Tuesday 29 September 2015

AWAK MAKAN TAK?


Jamuan akhir tahun. Saya berikan sepenuh kepercayaan dan tanggungjawab kepada para pelajar kelas saya yang terdiri daripada bangsa Melayu, Cina dan India untuk merancang dan mengadakan jamuan kelas. Lagipun mereka adalah pelajar bijak, yang terbaik antara yang terbaik dalam bidang akademik. Bukan budak kecil, dah belasan tahun. Sepatutnya boleh beres sendiri, kan.
Mereka memutuskan sebulat suara untuk buat jamuan di Pizza Hut.
"Semua OK?" saya tegur Din, penolong ketua tingkatan sebaik sahaja saya tiba di restoran itu pada waktu tengah hari. Ramai pelajar yang belum tiba.
"OK, teacher."
"Apa yang awak 'order'?"
"Set package. Beef pepperoni dengan minuman dan sup."
"Beef pepperoni? Ada order pizza ayam tak?"
"Errr.. tak. Mengapa, teacher? Raj kata dia makan beef."
"Betul, teacher. Saya makan beef,"  Raj, satu-satunya pelajar berbangsa India dalam kelas itu menyampuk.
Saya tak mahu jawab. Saya tahu Raj, walaupun berbangsa India, dia beragama Kristian. Boleh makan daging lembu.Saya toleh ke arah amoi-amoi yang duduk di sebelah. 
"Do you eat beef?"
"No!!" jawapan spontan yang diterima daripada kebanyakan pelajar Cina, termasuklah beberapa pelajar lelaki.
Din dah mula panik. Dia terlupa nak tanya rakan-rakan yang lain. Pada sangkaannya, sudah selamat jika Raj menyatakan bahawa dia turut makan daging lembu. 
"Tak boleh tukar order?' saya tanya.
" Tak boleh, cikgu. Maaf, pizza sedang dimasak dalam oven," pelayan itu memberitahu kami. Kebetulan restoran itu masih lenggang melainkan kumpulan kami saja seramai 30 orang.
Syukurlah saya ada duit lebih dalam beg tangan. Dengan segera, saya tambah pesanan untuk 2 lagi Chicken Pepperoni dan 1 set Tuna. Kelihatan Din menarik nafas lega.
Bila makanan sampai, apa lagi.. semua dapat bahagian tambahan. Saya asingkan mereka kepada 2 kumpulan- yang makan beef duduk berasingan daripada yang tidak makan daging binatang itu. Namun habis juga semua akhirnya.. maklumlah anak remaja yang sedang membesar. Hanya perempuan yang malu-malu kucing, kononnya sedang 'diet'..hehe
Hmm..poket saya selaku guru kelas makin ringan pada hari itu tapi takpelah, nampaknya dah memang sebahagian gaji saya bulan itu ada bahagian mereka. Sekurang-kurangnya Din belajar sesuatu yang penting di luar bilik darjah - 'beef' bukan hanya haram dimakan oleh penganut agama Hindu.



The moral of the story?
Bukan hanya orang India yang tak makan daging lembu. Ramai orang Cina yang menyembah Buddha dan dewi KuanYim yang turut mengharamkan pemakanan daging lembu. Ada pengaruh fahaman agama Hindu; maklumlah kedua-dua agama itu berasal dari negara yang sama.
Hanya melalui pergaulan dengan orang ramai dan pembacaan sahaja kita akan tahu fakta ini. Saya tak salahkan Din. Dia mungkin tidak tahu. Mungkin juga guru-guru yang mengajarnya Pendidikan Sivik atau subjek lain tidak menyentuh bab ini. 
Bayangkan jikalau saya tak campur tangan. Mesti ada yang tidak dapat makanan yang mencukupi atau ada yang terpaksa makan makanan yang telah diharamkan oleh ibubapa mereka. Tentu timbul isu selepas itu. 
Di sesetengah majlis,isu makanan sering menjadi topik sensitif. Ada yang dijemput ke jamuan tetapi daging lembu turut dicampurkan dengan mi atau nasi. Akibatnya orang Hindu dan Buddha tidak makan, melainkan ada makanan lain yang sesuai dijamah mereka. Oleh itu, saya paling suka bila ada pelbagai pilihan makanan di sesebuah majlis. Sebabnya, saya pun kurang makan daging lembu. Dah tua macam saya ni, kenalah ikut pesan doktor, jika tak mahu bacaan tekanan darah tinggi melonjak naik.

