The unique intermarriage between cultures and socio-linguistic narratives has since given birth to a healthy mix of acceptance and openness towards various celebrations of joyous occasion which many citizens of different religious faiths or cultural beliefs subscribe to and are happily willing to share with the rest of us in the name and spirit of peaceful coexistence.
The problem with sharing values however is that it is often very easily mistaken for submitting to them.
This year presents itself yet another period of challenge. What should be a very much awaited celebration of Chinese New Year, not only by our Chinese brethren but also by the public generally due to the sparkling gaiety of it all has somehow turned into an unnecessary confluence of spite and divide between us thanks to the zoological cycle appearing in the Chinese zodiac – the year 2019 according to the Chinese calendar being a year of the pig.
Pigs as a noun per se in our local context seems to appear as sensitive as their natural functions or worse, corporeal existence altogether.
It is no wonder why our blessed gift of maturity has been reduced to such horrifying level of sheer ignorance because of the dominant religious construct which permeates through our notion predicated upon its widely perceived filth in both form and usage.
While we can at least heave a slight sigh of relief that our government has not issued any directives to the effect of total prohibition against visual display of this innocent creature, one would notice that a marked disapproval albeit latent does not easily elude us.
Decorative images of pigs are hardly conspicuous in public premises unlike those in the previous years where celebratory mood was felt by many and merrily greeted with pomp and circumstance.
To what do we owe this misfortune this year, may one ask?
Indeed, the answer is none other than our confusing-selves. Our self-inflicted confusion over the spirit and appreciation of a particular festivity which we are expected to mutually share them with one another out of respect and tolerance as opposed to the alleged total submission to the ecclesiastical values behind the appearance of such festivity is why fear-mongering does not cease to exist and as a result we all fall prey to the trap we unwittingly set up ourselves.
The year of the pig according to ubiquitous belief amongst the Chinese community represents good fortune, honesty, and general prosperity. It follows that those born in this semantically controversial year are prophesied to embody a string of self-same qualities of the aforesaid.
Whether we personally accept this belief is irrelevant. Whether, resulting from our categorical and unequivocal disbelief in it, we must therefore reject any acts reflective of such belief is as too flawed a question to ask as it is wholly misplaced to respond to.
One’s respect for another’s cultural or religious beliefs does not necessarily equal to total submission to them. Common sense dictates that between differing understandings and the need to maintain peace, the only solution to converge these two without compromising either one is trudging through a middle path with our hands tightly held onto one another howsoever bumpy the road may seem.
The Herculean task is not without difficulty, of course. Challenges are well upon us.
One may at some point find himself struggling to untie the messy knot of scepticism and seeming conflict with his own faith because of what he would deem as an act of acquiescence bordering on, if not amounting to indirectly rejecting his own principles.
We must quickly disabuse ourselves of such unfounded fear by always bearing in mind that according respect for something totally divorced from that of ours, religiously or culturally, is a principle of fundamental importance which underpins the teaching and promotion of religions or cultures.
Festive seasons are meant to be a period of reflection and self-discovery, and not of embedding hatred and discomfort between or amongst us.
In this season of festivity, I wish not to miss this opportunity to implore everyone to take stock of the enormity the confusion we are only causing it further damage our long standing stability our forefathers had fought so hard for if left uncured and see reason to believe that the very purport of our coexistence in this beloved land we call “Malaysia” cannot be simply jeopardised because of just one word.
Happy Chinese New Year, everyone. May we all enjoy the celebration of this blessed year of the pig!
* Alan Razak is an Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya.
** The views expressed here are strictly of the author's and do not necessarily reflect Astro AWANI's.
