I refer to Reza Putra's letter entitled Non-Muslims too can reply to 'Assalamualaikum' and would just like to detail some of my own personal experiences.

I was a member of my secondary school's Bahasa Malaysia debate team and during one of our practice sessions, I opened my argument with 'Assalamualaikum dan Selamat Sejahtera'. Eyebrows were raised and I promptly received a polite telling-off from the teacher-in- charge (who was a Malay Muslim) who said that I should not be saying 'Assalamualaikum' as I was not a Muslim.

That left me a little perplexed as I knew from my own reading that it meant 'Peace be upon you' in Arabic and I wasn't invoking God's name or anything like that. I had used it as a greeting many times before when visiting friends' houses and meeting their parents, without much hassle. However, this experience with my debate teacher left me a little more wary about using it.

Fast-forward 11 years and I now work in a hospital overseas. There are many staff here from different cultural backgrounds. I have never encountered any problem saying 'Assalamualaikum' to my Iraqi, Egyptian and Pakistani colleagues.

I usually get wide smiles and a 'Walaikummusalam' as a reply. One of my Iraqi colleagues makes it a point to say 'Shalom" (Hebrew for 'Peace') to a Jewish colleague, and the latter replies with a 'Salam' (Arabic for 'Peace').