Harmonizing the Streets for Youth

Jelajah Harmoni: Exploring the Meaning of Harmony through Community-Based Learning

SangSaeng - No.61 | 2023

What is the meaning of “harmony”? What can we learn about ourselves and our identity as a society from the stories of the houses of worship at the Seberang Jaya Street of Harmony?

These were the two driving questions behind our recent Jelajah Harmoni (Journey of Harmony) Seberang Jaya programme. For someone living outside Malaysia, it might seem unusual to have various houses of worship in close proximity to each other. Yet there are several such “Streets of Harmony”—areas where various houses of worship can be found clustered together—scattered across the state of Penang. Which begs the question: why, then, the need for this programme?

Despite Malaysia’s outward emphasis on multiculturalism, society in Malaysia has become increasingly segregated by race, religion, and language. With a national constitution that equates being Malay with being Muslim and a dual legal system for Syariah and civil offences, many Malaysians grow up with the concept of religion being tied to a specific ethnicity. Adding to that the various language streams available for education which inadvertently compounds segregation by ethnicity, it is no surprise that many young Malaysians grow up in cultural silos without the opportunity—or reason—to learn more about their own fellow citizens.

Yet, in order to promote global citizenship, it is important for the youths of Malaysia to learn about the culture and religions that surround them and shape their everyday lives—more so when such knowledge is so easily and readily accessible. 

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