A Malaysian Christmas Carol

‘Tis the season for the classic novel by charles dickens. but its important and enduring messages are relevant to us all year round, and the sooner we heed them, the better we’ll be as a nation.

WHEN Christmas comes a calling, I never fail to revisit one of the greatest stories ever told – A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. To me, who is no stranger to the religious and spiritual texts of the Bhagavad Gita, Tao Te Ching, the New Testament and the Quran, the Dickens novel approaches spiritual writing as strong and endearing as the parables in the great books of mankind.

For many Malaysians, reading the “other religious books” is taboo and discouraged because it would supposedly bring great confusion or worse, might “convert” one to a faith other than the one into which he was born.

For me, reading a religious text is nothing more than a walk through time immemorial, when man questioned how he was to behave with others, exist with nature and strive through life’s challenges so as to settle his trembling heart and aching soul. I believe all religions are the sincerest search of man, not just for a God, but for a model of his own true self.

This work by Dickens penetrates our hearts with his strong message about social and economic justice, which adds to the real idea of spiritual enlightenment.

The scene that is most etched in my memory is the one in which Ebenezer Scrooge was confronted by the horrible apparition of Jacob Marley, his late business partner.

Marley had trudged through eternal damnation to give advice to his former partner in the hope that his own sins would be lightened by this act of true consciousness. He appeared in chains and weights that had clearly pained him immensely as he uttered warnings and reminders as well as confessions to Scrooge.

“You are fettered,” said Scrooge, trembling. “Tell me why?”

“I wear the chain I forged in life,” replied the Ghost. “I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you?”

The chain was his greed for money, which consumed his entire existence at the expense of his social and family responsibilities and also spiritual growth.

A line in the novel that strikes a chord with me and has shaped my entire life was when Marley defined what business was really meant to be.

“But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,” faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself.

“Business!” cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”

These sentences should be etched on every Parliament wall to remind the representatives that theirs is specifically the business at hand instead of vying for self-importance and glory. Charity, mercy, forbearance and benevolence are supposed to be part of the character that all educational and religious institutions should endeavour to cultivate in their students and adherents.

The story by Dickens was meant to be a universal message of social consciousness, but to me, it contains one of the most important building blocks of spirituality.

Money is not the only currency that can make lives better, as in the case of Scrooge helping Tiny Tim with his medical procedures, thus enabling the boy to face an otherwise bleak future. Mercy, forbearance and benevolence are also currencies that man has in abundance, such as when Scrooge helped the needy and re-established his relationship with his estranged family.

What of Malaysia? How do I see the lessons for a “Scrooged Malaysia”?

For me, the real currency in nation-building is not framed in economic terms like B40 or low-cost or low-income group. What’s more important is according dignity to all, feeling compassion for others and extending the concept of family to all citizens regardless of race, culture or lifestyle.

This is our greatest and most important currency, and one that we can spend in an unlimited manner. If all of us can stop and relook at the real “spirit of the past” and interpret a narrative of common toil, struggle, success and happiness, we can all celebrate the “spirit of the present” with mutual tolerance, forgiveness and understanding.

Only then can we rejoice in looking ahead to the white spirit of the future as we forge a strong and united nation that enjoys and values our differences and uniqueness.

As a final word, let us all meditate seriously on Marley’s words.

“It is required of every man,” the Ghost returned, “that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow men, and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death. It is doomed to wander through the world – oh, woe is me! – and witness what it cannot share, but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness!”

Merry Christmas to all my Christian family of Malaysians and may the new year brings us closer as a nation.

Prof Dr Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi is Professor of Architecture at UCSI University. The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own.