KATHA- The Official Journal of the Centre for Civilisational Dialogue

Interreligious Dialogue in Malaysia: Issues of its Implementation

AHMAD MOHAMAD — 2023-12-31

As the world continues to evolve, problems among religious adherents have increasingly rendered the need for interreligious dialogue to achieve mutual understanding. The dialogue is crucial as it is a platform to communicate, understand, and get to know others of different backgrounds and beliefs. Nevertheless, the implementation of interreligious dialogue has led to some criticism on the credibility of its practice, especially in Islam. Therefore, this paper attempts to identify the challenges that occur throughout the implementation of Interreligious dialogue and their causes. This includes the arguments and the views of leaders or religious figures as well as intellectuals in favor or against interreligious dialogue. To do that, this study focuses on literature reviews and has discovered that the issues brought upon the implementation of inter-religious dialogue were based on a less accurate description of the actual ideas and practices. The finding also shows that not enough Interreligious dialogue modules are available and this gap must be filled with fresh perspectives to serve as a resource for future dialogues.

Keywords: Issues, Criticisms, Interfaith Dialogue, Modules

Tinkering Epistemology with Ontology: Reformulating Popper’s Reformulation of the Problem of Induction with Eastern and Western Ontology

Szu-Ting Chen — 2023-12-31

Karl Popper thought that he had successfully resolved the philosophical problem of induction by replacing inductive logic with deductive logic in every aspect of the philosophical analysis of science. In examining Popper’s approach, it may seem, however, that, instead of resolving the original problem, what he has resolved was a reformulated problem of induction. Nevertheless, by “reformulating” Popper’s reformulation by using the relevant ontology from contemporary Eastern and Western philosophers, this paper maintains that this re-reformulated meta-account can be used to argue that the first impression that the problem has not been resolved can be replaced with the idea that Popper’s reformulation of the problem of induction into the problem of scientific growth has its meaning in a contemporary context. The key significance of this reformulation is: By examining the paired concepts—such as “inductive inference vs. deductive inference” or “context of discovery vs. context of justification”—from the perspective that “scientific reasoning is to find a stable causal environment or situation to derive regular causal conclusions”, we can then maintain that instead of regarding these concepts as mutually exclusive in the “practice of causal inquiry”, it is better to assume that they have a complementary relationship—this situation manifests exactly what Popper believed: In the process of scientific inquiry, there is always a dynamic interdependence between conjecture and refutation.

Exploring the Perception of Parents on the Participation of Learners with Special Educational Needs in a Virtual Talent Show

Suhaila Mohamad — 2023-12-31

There is a paucity of research that focuses on understanding the perception of parents in supporting the talent development of their children with Special Educational Needs (SEN). Considering the gap in the literature, participants in this study are purposely sampled from the parents whose children with SEN participated in a virtual talent show (VTS) organised by National Association of Special Education, Malaysia (NASE) during the pandemic lockdown. A total of six parents responded to the survey questionnaires and participated in the semi-structured interviews which were transcribed verbatim. The thematic data analysis revealed three categories: 1)Parents as partners, 2)Roles of NGOs and 3)Resources. This study contributes to the literature from parents' perception on how they provided exposure in VTS that impacts the development of their children. The findings also provide new insight into what drives the parents into enrolling their children in VTS and revealed how parents agreed that participation in VTS provided positive impact and progress for their children. In addition, the result from this study highlights the positive perception of parents regarding the participation of learners with SEN in VTS. It underscores the importance of NGOs in providing opportunities for their children's involvement and emphasises the need to address the barriers and challenges that exist. Additionally, the study demonstrates that parents strongly desire more NGOs to offer opportunities for their children with SEN to be involved in talent show performances. Despite the barriers and challenges faced, parents recognise the value and potential impact of such experiences on their children's overall development. The findings contribute to the existing knowledge and call for further research to promote inclusivity and support the talent development of learners with SEN. It also demonstrated that parents want more NGOs to provide the opportunity for their learners with SEN to be involved in more talent shows performances, despite the barriers and challenges that arise. Future study could explore strategies to address the identified barriers and challenges and evaluate the long-term effects of participation on the well-being and self-esteem of learners with SEN. The suggestions for future studies aim to inform the development of more inclusive practices and policies that support the talent development and empowerment of learners with SEN in talent show settings.