Diverse Diversities

People are diverse in so many different ways.

I visited a mosque in East Amsterdam and met the Imam, an elderly man who came from Morocco. Over a meal of cous cous and lamb, he spoke in Arabic, which was translated to Dutch by a Mosque executive and further translated to English for the international visitors (me, included). But interestingly, some words and meaning were lost in translation, as I understood from the original Arabic and verses of Quran cited. The mosque serves Moroccons, Surinames, Turks, Arabs, Dutch, Africans, Somalis, etc. They are Muslims, from different ethnic background and origin but have become Dutch nationals. Are they Dutch, I asked? Or when will a Muslim from Nigeria be identified as Dutch by the Dutch themselves? I wonder.

In South Amsterdam, there are some 80,000 people of 135 dfferent nationalities living together under his care, said the Mayor when we visited him and his councillors. I cannot imagine the challenging and complex job of managing diversity and integration and not to mention identity formation, in this local Council.

At home, I often asked my children who or what they are - ethno-culturally, I meant. They are born in the UK, from parents who are Javanese-Malay-Sumatran on one hand, and Indian-Chinese-Malay on their hand. My IC states my race as Javanese and my wife's as Indian, but neither we speak Javanese nor Indian. (And considering there are many Indian languages - from Urdu, Hindi, Tamil to Punjabi and many others). Our children speak and read English mainly, converse in spattering Malay, and read and write Arabic to pass their exams. Perhaps because of their "immigrant DNA" my children have each comtemplated settling down overseas - Murshidah (10yrs) in Jamaica (don't ask my why :o) Mus'ab (12yrs) in Spain (perhaps because of football), and Muslihah (16yrs) has developed an attraction for New Zealand.

Diversity brings with it many interesting dimensions particularly the nexus between ethnicity and religion. We are all aware that not all Arabs are Muslims and that not all Muslims are Arabs. But this distinction is not quite straightforward for many other communities. Prof Suwanna Satha-anand from Chulalangkorn University explained that Buddhism provides the "Thai-ness" to Thai people, and therefore the existence of a different "sub-culture" in the predominantly Muslim south. This also reminded me of a sharing by a sister from Austria who heads a school in Neutiftgasse. She said that when an Austrian boy (from her school) met a white Austrian male Muslim, the boy asked him why is he not a Turk.

There are many other examples. The Malays are juxtaposed with Islam in Singapore, until recent time. The same applies to Zen Buddhism to Japanese, Spanish to Catholics, and the list goes on. As human migration increases across lands and religion, and religious affiliations are better understood, these assumptions will be reformulated to form new imaginings.

As we become aware of ourselves and who we are - culturally and psychologically - we cannot but admit the fact that a single identity marker is no longer adequate and appropriate for the globalised and cosmopolitan world.

Diversity offer opportunities to learn about others, with others.
It is through others, that we know ourselves better (and truer).