Theological

Anthropology

St Alphonsus Theological and Mission Institute

Terence Wee C.Ss.R

In Search of an Identity:
Appropriating the framework of The Human Community within a Malaysian Context

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Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1 Understanding the society ............................................................................................................. 2 History and Ideology ................................................................................................................... 2 Race ............................................................................................................................................ 3 Politics and Economics ............................................................................................................... 5 Religion ....................................................................................................................................... 7 Sociological Analysis ....................................................................................................................... 9 Theological appropriation ............................................................................................................ 12 The Christian Challenge ............................................................................................................ 13 Know Yourself ....................................................................................................................... 13 Nurturing the Faith within the Community .......................................................................... 14 Communion within the Faith Community ............................................................................ 14 Communion with the whole Society .................................................................................... 15 The Call to be Prophetic Agents of Hope and Change .......................................................... 17 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 18 BIBLIOGRAPHY: ............................................................................................................................. 19

Figures
Figure 1.Racial Distribution Between 1957 (Independence) and 2004 (Current) .......................... 4 Figure 2. The Religions in Malaysia (2005) ..................................................................................... 7

Tables
Table 1.Mean monthly household income by ethnic group and stratum, Peninsular Malaysia, 19702002 (Malaysian Ringgit (RM)) ............................................................................................. 6

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In Search of an Identity
In these past years of nation-building, we have not become less Malay, less Indian, or less Chinese but we have all become more Malaysian. Ling Liong Sik, Malaysian Chinese Association, Secretary-Generals Report 1993:9

Introduction
Malaysia is probably the most unique country in South-East Asia in terms of its ethnic diversity and cultural plurality. Unlike many of its neighbouring countries, which have spent great effort to nationalize its citizen into a uniform lot, Malaysia had, during its independence negotiation known as the bargain1, decided to let the individual races (with strong majority of Malays, Chinese and Indians) preserve their cultural roots and identify as a part of a diverse whole. Without dwelling into the pros and cons of the decision, the move had definitely created a unique sociological reality. For most Asian countries, citizens generally identify themselves primarily with their nationality. However, Malaysians tend to identify themselves with their race prior to their nationality. It is common to hear Malaysians introducing themselves as Malaysian Chinese/Indians/Eurasian rather than just Malaysians. Aside from the strong ethnic identity, another unique feature of the country is also its general freedom for people to practice their own religion2. Religious tensions at the micro-level are unavoidable, but within the macro-level all religions still flourish and grow. With these and other factors imbued within the societal structure of Malaysia, it is no wonder that even up till now, the search for a national identity of the country is still on-going and evolving. Some obvious manifestation of this is the recent move to create national greeting gesture, something similar to the internationally well know konichiwa-bow gesture of the Japanese, sawadee-wai gesture of the Thais or even the mano po gesture of the Filipinos. The proposed gesture of putting the right hand across ones heart with a slight bow have not really took flight yet and many debates are still on-going as to how truly the gesture can be internalized as the universal greeting style of the country.
1

See ___, Culture of MalaysiaHistory and Ethnic Relations, Urbanism, Architecture and the Use of Space, Everyculture.com, http://www.everyculture.com/Ja-Ma/Malaysia.html 2 Although Islam is the national religion of Malaysia, the constitution of the country ensures freedom to practice any religion and the individual's right to worship, with the exception that public evangelization of other religious group to a Muslim (Article 11(4) of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia) is prohibited and conversion away from Islam is highly discouraged (partly due to the fact it is extremely difficult for Muslims to convert, as there are serious implications under Islamic law.

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Recently an acclaimed Malaysian artist, Peter Teo, pioneered a 15Malaysia3 project. It gathered some of the best young-filmmakers of the country to produce 15 short films as a form self-reflection of Malaysias identity through a social-political perspective. The results of which was a poignant and powerful visual representation of the complexity of the social dynamics of Malaysia. It garnered tremendous resonance among the huge pool of viewers, who also expressed their unified voice of their continual search of what is truly Malaysia. The current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak also spearheaded the 1Malaysia4 campaign to promote unity and mutual respect and trust among the different ethnic communities in Malaysia. It stirred up great amount of heated rhetoric on the trickiness and mix-sentiment of such goal. In short, this ideology is a very good start, but is far from blossom fruition. Under such circumstances, how would Catholics situate themselves within the growing identity of the country? How would they best serve and proclaim the faith? How could they best see their role within the society? I would therefore like to explore this search through the paradigm of Catholics, studying through a social and theological anthropological framework. Special attention would be given to the appropriation of anthropological concept of human community. It is my hope that this study could shed some light as to what is the best self-identity a Catholic can assume so as to be true proclaimers of the Kingdom of God in a unique and trying society.

