Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a Muslim lady, was sentenced to be caned for drinking beer. Now, in Kuching, a 10-year old boy, who is a non-Muslim, was caned, on the palm, 10 times for bringing non-halal food to school by the assistant principal. The assistant principal is a Muslim. I thought that caning is meant only for Muslims. How in the world did such a thing happen to a non-Muslim?
Basing on the same logic, will the assistant principal punish a Muslim student had he brought food that is deemed offensive to the non-Muslims, like beef which is a no-no to the Hindus and Buddhists? If he had, will there be a riot by the Muslim community? Food for thought, though. Like the maxim goes, "the blade is double-edged".
the more our Govt try to unite the different races (ala BN), the more confused everyone gets. There was the ala-1Msia Hari Raya TV advt whc created alot of chaos, and recently for the Deepavali 2010 advt by Finas. Dont think we can ever get it right as long as we keep pushing one race more superior than others. P/S BTW i am a Malay.
ReplyDeleteHanim, PJ
Hanim, many thanks for your posting. I believe race relations in the country has gone from bad to worse to worst in the last 3 decades or so. When I was young, I could sit in to watch Koran reading lessons in my neighbour's home and my parents did not even blink an eyelid. When the nearby surau had its first prayer call of the day, i.e. 5.45 am, my mum would use it as a morning call to wake to prepare for the day. The Maghrib in evening would signal to us its time to go home for dinner. My next dorr mak cik was my surrogate mother. Knowing that my mum would be away having a game of mah jong, the moment she saw me coming home from school looking hungry, she would prepare a decent meal for me. I would then do my homework in her home followed by a hot meal. Chinese New Year, after the morning traditional greetings to my parents, my father would then tell me, "Okay you can now call them". "Them" means my Malay and Indian friends who would be playing and waiting outside my home. At the sound of my whistle, they would rush in, queue up, and one by one, they would go up to my parents to wish them a happy new year followed by the long awaited ang pow. It was really a joyous occasion to see all my friends in my home having a good time and my mum would pamper them with all the CNY drinks and cookies. Come Hari Raya, and if my mum found that I was lazing around, she would direct me to go over next door to help my mak cik stir the dodol or rendang. I would sweat it out for 2 to 3 days, but hey who is complaining when I got to eat those stuff comes Hari Raya. My mak cik has 4 girls and 3 boys and we were like one big happy family doing something for Hari Raya. Will all these good days happen again. Sad to say, we have lost them for good. Looking forward to hearing more from you, Hanim.
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