COMMENT | Malay and Islamic culture of 'accepting' apologies

COMMENT | There has been much condemnation of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s “acceptance” of his predecessor Najib Abdul Razak’s apology for the 1MDB affair.

Although I may not be an expert on the Malay and Islamic cultures of accepting apologies, since no other Malay-Islamic experts would come to the fore, I offer my understanding and experience on this matter.

In the Malay culture that I am exposed to, there are several cultural norms or etiquette related to offering apologies and accepting them.

One culture is to ask for apologies concerning speech that may be deemed inappropriate such as, “Saya akhiri dengan ucapan terima kasih dan ampun maaf jika ada tersilap kata”.

(I would like to end with a word of thanks and seek your forgiveness if I misspoke.)

The audience will not say that they accept but it is deemed...