Understanding the society

Before we delve further into the search for identity, it would be of great help to have a more in depth look into various aspects of Malaysian society in order to have a better grasp of the complexity of the situation, and gather points which make the search for a unified identity challenging.

History and Ideology

Malaysia is considered to be a Malay dominated plural society and the freedom of practicing religion is granted to everyone. This conception of Malay hegemonic rule is a result of the political bargaining between the major ethnic political groups of Malaysia, UMNO (United Malays National Organization), MCA (Malaysian Chinese Association) and MIC
3

15Malaysia is a project is produced by Pete Teo and sponsored by P1, showcasing 15 short films directed by well known local directors, and featuring socio-political subject matters from corruption, race relations, inflation, Islamic banking, social apathy, ethical commerce, pedophilia, government health warnings and so on. See http://15malaysia.com 4 See http://www.1malaysia.com.my

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(Malaysian Indian Congress) during the formation of post-colonial Malaysia (at that time called Malaya) in 1957. As a result of the bargaining, non-Malay ethnic groups such as the Chinese and Indians were granted citizenship and their legitimate interests (economic rights), their rights of citizenshipand residence as well as theirfreedom to preserve, practice and propagate their religion, culture and language were recognized. 5 Enshrined in the Malaysian constitutions 6 were these ideologies of racial, religious, cultural and economical freedom and harmony. Equality before the law and protection by the law is stated in Article 8 of the constitution: there shall be no discrimination against citizens on the ground only of religion, race, descent, gender or place of birth in any law or in the appointment to any office or employment under a public authority or carrying on of any trade, business, profession, vocation or employment. Religious freedom is ensured in Article 11: Every person has the right to propagate his religion, but state law and, in respect of the Federal Territory, federal law may control or restrict the propagation of any religion, doctrine or belief among persons professing the Muslim religion. There is, however, freedom to carry on missionary work among non-Muslims. However, these ideologies, wonderful as they may be, do have its exceptions and limitations, along with the challenges in actualization. We would now therefore study the various aspects, looking into the two social reality7 to draw out the issues, challenges and complexities in each area.

Race
The racial population distribution had morphed quite significantly since the time of the countrys independence, as shown in Figure.1. This slow and steady change in the racial distribution is caused mainly by government policies encouraging increase birth rate among

Zainah Ibrahim, What Islam, Whose Islam?: Sisters in Islam and the Struggle for Womens Rights in The Politics of Multiculturalism. Ed. R W Hefner. (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2001), 128. 6 Constitution of Malaysia. http://confinder.richmond.edu/admin/docs/malaysia.pdf 7 The two social reality is the sociological approach suggested by A. Samsul to study the Malaysian society. It states that in most social phenomenon, identity formation takes place within a "two social reality" context: first, the "authority-defined" social reality, one which is authoritatively defined by people who are part of the dominant power structure; and, second, the "everyday-defined" social reality, one which is experienced by the people in the course of their everyday life. These two social realities exist side by side at any given time. See Samsul A, Debating about Identity in Malaysia: A Discourse Analysis. Southeast Asian Studies 34, no. 3 (December 1996): 477.

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bumiputras 8 , providing various incentives and loans to families above certain household number. These policies derived their basis in the controversial and often quoted Article 153 in the constitution of Malaysia. 9

Indians 10%

1957

others Indians 8% 7%

2004

Chinese 35%

Malays 55%

Chinese 24%

Malays 61%

Figure 1.Racial Distribution Between 1957 (Independence) and 2004 (Current)

On the other hand, family of other races, facing the threat of economical inflation and educational cost, tend to control the size of the family to smaller numbers. The steady reduction of non-Malays population is starting to set off red alerts among both non-Malay politicians and citizens alike. Singapores minister mentor Lee Kuan Yew very recently predicted that Malaysian Chinese would continue to dwindle in numbers, and in 20 years time, the leadership [of Malaysia] would value the Chinese population less and less. He commented further that Very soon, [the Chinese] will be completely engulfed by the powerful waves of aggressive Islamisation.10 The Chinese political parties have been squabbling about the issue without seemingly heading anywhere, and people on the ground are starting to get frustrated about the whole matter. Many commentators and analysts are encouraging all to be more focused, more hopeful, and search for more useful solutions and high-calibre and farsighted leadership.

