Sharing is Caring
So I just came back from a little work trip to Singapore and what do I get?
Frustrated.
What's up with religious fanatics trying to pass a fatwa to ban all joint-cultural celebrations?
Kongsi-Raya is wrong, they say. Muslims CANNOT celebrate other festivals because it is against the religion. It might shake the very foundations of their faith - which makes me wonder if it's because they assume it to be so fragile, so shaky, so vulnerable that going to your friend's house for Christmas dinner or Chinese New Year open house, or Deepavali brunch might instantly turn us into converts.
Funny how this comes into play when our country, desperate to keep up appearances on being this Bangsa Malaysia image, is trying to (yet again, yet again) rectify the segregation issue (perpetuated by their obsession to pigeonhole everyone by race and religion which is really a sad irony).
Last year I appeared in a Deepa-Raya feature about my life as someone who celebrates both festivals (plus Christmas) thanks to my rojak family. Apparently some people found offence to that, because as a Muslim I CANNOT partake in other festivals. It's wrong, it's like committing apostasy, I should ask for forgiveness or get barbecued in Hell.
That was on a personal level. I just ignored it because hey, who the hell are you to tell me and my family how to live, right?
Well now some jokers decide to go national - and making an issue, when many of the current ones are still not tackled yet (otherwise known as the distraction method. Keep creating new issues so people won't dwell on the current ones that aren't really going anywhere).
Look. All these festivals are CULTURAL in nature. We're celebrating each other's culture, diversity, differences. In doing so we find more in common as people. Just cos I'm at Grandma's house for Deepavali, or my aunt's house for the Christmas gathering, doesn't make me a Hindu or Christian or whatever. It's about people. It's about family. It's about solidarity.
And no one should even DARE turn it into a religious issue.
I don't see non Muslims throng to the mosques after spending the day with their Muslim friends for Aidilfitri. And vice versa!
And should that silly fatwa be passed, am I to deny my cultural roots from BOTH sides of my family? Should we tell our relatives that we can't join them at the family gatherings for these festivals because we fear for the sanctity of our eroded religion and so we must save our souls from this evil?
Come on lah. If you want that kind of religious communism - just move out lah. We don't need any more people trying to make our delicate racial balance even more strained than it is. I LIKE sharing my festivals with other people, and joining them in theirs. I know who I am and what are my beliefs. We all do.
So why do the media give these matyr-wannabes the outlet to tell us all how stupid and weak we are? I don't know. But maybe they've been so upset at the fall of the Taliban that they're desperately trying to recreate their little oppressive haven here.
8:11 PM
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