dont be an ASS, stay (good) Malaysian

Italy, as you might know, is a long country, from the northern-most tip of Trentino-Alto Adige bordering Austria and Switzerland (around 47 N at the tip) to the southern-most tip of Sicily in the mediterranean sea, (around 35 N at the tip, same as Tunis of Tunisia, North Africa). Although there are only around 300 Malaysians in Italy, we are scattered all over. Perhaps not at the extreme ends...but you get what i mean...

so taking advantage of the long weekend over the coming Easter (we get friday 2nd April and monday 5th off!), a Malaysian in Genova (on the ligurian coast, not far from Nice of France) decided to organise an event of makan-makan on saturday in Milan, thinking many of us would probably like to drive/travel on those days like a typical Malaysian would do in Malaysia. It is not an official Malaysian in Italy Association event, just an informal do between fellow-countrymen far from home.

For her stellar effort of bringing us closer, she received an email from an irate fellow-countryman. in her confusion and sadness, the organiser shared with me the email. i couldnt believe what i read.

first the irate country(wo)man, let's just call her celina, noted that it is a religious weekend and for the catholics who are celebrating the Easter with family, it wouldn't be fair to them because they would miss it. Good point. probably we should take that into consideration next time.

then the irate celina continued to rant about a request from the organiser to bring gifts, turning what was meant as a fun & game dont-spend-money-make-your-own-gift idea into a sordid recycled gift case, which i wont even bother to explain here.

what really gets my goat tho is celina's third point in which the irate woman noted on the itinerary that halal food will be served. she wrote (in her bad english)...

"3. I don't know who wrote the program but does the word halal need to be emphasize! We're not in Malaysia, we're in Italy, by choice whether living or working we don't need that nonsense here. It would be good to remember that. If someone has a problem then they shouldn't be here in the first place."

considering malaysia is a muslim majority country, i guess (as a muslim myself) it would be nice to be told that, hey, we can eat at a social event we are invited to, no worries! thanks for being sensitive to our requirements, especially in a country where it is an issue to find halal food. last year, when ever our ex-president organised anything, she of chinese parentage and italian citizenship, would always assure us that food would be halal (if it was) and no one had ever said anything.

if you want to organise a gathering and serve all the porky-pork goodness that you want and not care if the muslim malaysians would actually attend because an event without makan-makan is just wrong to a typical Malaysian, go ahead. no one's stopping you. it's completely your prerogative.

and since when has italy turned into a no-halal-food-allowed country anyway?

and yes, we have quite a few muslim malaysians in italy, working and living, and i presume by choice as arranged marriage and slavery have pretty much been abolish here...unless you are talking about the chinese working in some dark buildings making cheap immitation of branded clothes in Napoli according to roberto saviano in his controversial book Gomorrah (which i have been told by a neopolitano, on a flight back from spain, is not completely exagerrated).

i mean, just because you were shipped to Malaya by the British from mainland china doesnt mean you need to forget your chinese new year and celebrate which ever new year people celebrate in good ol malaya, right? in malaysia, we ALL (chinese, malay, indian, everyone in between and betwix, and of course the occasional mat sallehs) celebrate it with you (thanks for the extra 2 days of public holiday!), typically by driving/travelling around the country.

it's not like we were escaping muslim tyranny in Malaysia in the dark of the night by the underground tunnel and now that we are in the land of the free we can no longer be obliged to not eat pork.

nonsense?

carrying within you your ideology, being who you are where ever you are, is not a bad thing. instead doing what ever the people where you have moved to are doing, changing you whole personality to suit them, and thinking what ever they are thinking and aping what ever they are saying just because you want to fit in...yeah, that just doesnt scream strength of character to me. it would be good to remember THAT.

i am a little upset by THIS nonsense. i cant believe celina is a malaysian!

~breathe~

Personally tho, i wont be able to make it to the event as i will be taking advantage of the long weekend to travel like a typical Malaysian, this time to Denmark. It's sad to miss these gatherings, but it is not THAT sad as there is probably another event somewhere around the corner for non-friends to meet.

i cant quite put my finger on this celina...i think i will snoop around and see which one is this one...heh! it would be good to see if she has grown higher nose bridge by osmosis just because she is in Italy. and of course to say to her, in my bad english, "what wrong you?"


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Rome: Again

life as i knew it has ended and a whole new one seems to stretch in front of me. and this second transit in rome will be the arena where everything will play out. divided about leaving home, cant bear to leave, cant wait to arrive.

see you on the other side!

love:j

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December of 2009

Being the last person to leave rome and seeing your friends leave one after another is as pleasuring as having your fingers wringed off one by one. first keith, roommate for the last 3 to the US of A. then sylvia to kenya. then kailash to australia. then gabriella to guatemala. then elisa, who decided not to be the last one standing by opting for a holiday in milan.

agnese is having a drink with me tomorrow tonight. and then, it's fare thee well rome. i'll definitely see you again :)

cant wait to be home!

love:j

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one little birdie

...said there could be a consultancy for me here...keep your doa coming! i hear they pay good money :))

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I am Muslim

the truth is, I have never been so proud of being a muslim and so contented with my faith as i am now living in a non-muslim country. In Malaysia, we take 'US' for granted. no one really go beyond the obvious of the requirements of being a practising muslim.

here and now, especially learning about the human development approach and food security and working in an Organisation that promotes the same issue, it is amazing how exciting and ground-breaking basic practices such as fasting and zakat seem.

:)

Selamat menyambut Ramadan Al-Mubaraq everyone! Semoga Ramadan kali ini lebih bermakna. Makan-makan kuih muih yang beli kat pasar Ramadan tu, ingat-ingatla gua di sini :)

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the saturday that was

i want to stop and grieve the passing of today, of yesterday's hellos and this morning's goodbyes, but tomorrow is impatiently tapping his toes, as he waits for me to step over the threshold into his promises. come monday, everyone will have been on their ways to tomorrow's final calls in sterile airports and appointments and promotions. come monday, everyone would have forgotten today, when we cheerfully pushed sadness to make way for a last supper. heart tugs and heart clenches. there are way too many hellos and goodbyes in the world today. i am not sure i am equipped for this fast lane.

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I am free

Last exam of the masters! next, internship & dissertation!

ps: graduation will be on Aidiladha...talk about the perfect way to celebrate my one year sacrifice for the future :) i am happy! i AM! isnt that amazing :))

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