When we start to fear decorations

One of my earliest memories in kindergarten was making tanglungs (lanterns) out of coloured paper. It is simple, really. You fold a rectangular piece of paper in half and cut strips (but not all the way) along the middle of the paper. Unfold the paper, stick the two ends together and voila - the whole class did not suddenly transform into Buddhists.

Instead, we decorated our whole classroom with the tanglungs, and the collective power of the tanglungs still did not convert all of us into adopting Buddhism.

I have seen thousands of lanterns in my life, and it has done pretty much nothing to shake my faith. Some of my favourite lanterns are the accordion-style paper lanterns and the old school animal ones that kids light up with during the Mooncake Festival.

The closest lantern - I think - from the Malay culture would probably be the pelita minyak tanah (the oil lamps). Those that decorate kampung homes during Raya (those of us in the city would just have to be content with battery-operated versions).

Our Indian friends have their version of oil lamps too, and some of the prettiest ones I have seen are used to decorate rangolis during Deepavali.

So no, it is definitely not the tanglungs or oil lamps.

Let's see, what else did that Puchong school put up that could possibly seduce the faiths of Muslim students?

Oh, of course, the Chinese lettering. The one that wishes everyone a "Happy Chinese New Year".

We are hardly over that Jawi debate and here we are displaying an allergic reaction to Chinese script.

The same argument works both ways - direct exposure to Jawi will not suddenly turn you into a Muslim. Direct exposure to Chinese script will not suddenly turn you into a Chinese, which is, by the way, a cultural heritage and not even religion.

As a student of linguistics, I love languages and highly encourage everyone to learn languages as a lifelong passion. I assure you that converting to another religion is not a side effect of exposure to another language nor its script.

Ok, what else? There are only two photos making rounds on social media so there isn't much to go by. Oh, there is that archway with words of wisdom on its pillars. Oh, the audacity of it all.

How dare we walk under a fake archway that seriously resembles the most generic tiled roof archway ever? I mean, look at it. I have seen similar archways all over the country in all sorts of colours, and yes, I have walked under loads of them.

Did I enter one end as a Muslim and came out the other end professing something else? Is this a magical conversion portal that alters the state of one's faith just by passing through it?

I can see two other possible dangerous elements that the school put up in the decorations - flowers and long banners of red fabric.

We all know how dangerous flowers are. Especially large, fake ones. Flowers have the power of bringing joy which is why most people smile when they receive flowers. Happiness, as we know, makes people loosen their guards. When their guards are down, it is easy to attack their faiths. They won't even see it coming. So yes, the flowers have to go. No questions here.

And we are left with the yards and yards of red fabric. This begs the question, what have we always consistently taught students about the colour red?

Red is a magnificent colour. It is one of the colours of our beloved Jalur Gemilang and denotes courage. Courage to stand up against bullies and oppressors. Courage to stand up for what is right.

The colour red is something every Malaysian holds with pride, which is why it is wonderful that the Chinese hold red with so much respect. To us, it encapsulates a shared wish for health, wealth and prosperity in abundance for everyone.

The only other time I have seen so many people don red at the same time was during the Manchester United games in Bukit Jalil. Again, colours bring people together.

I really love that the Puchong school put up the Chinese New Year decorations. I can only imagine the ribbon ketupats and fake kuali dodol put up during Raya and rangolis drawn with colourful chalks on the corridor floors during Deepavali. How exciting it is to be a student in a school that celebrates so many cultures.

The truth is, decorating schools during festive seasons is not something new at all. Lots of public places get decorated, with malls investing heavily in magnificent visual spectacles.

At the heart of it all, they all have one objective - to spread some festive cheer, to promote the understanding of cultures, and to educate and reinforce the celebration of diversity.

And more than ever, Malaysia could really do with celebrations of diversity right about now.

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MAJIDAH HASHIM is walking proof that you can be a Chinese and a Muslim at the same time without having an identity crisis. She can be reached via Twitter at @majidahhashim - Mkini