ONE is Muslim and the other Christian, and these two women are united in a mission to educate society on using dialogue to break racial and religious barriers.

Patricia Rita Nunis and Hamidah Marican, the duo behind Harmonyworks Facilitation, believe that if they can get people from different backgrounds to avoid using labels during difficult conversations, it would count as a success.

The initiative is supported by the Council of Churches Malaysia (CCM), through sessions titled “Building Bridges, Connecting Communities”.

Nunis, the founding director, said the idea came to her after observing how quickly people became judgmental about race or religion without fully understanding a particular incident.

She said this was obvious in chat groups, with many participants jumping in when such topics cropped up.

“We even see it Christian WhatsApp groups. If something happens somewhere, the discussion quickly becomes race- or religion-based.

“People tend to jump to their own assumptions very quickly. When they do this, it creates a lot of false impressions, misconceptions and judgments, and it prevents people from understanding each other better,” she told The Malaysian Insight.

But, she said, face-to-face conversations with such people later have shown that they are “quite reasonable” – as long as they are willing to listen.

“They are willing to take the other person’s point of view and see where they are coming from. They might not fully agree, but they can appreciate that they are making their decisions based on the facts that they have.

“Only then can they move forward, after clarifying what is wrong without first condemning the other person.”

She said the sessions by Harmonyworks help participants understand each other without judgment.

“(The sessions help give people) the tools to self-examine their assumptions and judgments, and look at issues in a different light.”

She said the goal is to help people become more effective listeners, who can present their thoughts in a mature manner without resorting to labelling others.

Personal stories

The first session was held last month, involving university students, representatives from civil society organisations and church groups, all from different races.

Harmonyworks previously had a sponsor, who has since pulled out. So, the initiative is now working CCM. The next session is slated for October.

CCM general secretary Reverend Hermen Shastri said he believes the initiative is different from other interfaith programmes, of which there are many.

He said there have been interfaith talks by big think-tanks and political parties, but Harmonyworks is different as it engages ordinary folk without the lure of “big names”.

He said the Harmonyworks sessions are “just about exchanging stories and life experiences”, a powerful tool to help people discover what they have in common.

“Like a person of one race sharing about how his car broke down, and someone of another race helped him. That is a positive story that can (counter and) offset the negative stories.

“The goal in these sessions is (to find) common humanity and the common good in all races. Religion is not a factor. We start with people’s stories, instead of coming with dogma,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Changing society

The next session hopes to draw people from residents’ associations and more civil society groups, as these are “everyday people”, said Nunis.

“We want to reach out to people who are in contact with the everyday person. Because sadly, our education process hasn’t given us this tool, to use dialogue in a mature and respectful manner.

“Sometimes, we are discouraged from holding dialogues with other races because we fear they might influence us. There is a lot of fear separating communities, so we feel that if we can provide people with the right tools, then, we can build a more cohesive, open and tolerant society.”

Hamidah, also a director at Harmonyworks, said the initiative wants to help people understand what drives behaviour and thinking, so that a more inclusive mindset can be cultivated.

“When we talk about what is common among Malaysians, we often think of food, but that’s not what brings us together. What we want to understand is what drives our behaviour and what we want to get out of it.

“For instance, take a tree, its branches as the different races. What we want to know more about are the roots, or our (shared) values that keep the nation together.”

She said in the long run, the efforts are aimed at influencing policies, ranging from ticking a box for “race” in an application form to job opportunities based on merit.

If society can accept racial diversity and mixed identities, and if it can fully accept meritocracy, then there will be a day when there is no need for Malaysians to tick a box to indicate their race. – August 12, 2018.