CALL it timely intervention from the wise ruler of the land to quell narrow-mindedness that has increasingly led Malaysia to regress further and further behind or be made a global laughing stock.
Common sense has finally prevailed over the Bon Odori Festival ban controversy in Selangor with Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah (sternly) instructed the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) not to obstruct the staging of the event at the Shah Alam Sports Complex on July 16.
In what seemingly be a slap on the face of the state’s religious authority, JAIS director Datuk Shahzihan Ahmad said Sultan Sharafuddin has also decreed that the department should not in any way prevent any individuals from attending it.
To further rub salt on the wounded pride of the religious authority, Sultan Sharafuddin further encouraged officers from JAIS and the Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) to attend the event to experience it for themselves.
“His Highness attended the event several years ago and did not find any elements that could erode Muslim beliefs, as it is just a social event involving Japanese businesses and their employees in Selangor,” Shahrizan elaborated in a statement yesterday (June 8).
He alongside other officers from JAIS and MBSA were summoned for an audience with Sultan Sharafuddin yesterday afternoon during which the ruler reminded them that all decisions must take into consideration the diversity and beliefs of the state’s populace.
“His Royal Highness sternly stated that watching something differs from practising it,” Shahrizan pointed out.
“His Highness was also not worried given if the faith of Muslims were strong and true, it will sidestep any conviction and practice that was contradictory to the Ahli Sunnah Wal Jaamah creed.”
Sultan Sharafuddin is also spot on for stating that he is not in favour of any decisions hastily taken without in-depth study and perusal as well as the very fact that “many cultures have links with religion but religion is not necessarily present in cultures”.
The uncalled for Bon Odori controversy came to light recently when when the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of religious affairs Datuk Idris Ahmad dropped a bombshell that the event contains elements of another religion.
His statement was quickly echoed by other so-called religious experts, notably Penang Mufti Datuk Seri Wan Salim Wan Mohd Noor who described Bon Odori’s origin as an event to remember the souls of ancestors by dancing and worshipping their spirits as an act of “polytheism to Allah”.
The Bon Odori Festival has been held here for decades in Selangor in line with Malaysia’s Look East Policy as well as to create a platform of goodwill between Malaysians and the many Japanese businesses that have invested heavily in the state.
This year’s edition will the 46th Bon Odori in Malaysia, marking the return of the annual event after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Malaysia is one of just a handful of countries where the festival is observed outside of Japan. – June 9, 2022
