malaysia's clash of cultures

7/27/2019 Malaysia's clash of cultures

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Malaysia's clash of cultures

By Jonathan Kent

BBC, Kuala Lumpur

When it comes to interpreting Islam, many Malaysians are torn

between their own culture, Western influence and a growing

trend towards copying all things Arabic.

A few days ago I visited P Ramlee's old house in Kuala Lumpur.

Unless you are from this part of the world you probably will not have

heard of him.

But in Malaysia, more than 30 years after his death, he is still an icon.

In life he was Malaysia's Elvis and Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant and Irving

Berlin all rolled into one. His modest bungalow is now a museum.

But when I visited I was alone, apart from an attendant who seemedto be hiding under his counter.

So I wandered around looking at photos from P Ramlee's films and

listening to his wonderful singing voice.

'Gentle and sensual'

One of the reasons I look forward to the holidays here is because the

local TV stations always screen a good selection of his movies.

Modernisation has been rapid

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My favourite is the comedy Madu Tiga - orThree Honies - made in 1964.

P Ramlee plays a married man who decides to take a second and thena third bride, all with the collusion of his first wife's mischievous

father.

But despite his best efforts to keep the three from finding out aboutone another, inevitably they meet, become friends and finally gang up

on him.

It is a cautionary tale.

But what is most striking about P Ramlee's films from the 1950s and

1960s is their depiction of Malay life.

His movies are gentle and sensual, the people relaxed, fun-loving andcharming. There are even jokes about gin.

Shadow puppetry

One can still catch glimpses of a Malaysia P Ramlee would haverecognised, in backwaters like the east coast state of Kelantan.

P Ramlee was an actor, singer, comedian,

songwriter, screenwriter and film director

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I had travelled deep into its countrysidelooking for Dollah Baju Merah-Abdullah, who

wears a red shirt. He is the last performer ofthe local brand of Wayang Kulit: shadow

puppetry.

"I can't speak well," he told me, when he came out onto the porch ofhis little wooden house to greet me and he tapped his chest.

"I've been ill," he said.

He was not up to giving a demonstration but half-heartedly pulled outa couple of puppets from a box to show me.

I could see instantly why his is a dying art. The puppets depict heroes

and gods from the Hindu epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

The local government in Kelantan put a stop to Dollah's performances.

Likewise traditional dance.

They are considered un-Islamic.

Foreign endorsement

Elsewhere in Kelantan I met up with Nik Rashidee, the custodian of an

astonishing collection of Malay woodcarvings assembled by his latebrother Nik Rashidin, the greatest carver of his age.

Among the antique pieces the Hindu influence is obvious: carvings of

Garuda (a Hindu deity and king of the birds) and dagger handles in theshape of Shiva's head.

Hindu influence can be seen in carvings

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They were not even exhibited in Malaysiauntil they had already been shown at the

British Museum.

It took the endorsement of a foreign institution before locals evenstarted to wake up to their beauty.

All these crafts are being destined to oblivion, not just by conservative

Muslims who dress in the Arabic style and frown on their own culture,but also by Malaysia's rapid modernisation.

Malay people seem to love the new and shiny, not the old.

Whirlwind of change

At the same time they have been consumed by a wave of

Islamicisation that swept across the world from the 1970s, a wave

ridden by Malay politicians who after the Iranian revolution decided itwas that, or be drowned by it.

"Now we understand what it is to be proper Muslims," people tell me,

and in this rapidly developing country many have found in their faith astill centre in a whirlwind of change.

But it is not just traditional arts that are under pressure.

Looking at posters from P Ramlee's movies, I realise that films likethese could not be made today.

"All we can do these days is tut tut at one another," a Malay friend

tells me.

Across the country one sees the evidence of a culture of disapproval.

Young Malay women wear headscarves drawn tight around their faces;

something their grandmothers never did.

Nightclubs are raided by the religious police, couples are prosecuted

for holding hands and Muslims are sentenced to be whipped for

drinking beer.