Adakah  saya akan anjurkan jamuan akhir tahun untuk kelas saya pada tahun ini? InsyaAllah... dan sudah tentunya hidangan utama adalah ayam, huhu.

 

Saturday 26 September 2015

SURVIVING IN A MULTI-RACIAL, MULTI-RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY


When I reverted to Islam despite my parents' opposition, I was already breaking a few family taboos. Nobody in my family has ever been other than a Buddhist. Well, maybe nobody has been other than Taoist. I could never really be sure, growing up in a country where almost everyone profess to a religion but not all are actually practising believers. You see, in my family altar, KuanYim Buddha sits at the same table with Taoist god KuanKong.

Now with all the racial tensions created to divert some of our attentions from the real issues at hand, as a Muslim revert caught in the middle. being married to a Malay chap some seven years ago, I could only sigh in relief that my family is still ok. Relieved that my children are still too young to understand the problems faced by Muslim reverts and their families. Happy that as a civil servant, I'm free to practise my beliefs and earn an honest living. Glad that my parents, who are still Buddhists, have finally accepted my new family and I back into the family. Of course, some adjustments are necessary but those minor issues have never failed to diminish our love for each other.

So when a Malay youngster called the Chinese in general as 'Cina Babi' I could not help but feel sorry for him. Why? 
First, for his naivety. He apparently does not have many Chinese friends to realise that not all Chinese eat pork. Vegetarians among the Chinese community do not eat any meat. Some Chinese Christians don't eat pork either. Of course, the Chinese Muslims, some 70.000 of us, don't eat pork as well. 
Secondly, to call someone an animal would only result in another calling him another animal. God, You created humans, the best and most intelligent of all your creatures, yet some humans are happier to call each other animals. 
Thirdly, pointing a finger at another would only result in 4 fingers pointing back at him. It reflects one's own upbringing. The Malays themselves have the term, 'kurang ajar'... lack of good moral teachings by one's parents. 
Now you see how stupid it sounds when a person says "Cina Babi"?

It's already bad enough to be labelled as 'an infidel' by some staunch Buddhists who dislike another Chinese to revert to Islam. 
It's already tough to survive in a narrow-minded society where the common thought is that one reverts to Islam to marry a Malay, or worse still, to become a Malay and gain the Bumiputra status. Never mind what you try to tell them.. they still prefer to think you become a Muslim because of marriage, than to accept the fact that you've studied the holy books for years before finally deciding to make Islam your faith.
I can write 101 things about surviving as a Muslim revert.. or as a mualaf, which born muslim Malays like to call me. 
Yet nothing is as insulting as to be labeled as a 'Chinese Pig' by some narrow-minded racist Malays. 

I'm still counting my lucky stars, you know. I'm also married to a Malay man and my children, may God bless them, are born Muslim Malays like their father. I'm sure they don't see me as a big fat pink pig, do they? And as a responsible Muslim mother and wife, I have no intention of ever allowing my family members to resort to such name-calling in future, God forbid it.

Which is why I start this blog with this issue. It may look as a lame issue to some of you but unless the society at large is able to solve this problem of racists-labelling, Islamic dakwah will forever be slow-moving in this country.. it will continue to be hindered by some narrow-minded people with their own agenda.

Let's stop all general labelling of people. 
No 'Cina Babi'.
No 'Cina DAPig'
No 'Melayu Lembu'.
No 'India Keling'.
No anjing, kucing, kerbau, ular, whatever.. heaven knows why Malaysians are so obsessed with animals.
Have a pleasant weekend, folks.