Christians, Muslims celebrate Christmas together in Miri

The church and mosque sit barely 100 metres apart and share each other's car park space every Sunday and Friday.

PETALING JAYA: Christmas in Miri is like no other, especially in Peninsula Malaysia, as Christians and Muslims from a church and mosque sitting side by side on the same street, come together at the church compound for a festive gathering.

This year’s Christmas celebrations was held at the Good Shepherd Church and was attended by Muslims who regularly go for Friday prayers at the Masjid An Naim in Lutong as well as Christians from the Good Shepard Church and Catholics, SIB and Methodist churches.

So precious is the bond between the Christians and Muslims here that both share each other’s car park space every Sunday during mass and every Friday during Muslim prayers and when Christmas and Hari Raya come around, followers of both faiths, come together for joint gatherings.

Yesterday gathering, in which halal food was served, was attended by imam Mohd Zulkifli Mohd Adnan, the mosque management and mosque leaders as well as Pastor Donald Jute and church leaders.

Also present were Sarawak Assistant Minister for Communications Lee Kim Shin and Sarawak United Peoples Party secretary-general Sebastian Ting and leaders from the Buddhist, Tua Pek Kong and Miri Indian Association, a report by The Star Online said.

Speaking about the precious racial and religious unity in Miri and Sarawak, Lee added, “This is unequalled in any part of the country. Where else can we find churches and mosques and temples sharing facilities with each other and sharing food and fellowship like families.

“We must preserve this at all costs because it is a unique treasure.

“Being able to enjoy such sincere religious and racial acceptance is priceless.”

Regarding the shared facilities at both the church and the mosque, Pastor Donald said it had become a “way of life” for both communities for the past 50 years while mosque chairman Ithnaini Bohari said it was already “part of our daily life.”