Hawzah News Agency (Miri, Malaysia) - Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs came together in a joint festive celebration at Lutong bazaar where a church and mosque are located next to each other.

The Christmas gathering yesterday, held in the grounds of the Good Shepherd Church, highlighted the harmony and solidarity among the people of Miri, where the joint celebration is a unique tradition.

The event was also attended by Muslims from Masjid An Naim, and Christians from the Anglican Good Shepherd Church Lutong and the Catholic, SIB and Methodist churches.

The mosque and Anglican church are located close to each other, so much so that both buildings have shared one car park over the last 50 years.

The church gates are opened for Muslims to enter and park their cars to attend Friday prayers, and the mosque reciprocates on Sundays when Christians come to pray.

Multi-racial crowd was entertained with Christmas hymns. Food was prepared by the church.

Sarawak Assistant Minister for Tourism Datuk Lee Kim Shin was the special guest, with other VIPs including SUPP secretary-general Datuk Sebastian Ting and Miri Mayor Adam Yii.

Good Shepherd Church pastor Donald Jute said the church was happy to play host to such a gathering.

“This unity is unequalled anywhere in the country. We must preserve this at all costs as it is priceless,” he said.

Mosque chairman Ithnaini Bohari said sharing was a way of life for Muslims here.

Lee said the spirit of moderation in Sarawak would be preserved and the state government would spare no effort in stamping out extremism.

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