Bumiputra is a Malay term widely used in Malaysia. It has a wide definition but is generally accepted to refer to indigenous people and muslims with Malay tradition, and it recognizes the "special position" of these people provided in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia. 9 According to this article, those who profess the religion of Islam, habitually speak the Malay language, and conform to Malay customs are entitled for special reservation of quotas in three specific areas: public services, education, and business licenses, without harming the rights of other ethnic groups. Thus it is important to emphasize that Malaysia is founded not on individual rights but on what political theorists have come to refer to as ethnically differentiated citizenship. 10 Tay Tian Yan, The Clear and Present Danger, Sin Chew Daily, October 21, 2009.

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Despite this change in racial percentage, the various races besides the bumiputras (Chinese, Indian, and Eurasian) had all the while held strong to their racial identity. This is mainly sustained through the countrys education system which consists of vernacular (jenis) schools, allowing each race to study in their own native language. That aside, each race had also put in tremendous effort to aid in individual racial identification. The Chinese has maintained one of the highest standards in Chinese literacy among other South East Asian countries, and a core Chinese literary elite has ensured the sustenance and promotion of the language and culture through managing Chinese Independent Schools all across the country and running the Mandarin press. 11 The Indians had also maintained their high level of native literacy and culture through the schools and the Indian press.

Politics and Economics

Making a rather simplified and generalized assessment (but one with a high amount of truth in it), one can say that in the early days of independence, the Malays emphasized politics while the Chinese had set their eyes on developing business and economics. Therefore, the political arena was mainly administered by the Malays while the Chinese held a strong stake in the economical arena of the country. However, economic inequality triggered the eruption of the worst ethnic violence ever seen in the country on May 13, 1969. What started out as a victory celebration in Kuala Lumpur for the Chinese opposition
party, DAP (Democratic Action Party) who won a significant number of seats during the general election of that year, ended up provoking the Malay community in the city. This resulted in counter demonstrations which ultimately resulted in several days of ethnic riots between the Malays and the Chinese This event highlighted the crisis which plagued the young nation-state as she struggled to discover her identity and seek the 12 common social will in the midst of the multi-cultural setting of Malaysia.

This event catalyzed the introduction of the New Economic Policy (NEP), an affirmative action based policy as a measure to eradicate poverty amongst the Malays, and it attempts to incorporate Malays into the Malaysian economy and to produce more middle-class Malays. This policy initially drew outrage from the Chinese community but they were forced to silently acquiesce to the demands of NEP due to their lack of political power. As a result, Chinese businessmen learned to adapt to the policy by working with the Malays to produce a successful and healthy working relationship.
11

See Wen Cui, [The Spirit of Chinese Education Promotion within Malaysian Chinese Society ], Guang Hua daily , Septemper 13 , 2001. 12 Chirstopher R. Yeoh, "Malaysia, truly Asia? Religious Pluralism in Malaysia." The Pluralism Project.:13.

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The NEP was successful in producing a new generation of middle-class Malays while eradicating poverty at the same time. The level of education among the Malays also improved tremendously. It was reported that between the early 1970s and 1993, middle-class Malays burgeoned from 18 percent to 28 percent of the population. Table 1 shows the income trend of the various races since independence till now.

Table 1.Mean monthly household income by ethnic group and stratum, Peninsular Malaysia, 1970 2002 (Malaysian Ringgit (RM))

Despite the win-win situation of the above move, many were questioning if this achievement has led to national unity, understood in terms of improved interethnic relations. There was still residual discontent by minority groups of Malays who think that the NEP only benefitted selected portion of Malays, and also some of the minor racial groups, who felt that they were further marginalized. This lingering disgruntlement sparked some social reaction within the country. For the Malays, it was said that Islamic insurgence was a direct consequence, and it exacerbated the growing hostility between Malays and non-Malays. Very recently in November 2007, more than 10,000 Indians took to the street to protest against unfair treatment against them in many areas including education, business and politics. 13

13

See Robin Brant, Malaysia's Lingering Ethnic Divide, BBC News, 4 March, 2008, and Preston Merchant, Malaysias Indian Community Struggles for Minority Rights, SAJA Forum, 4 February, 2008.

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Although most of these reactions were being dealt with in various forms and the harmony of the country was not greatly affected, the enduring sentiment still signals the strong sense of internal social shift towards a desirable equilibrium, and everyone is still constantly in search of their stand, their position and their identity within this constant change.

Religion
Despite the Muslim majority, Malaysia is not an Islamic state. Instead, Malaysia is considered to be a Malay dominated plural society and the freedom of practicing other religions is granted to everyone. 14 Figure 2 shows a breakdown of religions in term of percentage in Malaysia. The religion percentage distribution in Malaysia has remained relatively stable, although due to increased population, the absolute amount has increased throughout the years. Currently, there is an estimate of more than 2 million Christian in the country.

