I refer to the letter 'Assalamualaikum' a popular greeting by Totally Amused. I have another amusing story to tell about the time I answered a telephone call when I was a lecturer in one of our universities.

In those days, we had to share telephone lines and sometimes the call was for my colleague next door instead of me. One day, when I picked up the phone, the person on the other line said, 'Assalamualaikum'. By reflex, I replied, 'Walaikumsalam'. This reflex I happened to pick up while I was studying overseas. Muslims and non-Muslims greet each other this way.

If someone were to greet you with 'Namaste', you reply likewise. There were no social taboos or restrictions to greetings. However, when I replied, 'Walaikumsalam', I knew almost immediately that I had made a mistake. I was told off by my colleague who recognised my voice. He berated me and said that since I was not a Muslim, I shouldn't reply the way I did.

Obviously, in Malaysia, non-Muslims learn very rapidly not to argue with a Muslim on anything connected with Islam, no matter how remote. We had some Iraqi post-graduate students in our faculty. According to them, it was perfectly alright (and courteous too) for non-Muslims to say, 'Assalamualaikum'.

Again, when I was overseas, it is perfectly normal for non-Muslims to greet each other that way. This is because when you walk into a shop and greet the shopkeeper, you actually have no idea whether he is a Muslim or a non-Muslim. In any case, it was not important. But in Malaysia, it is better for non-Muslims not to respond with 'Walaikumsalam' because according to my Iraqi friends, Malaysians are a funny lot of people anyway.

They failed to understand why Malaysians are shocked to discover that Tariq Aziz (the former foreign minister of Saddam Hussein) is a Christian. How can he have a Muslim name? It is apparently not a Muslim name but an Arab name. However, it would be asking too much to expect Malaysians to be able to tell the difference.