Speech by M.Kula Segaran at Malaysian Kadhampa Buddhist Association event in Dewan Leong Wan Chin, Jalan Kampar on Thursday, 2^rd June 2010:

Religious tolerance the way forward to Malaysia's stability and growth

I thank His Holiness the 18^th Dromtug Rinpoche Losang Chockye Pelden for inviting me today to witness the ongoing relic's exhibition in Ipoh.

I visited and was briefed of the workings of the relics this morning. I must say I and my entourage were greatly informed and educated on the relics of Buddha and his disciples.

From the brief presence this morning here, I felt, the deep connection and direct benefits from the relics.

We thank the Malaysian Kadhampa Buddhist Association for arranging His Holiness's blessing through this event.

We are fortunate that right at our door step, we can have the privilege to see and observe the beauty of the relics.

The number of relics is too numerous to be counted. The most interesting part of the relics is that it is a living item and is said to be growing in size over time.

We were also shown a turtle of over 100 years old which likes to linger around the relics area.

Malaysia has a population of over 28million. Although Malaysia is a Muslim majority country, it has a very thriving non Muslim population.

According to the latest statistics, the break down as according to races is as follows:

1. Race: Malay (53.3%), Chinese (26.0%), Indigenous (11.8), Indian (7.7%), Others (1.2%).

2. Religion: Islam (60.4%), Buddhism (19.2%), Christianity (9.1%), Hinduism (6.3%), other/none (5.0%).

From the above, we can see that Malaysia has a very big Buddhist population. Thus this explains the existence of many Buddhist temples all over the country.

We are fortunate that notwithstanding that we are a Muslim majority country, we get to practice our faiths as we choose as this is enshrined in the Federal constitution which states under Article 3 Islam is the religion of the Federation but other religions may be practiced in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation.

We should be grateful to the framers of our Constitution who had the foresight and had incorporated this important protection for the people of this country.

In many of the countries around the world, thousands of people have been killed due to religious strive/misunderstanding.

Many a time the religious freedom in our country has been strained but somehow due to sheer tolerance and understanding, no major incidence has happened to the extent of civil strife taking place.

* M. Kula Segaran, DAP National Vice Chairman & MP for Ipoh Barat