Religions in Other Malaysia (%)

Hindu 6% Chrisuan 9% Taoism Religions 2% 3% No Religion 1%

Buddhist 19%

Muslim 60%

Figure 2. The Religions in Malaysia (2005)

Although the system of religious tolerance has created an environment of relative peace on the surface, religious tension is still a known reality within the country. The call of some Muslim toward stronger fundamentalism to combat moral decadence, and the lament of other religions on the restrictions and difficulties in evangelization and growth had been gradually surfacing and it had caused some notable tensions in the recent past.

14

Chirstopher R. Yeoh, "Malaysia, truly Asia? Religious Pluralism in Malaysia." The Pluralism Project.:2.

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Some of the notable recent religious feuds includes that of Lina Joy 15 and Revathi Massosai16, both cases which attracted great media coverage and garnering great debate on how truly religious freedom is exercised in Malaysia. The Catholics have been having their fare share of religious tension in the country recently. Earlier in the year Catholics were being accused of trying to convert 2 Muslims in a local university, and later on, 9 Christians were arrested on charges in wanting to convert a Muslim to Christianity in the university.17 On a larger scale, the relatively strong foundation of religious harmony has been significantly destabilized through the on-going clash on the use of Allah for God in the countrys weekly Catholic magazine. The Malaysian authority that banned the use of Allah for the magazine had reasoned out that the use of this word would confuse the Muslims (As Allah is used to depict God in Islam).18 When the recent court ruling came out permitting Allah to be used by non-Muslims, a series of unprecedented reactions surfaced. Within days of the ruling, 11 churches across the country were targeted, either vandalized with paint splashed on the perimeter, or attacked with Molotov cocktail bombs.19 Even more unrest was sparked when pig heads were found outside two of the mosques. 20 Although many has commented that these acts were orchestrated by a minority group of troublemakers, and the events had created some positive
15

Lina Joy is a Malay convert from Islam to Christianity. She applied to have her conversion legally recognized by the Malaysian courts. Though her change of name was recognized in 1999 and so noted on her identity card, her change of religion was not (since it is without the Mahkamah Syariah confirmation document); for this reason, she filed suit with the High Court in 1999, bypassing the Syariah Court (Islamic court). She later filed suit with the Federal Court in 2006. Joy hopes to live openly as a Christian; she was forced to go into hiding by the publicity surrounding her case. See ___, Lina Joy,, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lina_Joy 16 Revathi Massosai is a Malaysian woman who was raised as a Hindu but her identity card designates her as a Muslim. She has declared her religion to be Hindu and has petitioned unsuccessfully to have the word "Islam" removed from her identity card. Massosai married a Hindu man, but her marriage is not recognized by the Malaysian government because of the religion issue. Massosai was incarcerated for six months in an Islamic re- education camp because of her attempts to renounce Islam in favour of the Hindu religion. Revathi was denied the guardianship of her new born baby and was not allowed to meet her Hindu husband. See ___. Freedom of Religion in Malaysia, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Status_of_religious_freedom_in_Malaysia 17 See ___, MALAYSIA: Christian Youths Accused of Trying to Convert Muslims, Union of Catholic Asian News, 15 July, 2009. 18 See ___, Malaysia: "Allah" Banned in Catholic Newspaper, UNHCR Refworld (Committee to Protect Journalist), 4 August,2008. 19 See Liz Gooch, Under Cloud of Violence, Malaysian Christians Come Together, The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/18/world/asia/18iht-church.html, (accessed February 9, 2010). and Robert Spencer, Malaysia: Even More Churches Firebombed over the use of Word Allah, Catholic Online, http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=35163accessed February 9,2010. 20 See ___, Pig Head left at Malaysia Mosque after Allah Row, BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8435975.stm, (accessed February 2010).

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effect in uniting Christians in their stand21, along with supports from level headed Muslim personnel, the tensions have not yet subsided and many are still on a high alert for further problematic outbreaks due the inherent discontent. All this on-going tension has left a bad taste behind the veil of religious tolerance. Many are questioning the authorities in many of their moves and discontentment is rising.

Sociological Analysis
The understanding of the social dynamics through a theoretical framework would ideally help one to disentangle issues that are dramatizing on the surface with its complexity and intermingling, and therefore allows one to see the underlying interactions more clearly. As has been detailed above, the social situation of Malaysia is truly a complex one. The government and political parties have, since the time of independence, tried very hard to achieve a conducive and harmonious society for the nation. However, due to the inherent inequality in the independence bargain, the point of balance requires great amount of understanding, humility and even compromise from all citizens, and is truly an incredible reality to achieve. There is obviously an imbalance that is strongly felt by the people, as discontentment and unease is brewing among the general masses. These inertial energies seem to be growing steadily, and are manifested in various events that are slowly popping up across the country, be it as a reaction to political, racial or economical issues. I would firstly like to utilize Habermas System-Lifeworld22 concept to situate the social- political reality of Malaysia. Due to the historical situation, since the independence bargain, there had already been a strong exertion of the system over how the lifeworld was to operate. The various political parties (presenting primarily different races) came to the agreement on how the country would function, stating specific terms in the constitution of the rights of the citizens.

