I have been tagged by Politics101 and given the honour to blog the 14th countdown entry towards Merdeka. Nizam Bashir initiated this 50 Posts To Independence series and each tagged blogger had to write anything they want to about Malaysia.

With the recent momentous ruling on a particular case, I couldn't help but ponder about the true meaning of merdeka. The 31st day of August this year marks our 50th year of independence from the British colonial rule. It is unfortunate that there is no freedom for certain segments of folks here to choose their own faith.

I remember how it was like growing in a somewhat Christian-oriented family. My paternal side of the family are all Christians and my parents thought it would be a good idea to send their kids to Sunday school to get good moral teachings and to improve our English. For some reason, I did not like going to Sunday School. Perhaps I felt that the kids were clique-ish and I couldn't fit in. Perhaps also it was because of the fierce teacher. Whatever the reason was, every Sunday my teacher would faithfully come to my house to pick us up for Sunday School classes. And every Sunday, I would hide and make some excuse of why I shouldn't go. I liked Jesus back then but I didn't really feel at home in that particular church.

My parents gave up trying to force me to go to church after I reached the age of 13. They figured that I was big enough to make my own decisions and live with the consequences. I was grateful for that. I needed the space to think things through, wrestle with difficult faith questions that I had and weighing the other options that are available out there. During those years, I eventually grew to own the faith that was handed down to me. From a second-hand kinda faith, it became a faith to call my own. I was a Christian because I chose to be one.

What my parents did meant a lot to me. It denotes trust that I can make a decision that is best for me. They have done their parts in grounding me in the beliefs and values that are important to them. But when it came to the time that this chick decided to spread her wings and fly, they had to let her go and trust that she will choose the right paths.

This bit on letting go and freeing the person whom they were guarding all this while - this, to me, is freedom. And at 50 years of Merdeka and beyond, this is my fondest wish. Just as my parents allowed me the freedom to decide, I want to see every Malaysian being free and equipped to make decisions that are pivotal to their lives. To see the court of law letting citizens decide upon issues important to them. Yes, we cannot neglect our role to educate and equip our young ones with the life skills and information they need. But we also need to set them free so that they can soar.

And to pass on this baton, I hereby tag my enthusiastic and gung-ho friend Josh who has loads of punty points up his sleeves. Over to you, buddy.

Photo credits

I really appreciate the winsome way in which you framed the issue.

I'm dissappointed but unsurprised at the verdict. It seems to me that the reality is that it was either that or riots. (given the emotional climate, I believe many in this country would not be above that).

However, too many have been too quick to condemn those who cheered the decision -- not recognizing that they, like us, are broken people too and that we ought to love them. In that, I find your perspective refreshingly postive.

That said, on a fundamental level, I think the problem is in our basic presuppositions, i.e. there are fundamental differences between our understanding of *freedom* (ref. Jn 8:31-32) and theirs.

For instance, we may think that true religious freedom has the entailment of the courtesy of disbelief at all times, but in their worldview this is not the case.

My understanding is that they believe that religious freedom only applies before conversion. The consequence of that is when there is no conversion process (i.e. when one is born into the worldview), then the term "no compulsion" does not apply. This means some people are predestined to have this freedom and some aren't. It seems unfair to us, but in their worldview God's justice is higher than man's (which I can agree with in principle, except the problem is our constitution seems to be manipulating this justice).

In that sense, we have to understand where they are coming from. If we are to build bridges, we have to start there.

p.s. interestingly, Indonesia doesn't have this problem.

Paul, thanks for highlighting the part about their religious worldview. I didn't realise that was the case. But it does pose a dilemma to those who no longer hold that worldview - difficult for them to submit to that. Not familiar about the Indonesian situation either. Would love to hear more from you about that.

Yeah, it's one of those difficult dillemmas. Sometimes I just feel so grateful to God for the freedom he has given me, recognizing that it is by his grace alone that I am free. It seems to me that not everyone has this privilege.

Coming back from the west, it struck me that in Malaysia, individual autonomy is not regarded very highly. Therefore it seems to me that any kind of progress toward freedom has to made against a backdrop of social contracts/tribalism and approached with a great deal of wisdom and subtlety.

I've come to accept that a lot of the freedoms we have in the west are derived from Judeo-Christian worldview -- which in many parts of the world is not fully embraced and is in fact viewed with suspicion because it is associated with the Western world (although the worldview is actually middle eastern). Concepts like the sanctity of life, freedom and value of the individual, etc. are all built around the idea that love is the supreme ethic and that we are created by God. Most people in the world give mental assent to these concepts because they are thought to be universal, but they miss their true implications because they don't understand their source. That's why countries founded on Judeo-Christian, even if they are very secular today, look very different from those that aren't.

As for Indonesia, the details are here:
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2002/13873.htm

In general, proselytization is disallowed, but conversions do occur and is permitted. I did not know about this until I talked to one of my Indonesian friends about it. I was surprised to learn that in many ways, there is more freedom in Indonesia, especially post-Suharto, than in Malaysia (I always thought it was the other way around).

Anyway, sorry for cakap'ing so much. It's time for my nasi lemak...

Here, it's always a question about progress vs cultures and social norms. It has its pros (not forgetting our roots) and cons (not moving on with the times). Wow, I never Indonesia to be so open about conversions. Thanks for the info, man.