SARAWAK has long been known for its diversity. There are so many different native people in the state, all proud of their histories and cultures, and all living comparatively harmoniously with the mix of Malays, Chinese and Indians.
Yes ethnic rivalry exists – as every election reveals, whether state or federal – and sometimes they can be fierce, with fiery arguments and long-held grudges. Yet these rivalries are almost always about development and progress and other such practical matters.
Race and religion are not familiar bogeymen in either of the country’s two Bornean states, Sabah and Sarawak.
Malaysia’s media knows this well, as we all turn to these two states when we need images of people of different faiths coexisting not merely peacefully but happily.
There are stories aplenty about families with members following different religions who come together to celebrate all the different festivals.
Gawai, for instance, celebrated on June 1 and 2 every year, is mainly a Dayak harvest festival but is wholly embraced by all Sarawakians.
This year, the festival’s theme was, quite fittingly, Segulai Sejalai, an Iban phrase which means together in unity.
It’s a phrase that caught the attention of the leader of Malaysia’s still-new unity government, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
“I was struck to hear the phrase, which I think should be used across Malaysia and not just Sarawak,” he said in his speech at the state Gawai dinner on Wednesday in Kuching.
“Wherever I go from now on, when I talk about unity and cooperation, I’ll make sure I say ‘Segulai Sejalai’.”
Sabah, too, has a similar catchphrase: Kita Kita Juga Baini, meaning we are all one.
It is time for Malaysians to learn from these examples and practices, said the Prime Minister, especially those stirring up divisive sentiments by playing race and religion cards ahead of the elections coming up in six peninsula states.
Of course, we could be cynical and say it’s just political posturing.Yet Segulai Sejalai is something that Sarawakians have been living for decades, as Datuk Snowdan Lawan, state Deputy Minister of Tourism, Creative Industries and Performing Arts, points out.
The phrase has been in use since the 1970s and, as he put it in The Borneo Post on Friday:
“We have proven that we in Sarawak have lived in unity; able to sit down together at the same table to eat and to drink.”
Let us all adopt “Segulai Sejalai” and learn to truly live it.
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