21

See ___, Malaysia Allah Dispute Under Control Despite Vandalism, Catholic News Agency, http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/malaysian_allah_dispute_under_control_despite_vandalism, (accessed February 9, 2010). 22 This concept stems mainly from Habermas communicative action theory, which touches on how the encroachment of market system and bureaucratic authorities into day to day social relationships resulting in the erosion of human qualities. The lifeworld is broadly defined as the realm of everyday communicative life, and the system is defined as government bureaucracy, legal systems and market economy.

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We could therefore argue that there had already been a strong uncoupling of the system and the lifeworld in the very first place. It is in a way a necessity for the country at that time to begin functioning. However, as time went by and the systems colonization of the lifeworld grew stronger, the lifeworld would undoubtedly sense this distortion in communication and start to exert reactions, be it constructive or destructive ones. Adding to the plane of complexity is the contestation within the ethnicity. Although the racial differences within Malaysia are strong, according Stuart Halls theory on ethnicity, Malaysians could truly see themselves as an ethnic group due to their shared context, temporality and cultural affinities through the historical development. However, many of the countrys issues of disgruntlement stemmed from the insistent of one group (the bumiputras) to exert hegemony over the others. Again, this has its roots from the countrys constitution article 153 and actualized in many policies such as the NEP and the educational Quota 23 system. While one could argue that this was the original agreement of the bargain, sociologically, the domination of one group over the others will never lead to total balance of ethnicity. The logical way forward to achieve a new ethnicity, one where the site of contestation within the ethnicity could be eliminated, would require a re-balancing of all within the ethnic group. That would entail an almost altruistic move of the bumiputras to relinquish their special privileges and for the rest to understand and accept the gradual transition. A far fetch dream no doubt, but one with rays of hope trickling down as more and more bumiputras themselves are openly discussing about it. Some social theories are able to provide insights in dealing with this complicated situation. A foundational understanding of these theories would provide greater grounding and realistic push later on when we study the issue through the perspective of theological anthropology. Two important aspects from social theories would be discussed here: 1) an unbiased understanding of the situation and reality (utilizing Pierre Bourdieus conceptual triad of habitus, capital and field)24 and 2) act in a manner that would bring positive changes to the situation (utilizing Habermas theory of communicative action). The political-economical-religious-racial reality in Malaysia is the field of each and every Malaysian. It is the locality where the game is being played. Unless one chooses to be totally passive and shunts out the society, all are, by the nature of them being a citizen, actual players of the game-field.
23

See ___, Malaysia- Education System, BookRags, http://www.bookrags.com/research/malaysiaeducation- system-ema-04 (accessed 8 december, 2008). 24 It would be assumed here that readers have a basic understanding of the Pierre Bourdieus triad concept.

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The important point here is that to be the positive agent in the field, one must fully appreciate its habitus or feel for the game. Metaphorically, by having the feel for the game, we will be able to control, manoeuvre and strategize how to best play the game. This feel for the game is only achievable by those who live within the reality and therefore are being able to have a natural intuition of the reality. Being in the field and imbibing the habitus, we get to control how the game is played by controlling the capital. The capital is the stake which players invest themselves in. It is our action in the game of which we use to affect the outcome. According to Bourdieu, there are four main types of capital: 1) Economic 2) Cultural 3)Social and 4)Symbolic. Through proper usage of these four capital we are able to make our voices heard and make changes that improve the lifeworld-system balance. In the Malaysian reality, there have been good examples of the utilization of the capital to affect the outcome of the game. The 15Malaysia project mentioned in the introduction is one good example. Another example would the online news website Malaysiakini. It is an independent news site that takes a critical view on the politics of Malaysia. Unlike most news sources in Malaysia, Malaysiakini remains free from government regulation and thus widely considered to be the country's only credible, independent voice..25 To add to the capital of the game, or to be a better and more attuned positive agent within the society, we could utilize Habermas Theory of Communicative Action in promoting both critical thought and practical action.26 What the theory emphasizes is that as a member of the society, we need to rationalize and critically assess the realm in which we live in. With such critical thought we would be able to gather consensus, expectations and intentions which we believe would better our life situations. We are then urged to apply practical action. The theory calls for:
active involvement of the actors in the interaction which is governed by binding consensual norms, which in turn, are defined by their mutual expectations. One assumption is that the people should be able to express their intentions to one another in the most truthful and sincere manner. Such communication demands open and uninterrupted argumentation. It is only through argumentation that people can determine whether an agreement is genuine or communicatively achieved, as well as have a basis for knowing if what is expressed in words or action is rational.27

25 26

___, Malaysiakini, Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysiakini (accessed 9December, 2009). Carlito M. Gaspar, Habermas Theory of Communicative Action, Philippines Studies 47 (1999): 409. 27 Ibid. 410.

