just a few weeks more, malaysians will be going to polling station to decide the future of malaysia. many politicians/ candidates are trying their very best to lure voters. some of those tricks are really entertaining. i still dont know how singing/ acting/ dancing/ cooking can be a tool to develop the country. anyway, some of those so called politicians did grab my attention with the term, muslim/ islamic country. i started to get really frustrated and annoyed.
so what, if malaysia becomes a full muslim country? no pork? no alcohol? no karaoke? no cinema? such perception is just plain wrong. i have stayed close to a year in the uae (united arab emirates). as a malaysian chinese/ non muslim, i've faced no difficulty at all when i was there. before i went there, my friends were quite skeptical about me moving there. many of them even asked me to reconsider. for them, moving to an islamic country means no pork, no alcohol and no entertainment. well! my friends were wrong and so are those chinese politicians in my beloved homeland. in order to be fair to all malaysians, those politicians should get their facts right before barking.
so, i'm here to give some real facts. islam is the largest and the official state religion of the uae. however, all those things mentioned above are available there (maybe not karaoke - arabics dont sing). let's talk about pork! i faced no issue in preparing chinese soup with pork spare ribs when i was there. the most interesting part, i can have pork from the uk, china and even african countries. what about alcohol then? alone, in a foreign country... wine will somehow become your life partner. drinking and getting drunk at public areas are illegal but pubs and bars are available at almost all hotels. so, i see no reason for non muslim malaysians to be scared of malaysia becoming a muslim country. if an arab/ islamic country can be so moderate and tolerance, i think malaysia can do the same or even better.
because of those funny politicians, i shared my thoughts with my friends. all of them (mainly malaysian chinese) are not too concerned that opposition will take over malaysia and converting malaysia into a full islamic country. if middle east countries, where fresh water is more valuable than oil can have world class cities like dubai, doha and abu dhabi, i believe malaysia with the correct leadership can do 10 times better. no doubt!
so, if you guys see people rejecting malaysia as a muslim country, do ask them why? and do suggest them to take a short trip to dubai. our very own politicians should really travel more often to broaden their mind and perspective (not with the money of rakyat, of course) and they really need to stop projecting wrong ideas to my fellow malaysians. i love malaysia. malaysia boleh!
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