By Tan Jue Jun

“Santa Claus has a flying sleigh. Harry Potter has a flying broomstick. Ali Baba has a flying carpet. So why can't Pak Haji have a flying beca?” – A comment raised by one of the Malaysiakini reader in the Vox Populi section following TV3’s apology and retraction of a Hari Raya advertisement on September 5, 2010.

The retraction came after a chorus of objections expressed by a number of Muslims groups.

The focal point of controversy lies in a minute-long commercial entitled “Sinaran Lebaran” (The Light of Aidilfitri), where audiences saw an elderly skullcap-wearing Pak Haji inviting several children into his magical “beca” (trishaw) for an amazing ride through the skies.

Protestations questioned the resemblance of Pak Haji and his beca to Santa Claus and his flying sleigh, viewing such ‘adoration’ as polytheism in Islam, which is regarded as the gravest sin a Muslim can commit.

Critics also questioned why there were blossoming of lotus flowers towards the end of the RM200,000 advertisement, in which lotus could be associated with Hinduism and Buddhism, and thus might mislead Muslims, especially children to be confused of what exactly Aidilfitri is.

When apologising, creative director of the advertisement – Douglas Khoo Hong Seng explained that he has zero intention to offend Muslims, but was merely trying to depict the happiness of the children in experiencing the ‘miraculous’ trip through the skies in the beca during festivities.

No doubt, it is important especially for Muslims, to understand the real meaning of Aidilfitri, not just merely a makan-makan celebration. And no doubt, being a Malaysian living in a multiracial and multicultural society, we should have a sense of multicultural sensitivity by cultivating the spirit of mutual respect to help enhance racial harmony.

But why must people interpret or see things from the religious or political perspective? Why must we further Islamised or politicised the issue, in fact, it is just a form of creativity in cohort to the 1Malaysia concept? It would be arbitrary for certain groups to label the ad as being disrespectful to Muslims when the public thinks otherwise.

In a question raised by another Malaysiakini reader: “Why does everything need to be so sensitive? It’s just someone’s form of creativity. Just like Santa, the Christmas tree also has absolutely nothing to do with Christianity. It doesn’t reduce their (Christians’) faith even if it’s there year after year. Faith is what you hold on to from the inner-self. 1Malaysia really has to walk a super thin line.”

Back to square one, what is ‘sensitive’? It very much depend on how it is defined and who defines it. In other words, if you think this is sensitive, then it is, or vice versa.

People tend to be fearful when they are uncertain, and many would then opt for a safer path, which is doing something so-called ‘not sensitive’ as perceived (by the powers in the society who define sensitivity), thus ending up being self-restraint, just like the self-censorship practices by media practitioners, leaving the very independence of the media into questions.

Self-restraint demeanors limit one’s creativity and ability to critical thinking. We might learn and grow better under contestations, sometimes. If our society gets used to the free flow of creative ideas, people would no longer react overly.

If one chooses to interpret artworks from the right-wing viewpoints but not from the appreciation of creativity, 1Malaysia might have just become an empty slogan, while the parochialism of religious racism will exist and might thrive if the power grows stronger and bigger.