Star Online (http://thestar.com.my)
Not by bread alone, 31 October 2010
We need more than technology and cold hard cash to nurture a nation. We need architecture with heart.
IN today’s column, I would like to offer an architectural proposal that could be the making of forward-thinking future citizens of Malaysia. The birth place of these new citizens is the public university, and the birth process involves creating a space where non-Muslim students and staff can worship.
In other words, I wish to suggest that all public universities be equipped with the Malaysian version of an ecumenical centre.
In line with the first statement of the Rukun Negara, “Kepercayaan kepada Tuhan” (Belief in God), every race in this country has the right to participate in any religion of their choosing. Since public universities are microcosms of the small state and city, they certainly cannot ignore this important tenet. Take, for instance, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) where I teach: its motto is “Untuk Tuhan dan Manusia” (For God and Man), which aptly implies that, however technologically competent humans become, technology must be governed by a humane heart humbled by the majesty of God.
Only religion teaches man the morality to be human. Science can put food on the table and shelter him from the elements but what makes man different from animals is what governs his heart, his love for all humanity and his respect for the environment. The founding fathers of UTM obviously understood this philosophy, that man indeed does not exist by bread alone.
That is why I feel that an ecumenical centre is vital at tertiary institutions. Simply understood, such a centre is an universal space in which people of all religions can worship.
I first experienced such as space when I studied for my first and second degrees at America’s University of Wisconsin, Green Bay; I remember carrying out the Jumaat prayers at the ecumenical centre. I also remember hosting a Malaysian Islamic Study Group seminar and chairing a session for the famous orator (now Datuk Dr) Hassan Ali, who was then completing his PhD at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
The architecture of the ecumenical centre was akin to that of a church interior, dimly lit, cool and filled with furniture. The idea of the centre is that each student group of differing faiths can take turns worshipping in this place. The Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Christians and others were expected to use it.
This is one of three possible models of an ecumenical centre: a single building with a large hall and spaces for administration. However, I do not think this is adequate for this country. In Malaysia, some rituals require the burning of incense and the presence of a representation of a deity and certain liturgical furnishing. I believe that houses of worship must have a “home” where the sense of smell as well as the visual plethora of ornaments, sculptures and colours can permeate the psyche. Well, this would obviously cause problems here since deities and, say, incense burning are not common to all religions.
So I propose two other kinds of complexes.
The first is three different buildings to house Buddhist, Hindu and Christian worship. They can be located on 1ha to 2ha of land that has three volumes of buildings as well as a communal space where Muslims and non-Muslims can interact – perhaps a welcoming bazaar-cafeteria type place that would encourage students to linger.
Each building should comprise a worship hall, administrative offices and a meeting room; I also recommend a hostel for priests or religious scholars invited to perform prayers or deliver sermons and lectures. The complex would also house a shared gallery where members of all faiths can put up explanations of their beliefs and rituals.
The other idea is a complex with a single moderately-sized space that would contain small offices for the different religions, roughly 100sq m in size, to house administrative, meditation and storage space where things such as the representation of the deity or special liturgical furniture could be kept.
The single universal space of this centre must be designed in a way that is convenient for members of the different faiths to use. It could be equipped with an exhaust fan that pulls out any incense prior to use by other faiths and a revolving wall that would have the symbols of worship built-in for different turns of use. The exhibition gallery, bazaar and cafeteria can be on the ground floor, under the row of offices overlooking a student plaza.
Creating such spaces that not only encourage worship but also interaction and discussion is vital, as I learnt when I was at uni. At Green Bay, when the ecumenical centre was not suitable and since there was, then, no mosque, Muslim students used to perform Friday prayers in my apartment. We would take turns at being the Imam, and I even had to give a khutba, or sermon, once or twice. Who I am at this present time – and I am someone who lives by the tenets of Islam daily – is mostly a result of those six years in two American universities. Much of my discoveries about Islam and Malaysian politics were made there, at these “citizen incubators” called universities.
Unfortunately, looking at our public universities, I cannot say that they are capable of “incubating” good Malaysian citizens. In my 23 years as an educator, even at such an illustrious uni as UTM, I have not seen much political and religious awareness in the student body. Perhaps it is different at other universities – but I seriously doubt that.
Well, let us not dwell on the past. Let us venture forth into a new future. What awaits new generations of students? I hope that they all can become a humane human first, a good Malaysian citizen second, a responsible family and community member third and, perhaps, a good engineer, doctor or architect last. Currently, though most universities are like primary and secondary schools in their emphasis on academic grades and focus on soft skills that can only produce good managers.
If this remains the case, I predict a difficult and rocky road ahead for this country in the next 50 years. I see the future quite well simply by observing my students in class and chatting with them in my office. And my observations do not bode well....
Malaysia’s universities must come to grips with the fact that they are “breeding” the next generation of leadership, and if there is to be true racial respect and harmony – not mere tolerance! – in the future, it has to begin here and now in these universities.
The private universities will not make this an important concern yet, I think; they are, after all, simply involved in a business with a monetary balance sheet. Forget about them at this moment. In 20 years they will perhaps change. But in the meantime, we have great, big public universities with mature first- and second-generation academic staff and young, vibrant scholars with bright futures – but only if we realise the true objective of education and not spend time calculating GPAs and university rankings.
Our children are here, the Malays, the Chinese, the Indians and other races that make up the colourful landscape of our society. Their differences in cultures and religions can, potentially, be this nation’s strength. It is in celebration of these differences that the ecumenical complex must exist.
As at the old, medieval-age universities of the West where the architecture is dominated by the imposing edifice of the church, Malaysian universities are anchored by the imposing presence of the mosque. We are at a time the West had reached several hundred years ago. The West has since then shed Christianity as its anchor, while Muslim countries are now realising a new sense of morality for knowledge acquisition. We realise that knowledge alone without morality will drive us nowhere but towards our mutual destruction, as Robert “Father of the Atom Bomb” Oppenheimer once observed.
In Malaysia, it requires a visionary leader to take a small (architectural) step to complete this moralistic stand and present non-Muslim students with a religious home of their own that will, like the mosque, help connect mind and soul to create a “humane” being. In my studio at UTM, my students and I have already begun the thinking process towards this realisation of Malaysia’s future....
・Universiti Teknologi Malaysia lecturer Prof Dr Mohamad Tajuddin passionately believes that architectural design that respects cultural values, religious sensitivities and the ideals of democracy is vital to nation-building and harmony.
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