When Mohamed Jamil Ahmad reported for duty to Perlis state secretary Syed Danial Syed Ahmad in 1988, he didn’t expect to be astonished.
After the formal greetings, the new director of town and country planning for Perlis explained a little about his background.
He informed Syed Danial that he’d done his first degree at Universiti Malaya, majoring in Geography. Jamil added that he had taken Mandarin as an elective.
Syed Danial perked up and swiftly wrote something on a piece of paper and showed it to a rather mystified Jamil. It was in the Tamil script – that much Jamil knew, as he had many Indian friends – but he did not know what the words meant.
“‘Jamil Ahmad’, that’s what it says here,” the genial state secretary explained, adding: “My elective was Tamil.”
And they hit it off very well.
But if Syed Danial’s ability to write in Tamil had surprised him, Jamil was in for a shock when he met Perlis menteri besar Dr Abdul Hamid Pawanteh, who had studied medicine before entering politics.
Jamil’s eyes roved around the menteri besar’s office as he was introducing himself. For a moment his breath stopped.
He could not believe his eyes: there was a copy of the Quran on the right side of the desk and a copy of the Bible on the left.
“I was amazed,” Jamil, now an associate professor (industrial) at Universiti Malaya, tells me as he recalls the two model gentlemen.
Seeing the quizzical look on Jamil’s eyes, Hamid said, “I read both, and it helps me see what both religions share.”
“He was one of the best menteri besar that I had ever worked under. I respected him a lot, just as I respected the state secretary. Today we would consider them a rare breed.”
Jamil recalls that Dr Abdul Hamid was very down-to-earth and easy to get along with. One reason, perhaps, was that both were music lovers.
“There’s one thing that set him apart from most other chief executives of the state: he would cycle around in his constituency to meet the village folk.”
Jamil, who served in Perlis for six years before being transferred to Penang in 1992, notes that top leaders and top civil servants in earlier days were very broad-minded, knowledgeable and tolerant of all races and religions.
They had no problem mixing with others and they had no hang-ups, seeing everyone as Malaysian.
“That was a different generation,” he adds before recalling his own time in school and how Malays, Chinese and Indians mixed freely and how they would eat at each other’s houses without any problem. His friends would make sure the food served to him was halal.
He feels this culture of visiting each other and sharing meals should be nurtured.
“Generally, there was a sense of unity. Race and religion were not the dominant factors they are today,” says Jamil who was born in Padang Rengas, Perak, in 1953.
“No one spoke about a social contract or differences in race or religion. Everyone was a friend – that was all. I used to cycle to the houses of my Chinese and Indian friends and eat in their houses and they’d visit me and eat whatever my mother prepared.”
Jamil’s school – King Edward VII in Taiping – had a profound impact on him. Students learned to trust each other and respect each other’s ways at school, and there was a good mix of teachers and students of all races.
“I guess these factors played a part in opening up our minds and allowing us to take a broad, tolerant and friendly approach towards everyone,” says Jamil.
“One important factor was that our teachers never exhibited racial bias. We were all equal in their eyes and I think that brushed off on us, on my generation.”
Long Heng Hua, the famous principle of King Edward VII Secondary School, insisted that students mix with each other.
The school, Jamil says, always organised events that entailed the participation of everyone. All students were involved in sports activities – rugby was a must – which brought them together to work as a team.
“Special events were also organised to drive home the point that we were all Malaysians despite our cultural differences. I remember, in 1970 three of us in 5A1 were chosen to dress up in the traditional Malay, Chinese and Indian attire as part of Merdeka celebrations.”
Jamil says another important influence was his father, station master Ahmad Pandak Wahab.
Most railway workers in those days were Indians and his father was used to the ways of Indians, even picking up some Tamil.
He was strict in his work but friendly towards his staff – some of whom would call on him for advice over problems – and his children were exposed to Indian culture at a young age.
Jamil would watch Tamil and Hindi movies, initially, as a child, with his elder sister but later with his schoolmates.
“I have watched most of Satyajit Ray’s films and I also like watching Tamil movies,” he says with a glint in his eyes.
Talking about movies, he notes that film directors such as Yasmin Ahmad tried to break the race-religion barrier that had developed over the years with their touching, human movies that all Malaysians could watch, enjoy and empathise with.
He particularly credits filmmaker Mamat Khalid’s efforts to forge unity through his movies, including the film ‘Estet’.
Jamil, who knows Mamat well, says the filmmaker used his own money in many of these efforts, often losing money, but proceeding nevertheless because he felt the younger generation should learn to appreciate each other.
“We need people like them if we want to build a united Malaysia,” Jamil says.
Jamil himself is an example of the “embrace everyone” attitude.
He is comfortable with people of all races and religions, believing that unity is paramount for the nation to progress, and, like most Malaysians, is somewhat concerned about the direction of the nation.
There were times when Jamil, who did his masters in town planning at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, had to contend with Malay staff who had not been exposed to other races as he had been.
Once, in the early 2000s, when he was director of research and development in the Town and Country Planning Department, he was instructed to prepare guidelines on non-Muslim religious buildings.
The first thing he did was to identify and invite officials representing non-Muslim religions for a meeting.
It was a ground-breaking meeting because he wanted the input of the stakeholders before preparing the guidelines.
His staff were surprised when he told them to call up the invitees to ask what food they wanted, as he knew that Hindus would prefer vegetarian. He also told them to Google and learn about the food habits of people of various religions.
Leaders of the religious bodies were pleasantly surprised to get the calls and to be served the food they wanted when they attended the meeting.
They told Jamil they had been invited for meetings by different government departments in the past but no one had bothered to ask what they wanted to eat or that, just like the Muslims, some of them may have food taboos or dislikes.
Noting Jamil’s sincerity, they gave their full cooperation.
When some of Jamil’s staff, being Muslims, appeared reluctant to visit temples and talk to temple committees and priests before preparing the guidelines, he chided them gently.
“How would you know what is the situation on the ground or the needs of the various houses of worship if you don’t go to the ground and find out?” he asked them.
He told them their faith, just like his, won’t be shaken just by entering a temple or church and talking to a priest.
Jamil told them his faith in Islam remained strong despite mixing freely with people of various faiths, even recalling that as a boy he had gone to the Hindu temple near his house during festivities with his friends and that he’d eaten the “kacang putih” that the priest had given.
The guidelines were prepared and sent to the ministry of housing and local government and Jamil’s part was done.
However, only Selangor adopted some of the guidelines prepared by Jamil’s team.
“This was a sensitive matter and had to be done carefully. But I know that whenever we want to plan anything, we must have empathy for the people involved and those who would be affected.”
Jamil believes town planners can contribute towards the creation of a better, more united Malaysia.
One way would be to ensure a better mix of the various races in planning new townships and housing estates. Ensuring mixed occupancy in public housing will also help foster better understanding.
Today, he encourages his students to learn the languages of other Malaysians so that they can understand their ways and have empathy.
He also warns them against the fear of the other.
“Fear is the greatest danger,” he says, adding that he tells his students to be big-hearted and to see beyond race and religion so that a united Malaysia can take shape. - FMT
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