PJ church hosts interfaith iftar

PETALING JAYA: A church in Petaling Jaya here brought individuals from different religious backgrounds as it hosted an interfaith iftar (buka puasa event) yesterday.
Organised by Yayasan 1Malaysia and the Church of the Assumption, the event also involved the cooking and distributing of bubur lambuk to nearby residences and an interfaith forum.
About 150 attendees were served with food by volunteers and ate together at a hall located behind the church.
Yayasan 1Malaysia Board of Trustees chairman Dr Chandra Muzaffar said the main objective of the event was to build bridges amongst Malaysians from different backgrounds and to learn about positive values from different religions.
"We want to show that fasting is not exclusively applicable to Muslims, it is inclusive where people from different religions come and work together in preparing food and eat together afterwards," he said.
Zuliana Hamdan, 18, said this was the first time she joined a buka puasa event organised by a church and it was a good experience for her as she could share the positive message behind fasting to people from different religions.
"There's nothing wrong with attending iftar at churches, even Muslims in the Arab countries have joined iftar in churches there," said Zuliana who also volunteered for the event.
Meanwhile, Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah who was present at the event said the initiative was good to foster the spirit of togetherness and learn about the significance of Ramadan.
"We would like to see more of this initiative where people of different faiths engage in conversation and form better unity through food," she said. — Bernama