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Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Religious divisions or divisive religions


During the last couple of decades, there has been a far greater religious consciousness in Malaysia. In using the word ‘consciousness’, I have been more than generous. I find it difficult to describe it as a religious ‘renaissance’ or even an ‘awakening’ for the simple reason the acute ‘consciousness’ has more to do with ethnic polarization than spiritual enlightenment – promoting the rise and rise of ‘we & them’.

For example, on meeting each other, Malays would address Muslims friends and Muslims strangers with Assalamu alaikum, which in Arabic means 'peace be upon you'. It’s really a beautiful greeting. We all could do with such wishes. The appropriate reciprocation is of course Walaikum assalam.

This Arabic originated greeting is not new, and has been used in Malaya/Malaysia for hundreds of years by Muslims as well as some non-Muslims. In the Middle-East, it's used on an everyday basis by Arabic speaking people, even those of the Christian faith.

Today, unfortunately one can sense and observe the users treating it as a greeting exclusive only to Muslims, like a membership gold card of a very special and segregated club.

One day I saluted my favourite bank teller, a sweet and charming Malay lady, with this Arabic felicitation. Having a keen eye for her, I had preferred to see her in person for my bank withdrawals rather than use the faceless ATM. On hearing my Arabic greetings, she showed her surprise though she swiftly reciprocated.

While working out the paltry sum of my withdrawal, she said – and I still recall this most vividly - "Sir, it's so sweet of you to wish me that but you really shouldn't because you aren't a Muslim. Just a Selamat Pagi or Good Morning would do." Then she smiled dazzlingly at me as if to take away any sting of her sweet and gentle rebuke.

Aaah, my heart did a magic somersault, and for the 15th time that morning, I fell deeply in love. Her dark doe eyes seemed to sparkle and smile too, so much so that I was quite tempted to leap over the counter to be beside her, except that a big burly bank guard (Big, Strong & Most Unfriendly) was eyeing me all along, with suspicion on his face – blast, I am just that sort of bloke who always invites the wrong kind of attention.

However, back to the issue - I didn't have the heart to remind her it's just an Arabic salutation and not a Quranic phrase, or that it meant'Muslims of the world, unite' or 'Saladin was a jolly good bloke with a nifty slash, thrust and parry!'

Why didn't she accept that I was entitled to wish her Assalamu alaikum? I thought I did say it rather smartly and sincerely ;-)

Subsequently I discovered that it's not only the Malaysian Muslims who indulge or perhaps fantasize in exclusive greetings, arcane societies and secret handshakes.
photo from yah-meh blog

Incidentally, I am an expert on secret handshakes. Besides being a former scout (left hand straight to-from the heart), I fraternized with people in the Boys’ Brigade who, according to their codes (undoubtedly copying the Scouts in having a unique-styled handshakes) would only shake hands with their little pinkies naughtily intertwined with the other parties – yeeech, as you can guess, those Boys Brigade duckies were either sissies or gays, wakakaka.

I am familiar too with the African American '15 slap-knuckle-point-pound-grip secret Kunta Kinte bruther-shake', taught to me by an inebriated African American military officer I met in a Berlin bar. We became friends after his team lost to my Malaysian team in several bouts of 'schooner racing' (outside Malaysia/Singapore, it's called'boat racing'). Poor Yanks didn't realize Malaysians make the best 'schooner racing' teams thanks to a couple of generations of Tiger and Anchor beer sponsorships, wakakaka.

Now on to the non-Muslims - to my great shock, I realized that the greater religious 'consciousness' has permeated into Chinese Buddhist society as well.

My neighbour, a sweet Chinese lady (let's call her Angel-eyes) would greet her friends with a Namo Omitofo, a greeting calling upon the Amitabha Buddha.


This mantra is used as a greeting by monks of the Chinese Pure Land Sect of Buddhism, and also chanted by lay disciples as part of their daily prayers.

In the past, lay Buddhists hadn’t or rarely used it among themselves, though they respectfully did when they greeted a monk. Believe me, my late mum was a devotee of this sect since she was a small girl, but she didn’t go around sproutingNamo Omitofo except during prayers or when she met a monk.


