Feudal ‘big brothers’ who trample on Ramadan’s true meaning

 

So here we are again, in the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast from dawn to dusk during the entire month.

During my childhood in a Penang kampung, the highlight of the day was breaking fast with rice porridge cooked at the mosque every evening.

I’d be tasked by my mother to get some for the family. Another task would be to buy blocks of ice covered in sawdust and get them home before they melted, which I didn’t always succeed in doing.

The porridge, what we called kanji and what others call bubur lambuk, was cooked by the mosque custodian. He had been doing it for decades. When he died, his son-in-law took over.

I know that I’ll sound like a boring old fart saying the kanji was the best there is, but I can argue for it. The kanji was mostly made of rice grown in the kampung. And we used real firewood, not gas or kerosene, to cook it.

Do you know how much you’d have to pay for meals in a fancy restaurant where they use real firewood for cooking? I don’t know as I’m too stingy to go to such places, but in general the more primitive, old-school or retro the restaurant’s ways are, the more expensive the meals.

And we put prawns into the kanji, as meat was too expensive. The prawns were all freshly caught nearby, as we were a village of fishermen and farmers.

In the evening I’d attend tarawih prayers. The adults prayed and the kids would try to keep up, and usually failed. But there’d be gifts from the adults; coming home with 30 sen was a big night.

It wasn’t all sweetness and light. Fasting month was also stressful for the family, as my parents struggled with higher expenses (new Raya clothes, food preparation etc) on a reduced income. My father, whose fuse was quite short anyway, went over the edge occasionally.

Hari Raya itself was always nice, especially the morning prayers and the visit to the graves of ancestors. The kids would go around for “angpows”, with perhaps a slight pretence about asking for forgiveness.

The heavy hand of authority

In today’s Malaysia, Ramadan is also the time when you hear about some holier-than-thou bigots seeking to impose their will on others, especially those not fasting, whether Muslim or non-Muslim.

There was some viral news recently about a headmistress somewhere in KL saying her school’s cafeteria would be closed during Ramadan, with nobody allowed to bring food or even water to school, regardless of circumstances, or even if they’re non-Muslims.

My parents used to run a school cafeteria, and even without a salaried public servant closing our cafeteria down, sales were almost non-existent during the fasting month.

By the way, the next time someone whinges about how the rakyat are deserting national schools, slap him (or even her) with the newspaper carrying such a report, or use your mobile phone, preferably one with a strong screen protector.

(Wait. Slapping somebody, except at the Academy Awards, is apparently wrong. In that case, just wave the newspaper or mobile phone vigorously in their faces).

‘Heroes’ who bully others

What do we make of all the heavy-handedness? It’s just another example of our Malay/Muslim feudal society where many seek to be heroes by dictating to others what they must do.

Lately even our “heroes” are finally admitting that we, the Malays, are feudal and we need protection, with said protection to be provided by them. Wow, honesty in politics for once!

Apart from some comments in Penang Malay that would burn your screen if I’m allowed to use them, I do hate being patronised and condescended to by those I deem not smart enough to cut firewood for my stove.

My late mother in her day, and my sisters now, would fast for at least three months a year, during Ramadan and other months too. No big show, no memo, no admonition or command to others to show extra respect to them because they were fasting.

The people I respect have no problems fasting while others around them don’t. In the office, the people with whom I shared a desk (at my last job, with the CEO and chief technology guy, both foreigners) would eat in front of me and it didn’t bother me at all.

Taking the religious view

Here’s the religious perspective, which anybody has the right to offer, not just those who deem themselves pious or holy or “heroes”.

Fasting is about showing self-control in the name of understanding how it feels to be hungry, thirsty and deprived. It’s not just about accumulating as much merit as possible for booking a place in heaven.

As always, I fall back on what my parents taught me. My mother once said true fasting is to be faced with temptation, and to resist. It’s to go hungry and thirsty when there is food and drinks aplenty around you.

If you forbid others to stop eating (and even drinking!) and banish all food and drinks from sight, and infringe upon the rights of the non-Muslims, as well as those Muslims who cannot fast or choose not to, then what is the point of Ramadan?

The political weapon

Fasting seems to have become weaponised in the communal battles being fought in Malaysia. Using “sensitive” matters such as religion that others dare not challenge, to force them to toe your line, seems to be an easy gambit.

In their zeal to go one-up against the “nons” as well as those not sufficiently “religious”, many have trampled on the very essence of what Ramadan is about. They show their misplaced priorities and betray their lack of understanding of the true meaning of Islam.

In our Keluarga Malaysia era, which is nothing more than just an empty and lazy political slogan, it seems like the big brother is allowed, even encouraged, to bully his smaller siblings. That’s a sure sign of a dysfunctional family.

Fasting has been turned into yet another show of force by our increasingly feudal lords over the increasingly feudal and oppressed serfs, both Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

The feudal lords truly didn’t get the memo on the true meaning of Ramadan.

Doing things in ways that make people run away from, or even hate Islam, is clearly not the purpose of the holy month. And for that, they had better have a good answer when they’re questioned later in the hereafter. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.