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Theological appropriation
Bourdieu and Habermas prompted and aided us to understand the complex social situation in Malaysia and our position within it in a clear manner. However, as Christians, we have an added responsibility and duty in exercising a faith response to the situation. Theological Anthropology pushes us a step forward in bringing to our attention that we are very much an integral part of the society, that the core idea of us being human would imply that we are part of the Human Community. The challenge for us would be to truly own up and bring about positiveness as a basic response to this fundamental Christian identity. The Vatican II document Gaudium et Spes (GS) takes great effort to put forth the message that fundamentally we are created to be communitarian. GS24 states that:
God, who has a parents care for all of us, desired that all men and women should form one family and deal with each other as brothers and sisters. ... Love of God and of ones neighbour, then, is the first and greatest commandment.

The International Theological Commissions document Communion and Stewardship gives a similar message and emphasizes that we are inherently communitarian as we are created in the image of God:
Human beings are created in the imago Dei precisely as persons capable of a knowledge and love that are personal and interpersonal. It is of the essence of the imago Dei in them that these personal beings are relational and social beings, embraced in a human family whose unity is at once realized and prefigured in the Church.28

The concept is further expounded with the understanding of the trinity:

God is not a solitary being, but a communion of three Persons. Christian revelation led to the articulation of the concept of person, and gave it a divine, Christological, and Trinitarian meaning. In effect, no person is as such alone in the universe, but is always constituted with others and is summoned to form and community with them.29

It is within this community that one grows in identity and character. It is within the interdependence with the society that we fully actualize our humanity, for through their dealings with others, through mutual service, and through fraternal and sororal dialogues, men and women develop all their talents and become able to rise to their destiny.30 It is also within the community that we exercise our responsibility and role towards the common good and the upholding of human dignity. The communitarian character of human

28 29

Communion and Stewardship, 40. Ibid. 41. 30 Gaudium et Spes, 25.

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existence means that the good of each person is bound up with the good of the community.31 We are challenged to uphold the fundamental rights given to all humans, to ensure that everyone is afforded the opportunity to live in full human dignity, and to bring order to the society that has the common good of all people as the binding principle. Within this context, we are also brought to light as to how the deviation from this call towards community would lead one to sin.
without doubt frequent upheavals in the social order are in part the results of economic, political and social tensions. But at a deeper level they come from selfishness and pride, two things which contaminate the atmosphere of society as well. As it is, human beings are prone to evil, but whenever they are confronted with an environment where the effects of sin are to be found, they are exposed to further inducements to sin, which can be overcome only by unremitting effort with the help of grace.32

Thus, we are challenged constantly to remember our primal role within the community, and in doing so, exercise our respect for the human person, respect and love for enemy, to live in human solidarity with responsibility and participation, and ultimately to uphold the common good.

The Christian Challenge

Upon the understanding of our role within the community, what are the concrete steps that we can take to exercise our duty and responsibility within the society? In particular, what can the Catholics concretely do within the Malaysian context? The following are some suggestions: Know Yourself Once again, this is the fundamental call for Catholics to understand their role within the Human Community. As has been mentioned repeatedly, we need to understand the workings of the society and our connections within it in an objective manner. The social theories clearly explained the dynamics going on underneath all the happenings in the Malaysian context, and had put forth a framework explaining the role of one within society. Theologically, we have been told that it is our fundamental duty to be part of the
31

Judith A. Dwyer, ed. The New Dictionary of Catholic Social Thought, (Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1994), 192. 32 Ibid.

