Safe Spaces for Dangerous Conversations

We are all unique, but there is something more

REVEREND Sivin Kit isn’t just any ordinary pastor. The leader of the Bangsar Lutheran Church believes it’s important to have “safe spaces for dangerous conversations”. Even — or maybe especially — in present-day Malaysia.

Kit, 38, is one of the most committed religious leaders when it comes to interfaith dialogue. He was one of the organisers of People Like Us, a forum jointly organised by the Muslim Professionals Forum and Christian-based Friends in Conversation, where Muslims and non-Muslims congregated at his church to engage each other in dialogue.

In early 2009, he also spoke out against the Israeli air-strike on Palestine. He was then invited by Pertubuhan Jamaah Islah Malaysia (JIM) to deliver a solidarity speech and prayer for the children affected by the crisis.

Kit was also one of the people who set up The Micah Mandate, an advocacy group that encourages Christians to engage in social issues. He also uses his blog to publicly discuss interfaith and other national issues.

In an interview with The Nut Graph on 4 Aug 2010 in Petaling Jaya, Kit talks about growing up a minority in both England and Malaysia, and the kind of mosaic he’d like Malaysia to be.

TNG: When and where were you born? And where did you grow up?

Sivin Kit: I was born in 1972. I had quite a nomadic childhood. I was born in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur, where I spent the first three and a half years. Then we moved to England when I was four to join my father who was studying there. I spent four years there and came back to Setapak when I was seven. Then I was back in England for one more year, [before returning] to Malaysia when I was nine until today.

I did kindergarten, pre-school and early primary education in England. In Malaysia, I enrolled into a Chinese school, SRJK © Mun Yee in Setapak.

Was the transition from England to Malaysia easy?

[In] Standard One, one of the things I had to primarily deal with was my heavy British accent. It was a [predominantly] Chinese-speaking environment. I was so shy that I actually stopped speaking English for a couple of months except for English…