This is not policy. This comes from the conservative grassroots.

Traditional carving is a dying art in Malaysia

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Behind closed doors

The federal government seems unsure how to respond.

Those who raise their voices against the new breed of religious

teacher, schooled in Egypt, Saudi Arabia or Pakistan, are shouteddown. "Kaffir," they scream.

And jokes about gin are just not seen as funny.

But the saddest encounter I had in Kelantan was with a criminallawyer.

"What keeps you busy?" I asked.

"Rape," he said. "It's all rape."

Incest, drugs and rape afflict the Malay community far worse thanMalaysia's large Chinese and Indian minorities.

Piety in public. Acts that lead to self-loathing behind closed doors.

There is a sense that the Malays are a people increasingly adrift, andas at ill at ease with themselves now, as their grandparents'

generation appeared content.

It would have broken P Ramlee's heart.

Its a matter of attitude - Tay Tian

YanJULY 26, 2013

I asked my Muslim friend Johar whether work was particularly tough during the

Ramadan month.

He was somewhat puzzled: "Tough? Any difference?"

Johar is the manager of a restaurant I frequent for my breakfast. His passion for his

work and amiability have built up a good rapport between him and his customers.

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"What I was trying to say is that now is the fasting month but you still have to

entertain your customers, sometimes helping to prepare food inside the

kitchen.Won't that contravene your religion?"

He replied, "That is my job. As for myself, I am still fasting."

I was worried he could have misunderstood me, so I quickly clarified that I felt

uneasy having him to serve me food during the fasting month.

Much more relaxed now, Johar said, "So long as we don't take the food, there isn't

any problem serving food to other people. My religious teacher told me, if we are

holding food in our hands but deep inside us there is no desire for it, our heart is still

sincere and pure."

It appeared that I had acted overzealously.

"It doesn't matter. Muslims must refrain from food during daytime in the Ramadan

but you non-Muslims can still enjoy your food. This is very normal, and we all have

our own ways of living."

Looking at him, I really felt he was such a lovely guy.

Johar is no religious cleric, no profound doctrines and morals. He is just an ordinary

Muslim that upholds Malaysians' ways of living.

He never grumbles about his job throughout the Ramadan. Instead, he willinglybears his job responsibility and respects the needs of his customers.

That dialogue with Johar was taking place actually during the Ramadan month a

couple of years ago.

From what he told me, I came to understand the more open and pragmatic face of

Islam. Muslims are required to refrain from food during the holy fasting month, but

they would never interfere the dietary needs of non-Muslims. Moreover, Muslims can

also serve food to their customers during the Ramadan.

This is part of the value of Malaysia's diversity. People embracing different religions

have their own beliefs and ways of living, but they will never impose the same onto

other people.

The incident taking place recently at a Sungai Buloh school has triggered powerful

backlash in our society. Many Muslims also feel it is inappropriate for the school

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authorities to come up with such a ruling, thinking that such a move has violated the

most fundamental mutual respect among people of different religions in this country.

In a diverse and open society, everyone must respect the fasting of Muslims while

the dietary needs of non-Muslims must also be equally respected.

We don't care whether the school authorities have explained how clean and hygienic

the changing room is, but it remains whether their intention has been that clean.

When a group of students are made to take their lunch in a changing room, it is as if

to imply that their way of living is unclean or inappropriate such that their action has

to be shielded from public vision.

The school facilities are open premises which can be used by any student, Muslim or

non-Muslim.

The point with putting non-Muslims in the changing room for lunch is not so much

about the hygiene level of the changing room, but the haughty attitude that has

distorted the meaning of cultural diversity.

The shift in an attitude not merely affects a school, but could expand to influence the

entire nation.

The two opposing attitudes of restaurant manager Johar and school principle

Nasir are in essence impacting the future of this nation. - mysinchew.com, July

26, 2013.

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malaysia's clash of cultures

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