By Hamdan Ismail
KUCHING: It was not like any other usual lectures that Prof Datuk Dr Taufiq Yap Yun Hin, a chemistry expert, would give at universities or science conferences when he came up on stage here recently.
The coordinator of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)’s Centre of Excellence for Catalysis Science and Technology (PutraCAT) dwelled beyond his academic reputation to discuss more on social matters, rather than pure science.
“My surname is Yap, Yun (in Chinese) means forever, Hin is happy. This is what myself is all about. I’m a very happy man forever,” he said, as his remarks drew applause from the 250-odd participants at the International Chinese Muslims Conference held here.
On that day he wore a different cap. Not as a scientist but as the President of the Malaysian Chinese Muslims Association (MACMA) by talking on “Being a Chinese and Muslim in Malaysia.”
His 30-minute lecture on the subject dwelled on the achievements being carved by Malaysian Chinese Muslims and sharing his aspiration to create a better “social chemistry” in a multi-racial society.
The number of Chinese Muslims in Malaysia is small, roughly about 70,000 nationwide and according to Prof Yap, the figure represented just about one percent of the Chinese population in the country.
Speaking to Bernama after the talk, he said regardless of their number, MACMA had been actively involved in promoting better understanding of Islam among the Chinese community, as well as promoting Chinese Muslims to other races.
“To understand a religion doesn’t mean that you have to embrace the religion. Understand, so that you are more tolerant (and) you can build up the love for one another actually,” he said.
To reach this inter-racial and inter-religious understanding, he said people from different ethnic groups and faiths would need to mix and work together to achieve greater tolerance.
“In actual fact, one of the pillars under Malaysia MADANI concept inspired by our Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) is respect. What better way can we build respect if not by understanding each other,” he said.
Prof Yap said Sarawak had already set a perfect example for how the Malaysia MADANI operates where the level of racial and religious tolerances are high to enable its people to live in harmony and respecting each other.
He was also delighted to note that unity is being prominently emphasised in the theme for this year’s National Day and Malaysia Day celebrations to which MACMA fully subscribed to ever since its formation in 1994.
He said the theme “Tekad Perpaduan, Penuhi Harapan” (Determination in Unity, Fulfilling Hope) was in line with the mission of the association all these years to promote greater understanding and unity in bringing greater success to Malaysia.
As a multi-racial country, he said every citizen would always want to co-exist peacefully so that everyone could concentrate on contributing to the country’s development.
“We, the Chinese Muslims want to play a significant role that could create an impact to our nation building efforts so that Malaysia will become the most harmonious country in the world,” he added. – BERNAMA
