Exposure helps our understanding

LAST Sunday (April 23), I was pleasantly surprised to see a group of first year tudungclad undergraduates from the University of Malaya in the prayer hall of the Gurdwara Sahib (Sikh Temple) Petaling Jaya.

Later I learned that the students were at the temple as part of a project in a course they are taking namely Tamadun Islam dan Tamadun Asia Tenggara or Islamic Civilisation and Southeast Asia Civilisation Studies. I understand that the course exposes them to Malay, Chinese, Indian, and other civilisations including the religions practised. The project work requires the undergraduates to study and analyse a place of worship. They need to produce a 20-minute video.

Temple committee president Gordip Singh was on hand to brief the students. I observed that the students conducted themselves very well. They mingled with the worshippers with ease and asked questions. They did not seem to be the least inhibited, reserved or self-conscious although they were in a gurdwara.

They were also busy taking pictures and videos of the morning’s prayers in a polite and respectful way. Later they adjourned to the dining hall to have a vegetarian lunch of chapattis, dhal and mixed vegetables.

Kudos to the Education Ministry for introducing this important and yet sensitive subject in public universities and inculcating in undergraduates the need to show respect and appreciation of other religions.

Learning more about different religions can help Malaysians understand cultures other than our own as well as show more tolerance to other religions.

This course, which is mandatory for undergraduates in public universities, should be extended to private universities and students at other institutions of learning such as UiTM, Mara colleges, teacher training colleges, police and armed forces training institutions as well as institutions offering diplomas.

We in Malaysia sometimes get carried away and consumed by our own beliefs and values. Challenging as it is to accept other ways of life, I applaud the ministry for taking concrete steps to encourage all undergraduates in public universities to learn and show respect to other religions. In this way close-mindedness and intolerance will hopefully give way to learning to accept and be respectful of other beliefs and values.

It is indeed uplifting to learn the Education Ministry is on the right track in promoting appreciation of and respect for our diverse cultural differences among undergraduates. Pola Singh Kuala Lumpur