Guest Columnist

Religious Diversity in Southeast Asia27 Mar

THE KANSAS CITY KANSAN

– Mar. 27, 2004 –

“Religious Diversity in southeast Asia” was the theme of a study abroad experience I was lucky enough to participate in last fall. I traveled and studied three weeks in Malaysia and Thailand with a group of seventeen young leaders from the U.S., China, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, The Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka. The group members, all in their late twenties to early forties, work in government, academia, and non-profit groups, and included Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindi, and Shinto. Funding for this program was provided by The East-West Center, a non-profit foundation which promotes educational exchanges and understanding among nations around the Pacific Ocean. The goal of this program is for young leaders to develop a better understanding of each others’ religions and values. Hopefully such knowledge exchanges and understanding will lessen religious based violence and the likelihood of wars.Our group had lectures and discussions comparing and contrasting the major world religions of Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hindi. I learned more about religious diversity, world relations, and how other people think, more so  in those three weeks than three years in college.
The similarities between Christianity and Islam are deep and old. Both religions believe in one supreme being; both believe in a prophet through which the word of God is spread; both practice worship and prayer; both have a system of clergy and places of worship; both religions are written into a book, and both philosophize about caring for the poor. It’s disappointing that such antagonism has grown between our two religions with so many fundamental values being the same.
Like Christians, Muslims come in many different flavors. Some are liberal, most are moderate, and some are extremely conservative. Most Muslims from Malaysia and south east Asia are moderate to liberal, are understanding and tolerant of people with different religions, live peaceably with their neighbors, and don’t hate America. Most American images of Islam come from television images from the conservative Arab middle east. The image of Muslims most often portrayed on TV is mobs of religious-conservative, bearded, middle eastern men yelling: “DEATH TO AMERICA!” or Muslim women cloaked head to toe in a black burka. Yet these images are not the norm, even in the conservative Middle East. Furthermore, Muslims in most of the rest of the world are more moderate and progressive.

In Malaysia, many Muslim women dress the same as women in Kansas City: dresses, pants and blouse, even jeans and a t-shirt. More conservative women wear a scarf to cover their hair and a colorful but conservatively styled sarong dress. Like Kansas City women, Malaysian women are educated through high school, and college is available to all who pass the entrance exam. Women have jobs, drive cars, speak freely, and smile.

Malaysian history is an unusual convergence of multiple religions and multiple ethnicit. No single group is a majority. Malaysia is a melting pot of religions with the largest group being Muslim, then Buddhists, then Hindus, Christians, and Animist. A slight majority of the people are ethnic Malay. Large minorities of Chinese and Indians are present and some Anglos. Malaysia is a small country about 1.5 times the size of Kansas, but with a population of 23 million. Like the British who once colonized them, Malaysia has a parliamentary style of government with a strong Prime Minister, where the national government is stronger, and the provincial state governments are weaker. Malaysia has a well funded national health care and retirement system which cover all citizens. A policy we should copy!

There are advantages and disadvantages with the strong central government, and weak local government model. One advantage is that the government can focus its resources to compete favorably in international trade. The Malaysian government chose many years ago to focus on manufacturing, electronics, and computer technology. Their export-based economy is one of the strongest in Asia with a 30 year growth average of 7% per year, and strong trade surplus. Their government budget is balanced with no Washington, D.C.-style pork-barrel-deficit spending. Another policy we should copy! Their foreign exports top $100 billion per year, 85% of which is manufacturing, mostly electronics. This booming economy has reduced the poverty rate from 50 percent in 1970 to 5 percent currently. It’s a young society with 80 percent of the population under the age of 50.

I share these stories about my foreign travel and observations because I want Wyandotte Countians to gain new perspectives on our world. We must try harder to know and understand the different peoples with whom we share this earth. President Dwight Eisenhower once said: “understanding among people is a passport to peace.” It will take decades and centuries to accomplish such a goal, but meeting, knowing, understanding and living peacefully with other people is better and cheaper than the destruction and misery of war. In Wyandotte County we have the advantage in that our community is somewhat more ethnically and culturally diverse than surrounding communities. I encourage readers to understand and appreciate Wyandotte County’s ethnic and cultural diversity. It will help you to be a better human being.

Leave a Reply

Learn more about Senator Steineger

State Senator Chris Steineger has served the 6th Senate District in Wyandotte County for the past 13 years. Senator Steineger was born in Kansas City, KS and grew up in Muncie, a township on the edge of the city limits. Chris lives with his wife Shari in their 1920s Craftsman bungalow in Kansas City, Kansas.

To learn more, Click Here

Stay Updated

Your Email (required)

Zip Code (required)