RECENTLY, a friend of mine uploaded a picture album on Facebook of a Muslim bridesmaid attending the wedding ceremony of her Christian friend held in church, with the caption “This only happens in Sabah”.

As a Sabahan, I felt proud and shared this album with my peninsular Malaysian friends. They were surprised and asked me why East Malaysia had such a different degree of harmony and religious tolerance.

To answer this question, I had to point out Sabah’s unique social history compared with the rest of Malaysia, especially in terms of the difference in historical migration patterns. Unlike the influx of Chinese and Indians into Malaya, the migration of Chinese immigrants to North Borneo was originally largely state-assisted.

When the North Borneo (Chartered) Company first took over the territory of North Borneo and set up a new administrative centre, a sizeable population to supply a sufficient labour force for the development of the territory was very much needed.  

There were three major immigration schemes under the North Borneo Company. The Chinese Hakkas took especially well to their new surroundings, settling down quickly in their adopted homeland. Under these immigration schemes, the Chinese were given assistance on the basis of land and financial support. They were even given “free passenger” schemes to arrange for their relatives to migrate to North Borneo as well. Under the initiative of “looking for a new homeland”, they were not treated as “second class citizens”, unlike the Chinese and Indian immigrants on the Malay peninsula.

Intermarriage and the “hybrid” community

In addition, intermarriage was common in Sabah prior to independence. Intermarriage also gave a rise to a new class of people known as the Sino-Natives. This hybrid community was officially recognised as a sub-population group in the North Borneo census report.

Through such a formal acknowledgement of their identity, Sino-Natives were absorbed into the general population and became part of the society. Even after independence, the collective identity of the Sino-Natives was not affected by the Bumiputra status policy, a fact that encouraged more intermarriage among Sabahans.

These multi-ethnic and multi-religious practices in most Sabahan families have created a different level of religious tolerance. For example, Sabahan wedding receptions commonly serve both non-halal and halal food. During festive seasons, churches in Sabah open their parking lots to those who visit nearby Ramadan bazaars. Despite differing ethnic and religious backgrounds, most Sabahan families celebrate each other’s cultural festivities together under one roof.

This illustrates a different level of religious tolerance and respect, compared to what is seen on the peninsula. It is worth mentioning that religion is not a sensitive issue in Sabah. To most Sabahans, it would not be surprising for a Sabahan Muslim to successfully convert to another religion. A few years ago, I personally witnessed a case of my Muslim neighbour converting from Islam to Christianity.

In short, the high degree of harmony seen in Sabah was not built in one day, but is mainly due to a unique social history. Yet, it is still possible to change the social trajectories in West Malaysia if existing policies are enhanced, and harmonious race relations and religious tolerance strengthened among Malaysians.  

The government made efforts to bridge the unity gap with the establishment of the National Unity Council in 1969. Sadly, since its implementation, little seems to have resulted from this initiative.

After GE14, Pakatan Harapan fulfilled one of their pre-election promises by establishing a National Consultative Council for Harmony, with the aim of reviewing and improving national interracial and interreligious harmony.  

According to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P. Waytha Moorthy, the Harmony Bill will be tabled next year and comprises three new acts – the Racial and Religious Hate Crimes Bill, the National Harmony and Reconciliation Bill, and the National Harmony and Reconciliation Commission Bill.  

Apart from that, a collaboration with the Institute of Ethnic Studies at University Kebangsaan Malaysia will be carried out and formulated in the National Unity Action Plan. I hope that with these efforts, our nation will finally be on track to achieve a stronger level of national harmony across every state, and not just in Sabah. – November 27, 2018.

* Esther Sinirisan Chong is a member of Agora Society. She was born and raised in the Land Below the Wind. Her research interest lies in education and government policies, and the history and heritage of East Malaysia.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.