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community and the society, and it is in exercising our role for the common good within the society that we fulfil our basic responsibility. The basic call here is awareness. We need to be aware that we are part of a whole. Especially in terms of exercising our faith, we need to be reminded constantly that we cannot live the Christian faith in exclusion. Our faith is not a private, out-of-the-world belief, it is in fact a grounded, relational faith that challenges us to a response within the reality we are in. Humans were created by God not for life in isolation but for the formation of social unity.33 Nurturing the Faith within the Community The awareness that our faith is meant to be grounded within the community and the society naturally leads to the conclusion that our spiritual growth needs to happen within the reality of the society. What this implies is that what we believe in and the subsequent growth of our relationship with God needs to be contextualized within the reality we are living in. We are challenged to experience and interpret the Gospel message within our society. We need to look out for the good Samaritan in our surroundings, to find them within the poor and the rich, within the Malays, Chinese, Indian and Eurasians in Malaysia. We need to exercise the beatitudes within the context of our usual lives, to live out the call of Christians within our economical, racial and religious tensions. We also need to understand the chaos of our times as the way Jesus view his Greco-Roman political-religious issues, to experience the Kingdom of God as Jesus has preached it within our daily reality, we need to see the face of Jesus within the fights and arguments of the politicians, religious and ordinary people in Malaysia alike. Our faith has to come alive within the interpersonal-communitarian present actuality of our society. Only through this strong grounding of the faith to the community, can our spirituality or relationship with our God grow steadily with a deeply rooted base and foundation. Communion within the Faith Community It should be clear by now that our Christian faith cannot be nurtured within a void or in total seclusion. Core to the faith is a relationship. This relationship, tending towards God, ultimately has to be actualized in us tending towards others. The first step forward upon this realization would naturally be to come into solidarity with our brothers and sisters sharing the same faith. For this communion with our faith

33

Gaudium et Spes, 32.

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community (the church) is seen as kind of sacrament or sign of intimate union with God, and of the unity of all humankind.34 As we come together and identify ourselves as an integral part of a community of communion, we are then able to assume our prophetic role in our living with others. We come as a unity as we face the social reality. We face the political issues and racial issues not as individual with varying concerns, but as a member of the communion of God striving for the common good. This call, although seemingly obvious, can be a great challenge within the Malaysian context. For due to the reality of the strong racial-identity, strong segregation is found even within the faith community itself. We could easily observe the separation between the Chinese, English and Tamil speaking Catholic communities who tend to stick to themselves in terms of worship and community living. The language and cultural barrier increases the unease for intermingling and unified liturgies or activities. This then pose as the first challenge for us in exercising the call for communion. Awareness was called for previously for us to understand our situation with open arms, but it is within this aspect that we can most tangibly affect and begin change. It is only through such acceptance, openness and willingness to go beyond our discomfort and attempt for communion with our brothers and sisters within our own faith community can we move forward toward the greater goal of human community. It is not an easy task, but it is exactly the Christian challenge. Within such mindset and orientation, our objective and vision would then be a unified one. Our concerns stem from our relatedness to our community. We move from individualism towards communal charity, and we get to truly live out the call of God towards all Christian, the call for all men and women to the freedom and divine fullness of life in this Kingdom by entering into free, forgiving and loving relationships in human community.35 Communion with the whole Society Beyond the communion with the members of the church, we are challenged to a greater realization that the call towards Human Community goes past those of our same faith. It needs to be extended to all members of the society. We need to look at the bigger context of the country, and ultimately establish the communion with all other citizens of the country. It is within this communion that we are most challenged in exercising our Christian values. As Paul
34 35

Lumen Gentium, 1. Brendan J. Kelly, The Individual in Community (Lectures, SATMI, Davao, 2010), 31.

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puts it in his letters to the various communities in the New Testament, we are encouraged to be responsible members of society, concerned both for the well-being of our own community and for what was in the wider public interest.36 The acceptance of this reality of Human Community and responding to it is by far the greatest call for us within the Malaysian context. We need to be aware that within the struggle of social equality, within the racial disputes and most of all, within our religious tensions and conflicts, we are ultimately one. As in the words of Johannes B. Metz:
As Christians, we must ever more and more take to ourselves in the re-enactment of the descensus Christi those elements of the world which are not yet assimilated into our faith, for it is from the world and for the world that we live, this is precisely how we set the world free in faith, how we leave to it its own worldly character.37

What this understanding calls for is a shift in paradigm. When we see those who are different from us as part of our community, we will learn to see things from their lens, thus it allows us to withhold judgements and biases for the time being while reflecting for solutions which serve for the betterment of all. It prevents us from looking at things as we finding ways to disarm or gain victory over the other. Rather, it is all of us coming to a solution that benefits all. In other words, this understanding of solidarity helps us better in achieving the common good. As our late Pope John Paul II often emphasized in his social teachings, such solidarity has an important place in the vision of a just society in Catholic social ethics, and it is a prerequisite for a democratic society characterized by human rights.38 Of course, this understanding takes on a new level of complexity as those whom we see as one of us might not necessarily think the same. The call towards the common good might not draw a unison response as people with different background and mindset tend to look at things differently. What is key here is for us who understand this framework to hold strong to this conviction and understanding. We are called to make the world more worldly, to bring it into its own, to preserve the barely suggested, barely dreamed-of heights and depths of its own worldly nature which have been made possible by grace, but have been hidden and obstructed by sin.39 Amidst the difficulty and struggle, we need to stand out and answer to this call for the following last challenge, to be prophetic agents of hope and change.
36

