31. THE MALAY DILEMMA
My love affair with the sarong is the Malaysian in me. When I attend dressy occasions, I choose my sarong kebaya over a gown. Other times, I love a Chinese qipao or a gorgeous sari or shalwar kameez. My cotton sarongs travel everywhere with me.
I'm the original SPG (Retired) - Sarong Girl not a Party girl.
I lived 20 odd years in Malaysia. I was born and bred there and studied the Malay language as my 2nd language. I grew up with Malay school friends and had Malay families as neighbours.
Every year, at Hari Raya - their New Year at end of the fasting month of Ramadan, I did the usual rounds of visiting them during open house and enjoying their warm hospitality and yummy home made cookies.
There was much warmth, give and take and mutual respect. Life was simpler than, minds less polluted - it was an age of innocence. The 1963 racial riots between the Malays and the Chinese did not affect my State nor my neighbourhood although the grown-ups in my community were fearful....but they continued to go about their daily grind. I did not skip school - some classmates did as a precaution.
A good many mongrel strays shared our neighbourhood. My Malay Muslim neighbours were accepting of the dogs in their midst, they fed them food scraps, so did I, so of course the dogs stayed.
They looked after our homes, bikes and scooters. They barked at every person who was not a resident - the newpaper vendor, the roving barber, the food hawker, cigarette seller and ice-cream man. When the residents came home, Malay and Chinese, the dogs welcomed us all happily.
Our strays were like the small kids in our kampong - pure and innocent - colour and race blind.
The dogs knew their place and would not enter the homes of the humans who fed them. They kept their distance and slept never far away from our doorsteps, never intruding onto our verandahs or patios as some houses were built elevated from the ground with steps leading up to the verandah.
There was a co-existence not common today.
My Malay neighbours respected life and did not hurt the animals nor tried to get rid of them by getting the authorities to round up the strays, which in those days, the animals were shot by dog shooters. We did lose a few when these shooters came on their regular rounds. I cried at each one lost.
In Turkey, one of my favourite countries, the Turkish Muslims love their dogs. Everywhere one goes, in cities and villages, dogs were part of the family. You'll see them in the bazaar stalls sitting by the owner's side, you'll see them inside the family-run cafes and grocers and out in the fields with farmers and shepherds. They are well taken care of with beautiful shiny coats. Many are pedigrees which go to show how much they love their dogs.
My experience with Indonesian Muslims and my friend's dog, I've related in 'Borobodur Revisited.' Many wealthy Indonesian families have live-in Muslim servants who lived with large fearsome guard dogs in their midst, fed them and cleaned their kennels.
The Malays of my youth were not into headscarves in a big way. Only newly married women and elderly ladies donned them. Today, I note that the more prominent Malaysian Malay women and often, members of Malay royalty, go without headscarves. These are the confident self-assured ones who are aware that covering up does not prove anything.
Too much has been placed on the form, not enough on the substance. It's the classic blind leading the blind.
I'm the original SPG (Retired) - Sarong Girl not a Party girl.
I lived 20 odd years in Malaysia. I was born and bred there and studied the Malay language as my 2nd language. I grew up with Malay school friends and had Malay families as neighbours.
Every year, at Hari Raya - their New Year at end of the fasting month of Ramadan, I did the usual rounds of visiting them during open house and enjoying their warm hospitality and yummy home made cookies.
There was much warmth, give and take and mutual respect. Life was simpler than, minds less polluted - it was an age of innocence. The 1963 racial riots between the Malays and the Chinese did not affect my State nor my neighbourhood although the grown-ups in my community were fearful....but they continued to go about their daily grind. I did not skip school - some classmates did as a precaution.
A good many mongrel strays shared our neighbourhood. My Malay Muslim neighbours were accepting of the dogs in their midst, they fed them food scraps, so did I, so of course the dogs stayed.
They looked after our homes, bikes and scooters. They barked at every person who was not a resident - the newpaper vendor, the roving barber, the food hawker, cigarette seller and ice-cream man. When the residents came home, Malay and Chinese, the dogs welcomed us all happily.
Our strays were like the small kids in our kampong - pure and innocent - colour and race blind.
The dogs knew their place and would not enter the homes of the humans who fed them. They kept their distance and slept never far away from our doorsteps, never intruding onto our verandahs or patios as some houses were built elevated from the ground with steps leading up to the verandah.
There was a co-existence not common today.
My Malay neighbours respected life and did not hurt the animals nor tried to get rid of them by getting the authorities to round up the strays, which in those days, the animals were shot by dog shooters. We did lose a few when these shooters came on their regular rounds. I cried at each one lost.
In Turkey, one of my favourite countries, the Turkish Muslims love their dogs. Everywhere one goes, in cities and villages, dogs were part of the family. You'll see them in the bazaar stalls sitting by the owner's side, you'll see them inside the family-run cafes and grocers and out in the fields with farmers and shepherds. They are well taken care of with beautiful shiny coats. Many are pedigrees which go to show how much they love their dogs.
My experience with Indonesian Muslims and my friend's dog, I've related in 'Borobodur Revisited.' Many wealthy Indonesian families have live-in Muslim servants who lived with large fearsome guard dogs in their midst, fed them and cleaned their kennels.
The Malays of my youth were not into headscarves in a big way. Only newly married women and elderly ladies donned them. Today, I note that the more prominent Malaysian Malay women and often, members of Malay royalty, go without headscarves. These are the confident self-assured ones who are aware that covering up does not prove anything.
Too much has been placed on the form, not enough on the substance. It's the classic blind leading the blind.
posted by shirley @ 4:50 pm
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