious bodies?

We can't say now, we need to work it out. This needs careful thought so there will be no wrong steps.

(And later, asked again and prompted by another committee member): We'll get the committee to work as soon as possible.     

Will the points from your discussion today be brought to the government's attention?

We need to filter and look through and decide. First we need to have consensus.

Insofar as your meeting today is concerned, will you be presenting these 10 points to the government?

I suppose we can have a statement from the council to the government.

Really, now? Can we?

Value of discussion

To my relief, after the press conference, a huddle between some key members of the NUCC resulted in the council agreeing to send a letter to the prime minister stating its stand on the issue.

Ever more boldly, it turned out they will also seek a meeting with the man in power to lobby the government to move the way the NUCC believes it should.

Why this was not discussed in the three-and-half-hour meeting is beyond me, but perhaps this is something these experienced former civil servants, academics, activists and community leaders know better than I.

Perhaps, they too, know why a date was not set for when these closed-door meetings are forseen to  take place or, at the very least, when the working committees will send out invitations to relevant parties to come to the roundtable and talk.

Or even when they hope these meetings can take place, what with people growing bitter and angry with each other out there.

After all, Jagir Singh, the chairperson of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hindu, Sikhism and Taoism - the country's largest interfaith council - is part of the NUCC and he could help fill one side of the roundtable, no?

Typing out my story on the press conference as the NUCC post-meet huddle continued, I overheard one member asking if Feb 22 is actually set for the first of the ‘unity dialogues’ or townhall meetings on unity to take place.

“If it is, we need to sort out logistics,” one member said.

Beyond the horror that the only date set by the council is not actually set after all, we should thank heavens that at least one person realises that a meeting over kuih talam and coffee alone does not move things.

The NUCC was formed as a talk-shop and not an agency to firefight when things spark out of control, and that is all fine and well.

Indeed, things are not yet out of control.

But as frustrations grow, we'll soon enough be travelling back four years to Jan 1, 2010 when churches and other places of worships were torched and vandalised over the same issue -the use of the word 'Allah'.

Some people say the NUCC is just another committee of hot air that can only talk and do nothing else.

But when tempers flare and the only communication between communities are angry placards and press statements, I see value in sitting down and talking like civilised human beings.

Of greater value, however, is realising when your hair is catching fire while there is still time to put it out.