Victor Furnish, Uncommon Love and the Common Good: Christians as Citizens in the Letters of Paul, in In Search of the Common Good, Patrick Miller and Dennis McCaan ed. (New York: T & T Clark, 2005), 58. 37 Metz refers more to the Christian role within a secularized world, however, the call could be similarly appropriated here. Johannes B. Metz, A Believers Look at the World in The Christian and the World: Readings in Theology, (New York, P.J.Kenedy & Sons, 1965), 88. 38 David Hollenbach, The Global Common Good in a divided World (Presentation, The Australian Catholic University and Uniya Jesuit Social Justice Centre, 2005), 4. 39 Johannes B. Metz, A Believers Look at the World in The Christian and the World: Readings in Theology, (New York, P.J.Kenedy & Sons, 1965), 93.

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The Call to be Prophetic Agents of Hope and Change The understanding of the true meaning of Human Community and the appropriation of it into our society ultimately entails us doing the right thing. It is the call for us to go beyond the currents of social inclination, and most of the time, to execute bold actions and prophetic proclamations. We are tasked to be the level minded ones amidst the chaos, to always work towards the common good. The outcome of this should always be constructive, sensitive to all, and ultimately yield good fruits. We are also called to be agents of hope. Amidst gloom and despair, we should be the voice that brings comfort and solace to all. The words we speak should always strengthen our inter-relatedness, bringing us closer together. Some of the recent happenings in Malaysia, especially on the treatment towards religious tension, have in fact demonstrated that many Catholics indeed embraced the essence of the Human Community understanding, and have acted towards achieving the common good. While the local and foreign media were hyped on the tensions between the Christians and Muslim over the Allah feud, the Catholics remained calm and level-headed throughout. They were non-reactive to the various attacks, understanding the undercurrents of the situation and allowing the reactive energy to die down. What came after were signs of greater solidarity within the faith community and a solid witnessing towards people of other faith, resulting in many more-understanding non-Christians to voice their support and offer their aid. The tragic religious tension Malaysia is facing now can in effect be a moment of grace for Catholics to truly testify to the faith. To show to others the concept of human community in our all embracing love and strive for the good of all. This is the golden opportunity where we can bring hope although things do not seem too bright. This is the time where we could stand out as true prophets, bringing everyone to greater solidarity through our action and witness. If this seed is planted, nurtured and cared for well, it would grow into a great big tree of testimony of our Christian understanding of Human Community, thus, ultimately, it could influence many future tides of the country beyond the religious aspect into the political, racial, social and economical sphere.

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Conclusion
The birth and growth of the country Malaysia has been a very unique one. Despite the diversity, there has always been a strong effort in unifying the people. However, due to the reality of the racial, economical, political and religious differences and disparity, the unifying efforts have been extremely challenging. Up to now, Malaysians are still trying to find its identity, to try to come to terms with what it truly means to call oneself a Malaysian. Catholics within the country need to also play its role in searching for their identity within the country. Besides a sociological understanding towards the situations, we have an added faith dimension to be utilized in analyzing and coming to awareness of the social reality. Appropriating the theological anthropological framework of human community, Catholics should come to understand that they play an integral role within the community and need to strive towards the full communion. We are challenged to be fully aware of the society , to know that our faith have to be actualized within this society, that we need to firstly be in communion with our faith community, and more importantly, we need to be in communion with the whole nation. As Victor Furnish puts it while summarizing the call of Paul on the various communities towards their responsibility as members of society,
He called them to recognize that this had to involve their ongoing critical assessment of societys manifold and competing claims concerning good and evil, right and wrong. And he led them to understand that what they could determine to be the will of God as normed by the uncommon, saving love disclosed in the cross ought to govern their conduct in relation to society at large no less than their conduct within the believing community.40

In thoughts and actions, the Catholics have to play the prophetic role in establishing this communion and be an integral bonding force for all. Ultimately, this identity of the Catholic should influence and permeate into the national identity, making the nation understand that we are all part of a diverse, unique but most importantly, strongly bonded communion.

40

Victor Furnish, Uncommon Love and the Common Good: Christians as Citizens in the Letters of Paul, in In Search of the Common Good, Patrick Miller and Dennis McCaan ed. (New York: T & T Clark, 2005), 87.

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