This letter is in response to the various comments regarding decorations in shopping malls.

I am a Malaysian who has lived in England and in Australia. I consider myself fortunate because I have seen how these countries sideline festivities of the minority populace.

I also felt fortunate that whenever I denote my country of origin to these Westerners, I tell them that we Malaysians are a multi-cultural and multiracial country. And the most important aspect of our togetherness is tolerance and not the Internal Security Act.

However, when I came across the comments by government officials (who chided shopping malls for putting up Christmas decorations and not Hari Raya ones), I was ashamed and disappointed.

All that was inculcated in our local education (such as Moral studies) has been thrown out of the window.

But I tried to rationalise the reasons behind such statements? Perhaps this was due to the current tensed international political scene or perhaps to show that the government is still holding strong to Eastern beliefs and culture.

Well if that is the case, shame on them! The Malaysian culture is not, or should I say, should not be based on a singular culture or religion. Our diversity has always reflected the sustainability of the convergence of cultures.

After all, the last time around Hari Raya and Chinese New Year were celebrated together, without any insensitive statements while advertisements in the media and decorations reflected both celebrations.

What is most important here is that I am disappointed that government officials are using these harmonised cultural festivities to gain political mileage. These celebrations are about a celebration of unity and tolerance.