During recess, we ate our packed food side by side. During Hari Raya, if I happened to be in town, I would just ikut kawan and go from house to house visiting — sometimes I didn’t even know whose house it was! But everywhere we went, we were welcomed like VIPs. We were served kuih, drinks, and a lot of laughter. That was Sarawak, and that was beautiful.
In my own family, my mother’s aunt was a Muslim. All this while, I just assumed she was Melayu — from the way she dressed, talked, and lived. One of my uncles also married a Malay woman from Johor and converted to Islam. I still remember, when my uncle and his family visited our rumah panjai, we would prepare two sets of cooking utensils — one for halal, one for non-halal. That was our way of making sure his wife, who is Muslim, felt comfortable and respected. She would cook for us, and from then on, I developed a deep love for Malay food. Until today, whenever I visit Peninsular Malaysia, I always take the chance to find authentic Melayu dishes.
As I entered working life at Sibu Water Board, I slowly began to see the religious diversity around me — many of my close friends were Melanau Muslims. Yet the tradition of lepak sama-sama, makan sama-sama continued. I never worried about what I ate in front of them, and apparently, they never had a problem with it. In fact, I was often the one they looked for when it was time to go out makan. That, to me, is trust built on years of living and respecting each other.
But lately, I’m getting a little worried.
With the rise of social media, we’re starting to feel the impact of religious and racial sentiments from outside Sarawak. Toxic narratives, arguments about greeting each other during festivals, food sensitivities, and segregation are going viral — and slowly infecting the minds of our young Sarawakians. These things were never part of our culture. We celebrate everything here — Raya, Gawai, Chinese New Year, Christmas — all together, as one community.
We must protect that.
One powerful way to do this is through our schools. Schools play a crucial role in shaping how our children see the world and each other. I strongly believe that Parents and Teachers Associations (PTAs) should allocate small budgets to support festive celebrations in schools — Hari Raya, Gawai, Deepavali, and more. But not just to party — also to educate.
These sessions should include sharing the meaning behind each celebration, so that our children understand and appreciate the culture and religion of their friends. This builds not just tolerance, but respect and acceptance.
I’m proud to say that one school already doing this is SK St. Mary Sibu, where my son Luke is studying. There will be a day dedicated by the school to celebrate festive occasions, and students are encouraged to come in their traditional outfits, representing their own cultures with pride. Luke always shares how these events end with joyful poco-poco dances and the iconic Bekikis Bulu Betis song — pure Sarawak spirit. That’s how we build future leaders who are proud of diversity.
Let’s not let online noise break what we have here in Sarawak. Let’s raise our children to continue the tradition of makan sama-sama, ketawa sama-sama, and hidup sama-sama. Our unity is not just something we enjoy — it’s something we must defend.
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