It’s all about unity
MALAYSIA Day is all about unity, says Peter Luruthudass Annaniah, 51.
“This special day commemorates unity between Peninsular Malaysia, and Sabah and Sarawak. In a country with so many ethnicities and faiths, multicultural families are a way of uniting different cultures,” says Peter.
Peter and his wife Maria Kirau Lusat, 42, live in Penang. They each come from very different cultures.
“My father is a typical Indian man – very strict and deeply religious – that’s why our names are all very Indian,” says Peter, who grew up in Tapah, Perak where his grandfather used to practice Ayurvedic medicine.
Maria is from Kampung Long Moh in Ulu Baram, Miri, Sarawak. She is Kenyah (an indigenous group from Sarawak).
They celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary last month.
The couple reveals that in the early stages of their relationship, they had to learn to adapt to each other’s different cultural ways.
“I come from an Indian family and work for a German company where everything must be precise and on the dot. Then, I met Maria, and it was a whole different world. In Sarawak, life is more relaxed, people tend to ‘take it easy’.
“When I come home from work, I have to change my paradigm because everything moves at a more laidback pace at home,” Peter shares.
Maria adds: “Having mutual respect and tolerance towards each other is so important in a multicultural family.”
Communication can be challenging sometimes, especially with family members who don’t speak any common languages. But it can also have its funny moments.
“When I went to see Maria’s parents to ask for her hand in marriage, I remember talking to her mother and wondering, ‘Why is she not replying? Is there anything wrong? Is she objecting?’,” Peter recalls.
It was actually because she didn’t understand English; Maria had forgotten to inform him!
“My mother only speaks Kenyah. As the idiom goes, it’s ‘like a chicken and duck talking’,” Maria says.
Peter speaks Malay, English, Tamil and German, and he picked up Kenyah from his wife, and also a bit of Cantonese. Maria speaks Malay, English and Kenyah.
At home, they speak English, Malay and a bit of Kenyah to their children.
Their two children – a daughter, 14, and a son, 12 – have mixed reactions about being a multicultural family.
“Our daughter says that although it’s difficult having to follow two different cultures, she feels blessed too,” Peter says, feigning shock when revealing that his son prefers his wife’s Kenyah culture over his Indian culture.
Being a multicultural family means celebrating festivals in unique ways. Peter feels that being part of a multicultural family is like having the best of both worlds.
“I love Kenyah culture – their Sape music, tuai (harvest) festival, Ngajat dance, and how they celebrate festivals.
“I also like Maria’s kampung deep in the interior of Sarawak with its clean environment and beautiful rivers,” he says.
Meanwhile, Maria says, “The nice thing about being from a multicultural family is tasting different types of food.” Some of the traditional Kenyah dishes she makes are ayam pansuh, adut, anyeh and kerumet.