Chinese traditionally greet each other with the usual “Are you doing well" and "Have you eaten?”, the latter perhaps indicating their origin from a harsh and sometimes famine-stricken land.

I did wonder whether this use of Namo Omitofoamong laypeople had been a response to the Muslim exclusive Assalamu alaikum? Perhaps it’s one of those “anything you can do, I can do better” thingy to promote a sense of exclusive belonging, which since time immemorial have seen various groups (especially secret societies) establishing secret callsigns, hand signals and exclusive greetings among fellow members.

The most secret or notorious (depending on one's outlook) secret society in Western countries, and even in Malaysia/Singapore and other Western colonised places, has been the Freemasonry whose members are reputed to reveal themselves to one another by secret hand signals.


At the local Penang scene, my best friend used to lift his eyebrows in a special way when he wanted me to talk his wife into allowing him out with me, to the pub of course, but without revealing our intended destination - bastard virtually made a liar out of me. But dear Iris broke our Da Vincicode rather easily, with a threat of bodily harm to her husband and a non-welcome to me if we persisted in secret signs.

Being rebellious but alas, terribly timid, we quietly changed our covert signalling to head and ears and nose scratching - Iris is still suspicious till today.

I wonder how Christians would do their 'exclusive' greetings? Would it be a simple 'Hallelujah' or 'Hi, Jesus loves you!' or a more verbose 'I shaketh thy Christian hand but nevereth thy faith in our Lord, Jesus Christ'?

What about Hindus then? Perhaps a terse but all powerful Om, or a more verbal-diarrheic 'May shimmering Shiva smite thy enemies and pleasing Parvati bless thee'?


Anyway, I soon heard my neighbour Angel-eyes and her Buddhist friends using that Namo Omitofogreeting in a delightful manner, though not unlike full fledged members of the White Lotus secret society.


In a way, it confirmed my point about the greater religious ‘consciousness’ nowadays, that we have arrived at such a segregated situation because of the centrifugal forces of ethno-centric divisiveness.

Anway then, I decided that I wanted to be included among Angel-eyes' coterie as well, but not because of ethnicity. I was ... eh ... just friendly!

So when I saw Angel-eyes next, I greeted her with what I felt was a dignified voiced Namo Omitofo, and just to make sure I really impressed her, did so with a solemn face besides adding on a little graceful bow - mind you, nothing ostentatious, you know, but just that teeny weeny itsy bitsy nod.


So carried away by the solemnity of the occasion, I had to restrain myself from flicking both my palms up together a la the Thai 'wai', what Thais do respectfully with both hands when they greet each other ( see images above, & below where my sweetest Yingluck wakakaka performs the wai). I though that would have very gone well with the mantra, the solemn face and the bow, but I thought I won’t overdo it the first time.


Angel-eyes gave me a very suspicious look and a most reluctant and hesitant response, being not sure whether I was pulling her leg - hmmm, yum yum.

Crumbs, can she even trust my sincerity? ;-)

No, obviously not because, unbeknownst to me she must have discussed my unprecedented and most unexpected Namo Omitofo with my sister - yes, those women discussed behind my back my most dignified Dalai-Lama-ish greeting with the solemn face and very dignified bow, because before long, good olde Sis warned me to cease and desist using that greeting on Angel-eyes.

WHAT? But but but but but why?

I demanded to know, in the most un-solemn and undignified manner – hey man, she’s just a sister!

Sis told me that Angel-eyes felt extremely uncomfortable when I greeted her with Namo Omitofo, more so when she knew my most unreligious character. I protested vehemently that it’s just a mantra of peace.


It seems I have put Her Most Sweetness in a quandary - torn between her good Buddhist nature to respond appropriately, and her deep suspicion of me, knowing me being me wakakaka, who’s quite likely to tweak her cute lovely nose while leading her up the garden path onto a naughty merry-go-around.

Me? Really, the suspicion of some people – how most un-Buddhist-like! ;-)

Hmmm, I have since wondered whether I ought to have taken out the graceful bow? That might be just a little over the top. But obviously, it's not easy to penetrate the ranks of the exclusive Ayer Itam 'White Lotus Society' wakakaka.


Namo Omitofo! 



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