I still remember that some time ago, like most Malaysian Muslim, I would not eat at a table where somebody is eating pork…. If it is being served, I would not even touch any of the dishes, if it was brought by someone as his/her bekal makanan, I would not be at the same table….
I believe that most Malaysian are aware of this tabou, and our fellow non Muslim friends would never eat pork in front of Muslim friends… thank you for that…
However, going places meeting customers have made me “less strict” about it… Now, I would tolerate people eating pork at the same table… once we travel more, I guess we have to tolerate certain stuffs…
Well, it’s not about me now… it’s about Radha…. I have never been so exposed to the vegetarian culture until I have met Radha…
Radha is vegetarian… strict vegetarian. She does not mind people eating meat (and even beef, to that matter), but she just can’t stand seeing people eating seafood (inclusive ikan2)… if anybody eats seafood at the office (during lunch), she will either eat away (at the bar, not so far from the dining table), or even eat on her own later… Furthermore, she does not use any cutlery or wok which have been used to cook any non vegetarian food… (somehow, I can relate to her strict way of eating…)
I didn’t know that initially until Jovitha told me about it… since then, I don’t bring any seafood to the office anymore (my lunch bekal)…
Last time, when we went to Khorfakkan, we couldn’t find any vegetarian restaurant (asked people, and they said that the nearest vegetarian restaurant is in Fujeirah – 60km away…?). So with the agreement of Radha, we went to an ordinary restaurant, she said that she will just eat vegetarian at the restaurant… when we enter the restaurant, there were so many seafood dishes in the menu (well, logically, if you go to a beach front city, wouldn’t they be promoting a lot of seafood dishes…?). The gang got all excited seeing seafood dishes at reasonable prices…. And started talking about ordering seafood dishes…. While the conversation was getting louder and louder, and everybody was excited about ordering seafood dishes, Radha quietly stand up and went out of the dining room…. Jovitha realized that and quietly informed me about it….
Finally, by respect to Radha, we decided that nobody was to order any seafood dishes… at the end, we still enjoyed the lunch despite not eating any seafood…. Her company was for sure more important than the food that we would eat… (Lately, I even start to think that may be I should not eat beef when Radha is around….)
The incident reminded me of another incident which happened in Malaysia (reported by the alternative media…).
At a multicultural function (launch of Parti Keadilan? Or was it the announcement of the merger between Parti Keadilan and Parti Rakyat…. Can’t remember exactly…), Tok Guru Nik Aziz was present… when it was time to have dinner, Tok Guru was seated next to a person who was vegetarian… the organizer somehow forgot to cater for our fellow friends who are “non” carnivorous … so this poor guy just couldn’t eat any of the food being served…
Tok Guru was disappointed with what was happening, and by solidarity, Tok Guru also didn’t touch any of the food being served….
Now, how noble was that…? If you have respect for my values, I will for sure have more respect for yours… that is mutual understanding, respect and tolerance…
And that it why I love Malaysia so much….!!
I believe that most Malaysian are aware of this tabou, and our fellow non Muslim friends would never eat pork in front of Muslim friends… thank you for that…
However, going places meeting customers have made me “less strict” about it… Now, I would tolerate people eating pork at the same table… once we travel more, I guess we have to tolerate certain stuffs…
Well, it’s not about me now… it’s about Radha…. I have never been so exposed to the vegetarian culture until I have met Radha…
Radha is vegetarian… strict vegetarian. She does not mind people eating meat (and even beef, to that matter), but she just can’t stand seeing people eating seafood (inclusive ikan2)… if anybody eats seafood at the office (during lunch), she will either eat away (at the bar, not so far from the dining table), or even eat on her own later… Furthermore, she does not use any cutlery or wok which have been used to cook any non vegetarian food… (somehow, I can relate to her strict way of eating…)
I didn’t know that initially until Jovitha told me about it… since then, I don’t bring any seafood to the office anymore (my lunch bekal)…
Last time, when we went to Khorfakkan, we couldn’t find any vegetarian restaurant (asked people, and they said that the nearest vegetarian restaurant is in Fujeirah – 60km away…?). So with the agreement of Radha, we went to an ordinary restaurant, she said that she will just eat vegetarian at the restaurant… when we enter the restaurant, there were so many seafood dishes in the menu (well, logically, if you go to a beach front city, wouldn’t they be promoting a lot of seafood dishes…?). The gang got all excited seeing seafood dishes at reasonable prices…. And started talking about ordering seafood dishes…. While the conversation was getting louder and louder, and everybody was excited about ordering seafood dishes, Radha quietly stand up and went out of the dining room…. Jovitha realized that and quietly informed me about it….
Finally, by respect to Radha, we decided that nobody was to order any seafood dishes… at the end, we still enjoyed the lunch despite not eating any seafood…. Her company was for sure more important than the food that we would eat… (Lately, I even start to think that may be I should not eat beef when Radha is around….)
The incident reminded me of another incident which happened in Malaysia (reported by the alternative media…).
At a multicultural function (launch of Parti Keadilan? Or was it the announcement of the merger between Parti Keadilan and Parti Rakyat…. Can’t remember exactly…), Tok Guru Nik Aziz was present… when it was time to have dinner, Tok Guru was seated next to a person who was vegetarian… the organizer somehow forgot to cater for our fellow friends who are “non” carnivorous … so this poor guy just couldn’t eat any of the food being served…
Tok Guru was disappointed with what was happening, and by solidarity, Tok Guru also didn’t touch any of the food being served….
Now, how noble was that…? If you have respect for my values, I will for sure have more respect for yours… that is mutual understanding, respect and tolerance…
And that it why I love Malaysia so much….!!
5 comments:
yeah..I love M'sia also...! hehehe..
bagus le tolerate macam tu.. kita hormat org..org pun nanti akan hormat kita...
irrelevant to this entry - takut lupa... happy birthday in advance KM, moga panjang umo dan diperbanyakkan rezeki olehNya, sihat selalu an cepat dapat jodoh... err yang hari tu tak jadi ke? heheheh (busy body lah pulok...)
PB, memang pun... malangnya kengkadang ada malaun2 yang lupa... sebabnya dia pikio dia majoriti, so yg minoriti kena ikut abih2... dan tak terasa nak hormat sket pun kat yg minoriti nih... hmmm... nak buat camna like that? peghabieh beghaih bebeno...!!!
Kalel... err... so in advance one huh...? huaaa... tq, tq, tq....
hmmm... pandai pun....!! (about the last part of your comment...)... la la la la la la... (buat2 tak gheti...)
Well said, tauke!! Indeed mutual respect is very important. And I LOVE Malaysia too.
However, i wish i can get that kind of respect in my work place. I'm the minority there. 2% of the whole population.
Josh... some people are just plain jerks and a*s*h*l*... dunno where they learn those values... if they are Muslim, either they did not get enuf teachings (tak khatam belajar gaknya), or were totally misled... (ajaran sesat...?)... anyhow, I doubt that any religion teaches its followers to be unfair toward people of different beliefs... where got logic one...!
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