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Syahredzan Johan dalam blognya Loyar
Buruk bertanya, “Are Malay-Muslims entitled to better rights than others?. Adakah
melayu-islam berhak mempunyai hak asasi yang lebih dari yang lain? Saya yakin, dari
yang lain, yang dimaksudkan oleh Syahredzan ialah orang bukan melayu i.e.
orang Cina, India atau lain-lain bangsa, tapi
bukan muslim. Saya perlu tekankan muslim atau bukan muslimnya kerana jika
berfikir atas dasar bangsa, lain aliran fikiran kita. Sebaliknya jika berfikir
sebagai seorang muslim kita akan ketepikan bangsa.
Jawapan
kepada soalan peguam muda ini, paling mudah. No, muslims of whatever race they
may be, are not entitled to better rights than others but the muslims of
whatever race they may be, are certaintly entitled to respect and decorum from others
of whatever race or religion, they maybe.
In
May 2005, I stayed for 2 nights with my family at my ex schoolmate house in Singapore when
I was invited for our classmates reunion dinner. The dinner was held at a
Chinese Muslim restaurant. Why?, because I am the only malay-muslim in the
group and these Singaporean chinese friends of mine, respects my religious
sensitivities unlike some malaysian chinese.
Throughout
my 2 days stay there, Kua Si Lin, ensured that my family are served breakfast,
tea, lunch and dinner. Yes, my friend is a Chinese, a non muslim and of course,
a Singaporean. What differentiates Kua Si Lin from some of the non malays and
non muslims in this country, is that he has good manners, decorum and knows the
importance of mutual respect for each other in a multi racial society. Kua Si
Lin takes great pain to inform me that the food served is brought from a muslim
shop and apologises for serving it in paper plates and cups because he wants to
make sure that everything is kosher and not to offend my sensitivities as a
muslim. Thanks Kua, you a great friend.
I visits my chinese friends
during the Chinese New Year. Respecting their beliefs and culture, I avoided
wearing anything in black, even double checking my underwear and socks to make
sure those are not in black. Who knows if one of these days an amoi takes a
fancy to me.
On
many occasions, I have had meals with my indian friends at restaurants that
serves both beef and lamb dishes. Eventhough I love steaks, in deference to my
indian friends who’s with me at the same table, I ordered lamb chop instead.
Why did I do that? Because I do not want to offend the religious sensitivities
of my Hindu friends. And most probably because, like Kua Si Lin, our parents
brought us up in the right and proper way. Not like some kurang ajar young malaysian
persons nowadays.
The many so called unreasonable
demands/actions/rights practiced by the malay-muslims in this country, as raised
by this young malay lawyer in his blog posting, insinuates that the malay-muslim are demanding
unreasonable rights just because they are malay-muslims.
This is not about the issue
of race or religion or even of demanding special rights by the malay-muslims of
this country. Sebenarnya ini bukan isu orang melayu-muslim mempunyai hak asasi
yang yang lebih atau kurang dari kaum lain. Ini bukan masalah bangsa atau
ugama. It all boils down to whether you’re born or raised up to be a kurang
ajar person or otherwise.
Sikap kurang ajar tidak
mengenal bangsa atau agama. Ia merentas batasan kelas, taraf pendidikan atau
status sosial. Saya pernah ketemu kuli yang tinggi budi bahasa bersopan santun,
juga insan upper class yang buruk laku dan bahasa. Kurang ajar traits transcends race or religion. It cuts across social
class, educational level or status.
Therefore the issue here is
not about the malay-muslims being offended when a non muslim eats and drinks in
front of a fasting muslim. It’s about the other party in the equation. It’s
about Alvin and
his bedmate FB posting, showing them eating bak kut teh with a Ramadhan
(Fasting) greeting in the background. It’s all about Alvin and those like him being brought up as
a kurang ajar Chinaman. Enough said.
As a parting shot. I am not
at all surprised that this is happening in Malaysia. From the way malaysians
drive, they manner they crowd around when buying tickets, the manner they piled
up the food and left it uneaten during buffets, is a clear indicator that there
are more kurang ajar malaysians than there are sands at Port Dickson beaches. I
guess, people like Uncle B and Kua Si Lin from Singapore is a dying breed.
Until we meet again, love
from Uncle B, who always believed that you don’t do to others what you don’t
want others to do to you.
Watchaa!!! and bye.
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