“Om swastiastu shanti om, assalamualaikum, selamat sorih dan shalom diucapkan kepada semua. Kita akan mulakan upacara dengan membaca doa. Saya minta maaf kerana akan kendalikan doa mengikut agama Islam. Tetapi saudara kalian yang bukan beragama Islam sila sesuaikan doa ini dengan kepercayaan masing-masing.”

This is the normal opening greeting at most official government events and functions in Bali, Indonesia, and I had the privilege of hearing it recently when I was invited to conduct a broadcast workshop for Indonesian state broadcaster TVRI there.

Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world with a population of 255 million people. Almost 90 percent of those living in the vast archipelago are Muslims. The rest consist of Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, etc.

But somehow, for an average Malaysian like me, I find it almost impossible to believe that other religions can be accepted and acknowledged so easily until I saw it happening at the official government function I was a part of.

I almost got knocked off my seat when I heard the emcee utter the above words. And the feeling continued like a sub-machine gun firing because one after another, every government official, whether Muslim or not (and one wouldn’t even know!), started saying the same greetings.

After 38 years of my life living in Malaysia, I have the belief that it is a cardinal sin for a Muslim to wish a non-Muslim ‘assalamualaikum’, what more to utter greetings that are from different religions and culture. Come on! Om shanti om? Shalom? What is going on here?

Imagine my continued shock when I saw one individual in the crowd crossing her heart right after the Muslim emcee said ‘walhamdulillahirabilalamin’ on concluding his doa. I was disoriented, confused, dizzy and a little bit light-headed.

All this goes against what I was taught. I was in primary school when my friends told me that I would be going to hell because I celebrated Chinese New Year and collected ‘ang pow’. They said all Chinese people go to hell. I worried for my mother. My father would be fine. He’s Malay.

I was also told that we should never utter greetings of other faiths and cultures because by doing so, our Muslim tongue would turn black and we would lose the ability to express the ‘shahadah’ (There is no God but God and Muhammad is his Prophet).

Yes, we would then be rendered a non-Muslim. It was similar if a Muslim were to drink holy water. The black tongue disease was something to really be afraid of. Kind of like how everyone around the world are currently responding to the Zika virus.

A nation of statues and monuments

I also noticed that Indonesia has many statues and monuments. Sure, Balinese are predominantly Hindu and the island of Bali has lots of Hindu idols and deities everywhere. But are they not afraid since they are in a Muslim country and this can be considered insulting Islam?

I also saw that the whole country has pride in their national monuments and statues. The Monas (National Monument) is one huge phallic symbol. And they have numerous statues of their former leaders who they respect and pay tribute to.

I thought that the existence any form of statues and monuments would mean everyone would go to hell. It doesn’t matter what the intention of creating and erecting the statue was or how harmless it is. It’s just a sin.

Even a harmless statue of an eagle that represents the namesake of an island can be that one factor that will eventually determine if you are a good Muslim or not, and if you are going to hell or heaven.

In fact, a monument that pays a symbolic respect to those who have sacrificed for the country, such as the Tugu Negara, could also be evil. So you better watch out. You might just be sinning without even realising that you are.

In order to be careful, I have always been taught to consult with the those who know better - the state fatwa council. They are a council that is all-knowing, all-blessed and all-holy. You can’t go wrong when you consult with them.

It doesn’t matter if the country is actually based on a secular system and that the state, which consists of officials elected by the people to represent the people, is actually consulting a council that isn’t elected by the people to represent the people.

So, it was a huge culture shock for me to see what was happening in Indonesia. Seeing that it is a country that is our immediate neighbour and that we share many similarities with could also be so different in many ways.

It would seem that Indonesians, regardless of faith and ethnicity, seem to be so accepting and respectful of one another. I would even dare say that their attitude and approach to pluralism would be, I don’t know, somewhat progressive.

But I don’t know. I would rather err on the side of caution. I have always had the perception that Malaysia’s state-sanctioned interpretation of Islam has always been the one and true path to the right way. So I think I would rather be safe than sorry.

ZAN AZLEE is a writer, documentary filmmaker, journalist and academician. He would like to enter heaven when he dies, if possible. Visit FATBIDIN.COM to view his work.