“Allah does not look at your appearance or your possessions; but He looks at your heart and your deeds.” (Abu Huraira: Muslim)
A chinese man in pink shirt with an umbrella walked in at 12.30 pm and donated some cash into the donation box. He then walked away during the heavy downpour. Most likely a non-muslim bec he did not stay for Friday prayer. Thank you for your kind gesture whoever you are.
Source: Zainal Bin Sapari
So this past Monday, 2 days ago, I went for a job interview at a well-known halal bakery for the position of a cake decorator. As some of you may know, I’ve been baking for the past couple of years, doing wedding cakes and deserts. I thought that this interview was a really great opportunity for me to continue pursuing what I love.
The interview with HR went well. We had a great chat, talked about the baking industry, and discussed the role that was being offered so on and so forth. After looking at my portfolio she was keen to move things forward, and so was I. She shuffled up and down the office, making phone calls to coordinate a last minute meeting with the head of the baking department, who was 5 floors above the HR office. I waited for about 15 minutes for the head of the department, and at that point was really looking forward to meeting him. The HR rep then sat me down in a another meeting room next to the waiting room. These two rooms were separated by a glass panel, so you could clearly see what was going on outside.
So the head of the department arrived with one of his colleagues. I introduced myself to the both of them and we sat down to talk.
He looked through my portfolio, flipping through the pages very haphazardly. After a few moments, he proceeded to asked me, “Can you coat a cake?”, to which I answered “Yes I can.”.
Silence… Then he then said we could go up to the bakery so that I could do a demonstration. We stood to got up to proceed upstairs, but then he turned to me, gesturing his hands at me from head to toe and said,
“From what I see, and the way you look, and not trying to be racist ah, but you Malay, I think you cannot la”
I was stunned and I just froze. I felt my ears getting a little hot, but I didn’t want to lose my cool. I was taken aback and didn’t quite know how to respond anyway. I just kept quiet because I was shocked. He continued,
“You know ah, Malays ah they over promise, promise I can do this I can do that, in the end, cannot make it, after 2 days disappear.”
I answered him,
“Sir, I haven’t promised you anything. I think you should give me a chance”
By this point, I was extremely disgusted, angry and in total disbelief. He laughed again and said,
“Ya ok ok, we will head upstairs and proceed, then we see where we can go from there? Anyways you speak Chinese not? Cos mostly all my worker speak Chinese”
I answered that I didn’t speak the language but I could understand bits and pieces.
‘What the heck,’ I told myself. I had already come this far, I might as well finish this off and do this well for myself. We proceeded to the baking room where I was handed a bowl of frosting, a pallet knife, frosting bag, 4 layers of cake, and a scraper.
The department head left and sent in another colleague to watch me. He couldn’t speak English well, so we had a hard time communicating.
I asked him how he wanted the cake to be coated, to try to get a better sense of the technique required, to which he answered “Yes you coat, you coat”.
So I coated the cake, clean with standard edges and finish. He motioned for me to scrape the edges with a zig zag scraper, so I did. It turned out fine, the edges were clean and I did the best that I could. Not a single crumb in sight, neatly combed.
The department head returned, walking into the room, laughed while saying, “Aiyo cannot Llah”
He started talking to his colleague in mandarin, thinking I would not understand him. From what he said I understood that I was actually supposed to be shown a sample cake that I was meant to recreate. “Ni mei you gei da kan sample ah?” Nope, he did not let me see a sample.
At this point, I grabbed my bag, thanked them both for their time, took back the copies of my portfolio, and left.
I have no intention of naming or shaming this organisation and its people, but I would like to highlight that racial discrimination in the job market is more real than we think. I’m making a stand and sharing my story because I believe in equal rights and equal opportunity for everyone. How can anyone judge another based on general racial stereotypes? In Singapore, of all places, a supposedly racially harmonious and fair country? Particularly in my case, what I thought was ironic as hell, was that this company actually prides itself on catering to the Muslim community.
Are we going to start making this right or are we going to sweep it under the rug and just suck it up as “the way things are?”
The point I’m trying to make is that nobody wants to be generalised or defined by racial stereotypes. Racial profiling is unfair and unjust. We are more than our skin. We are actions. We are people. We are human beings with original thought and different experiences that have shaped us to become unique individuals with so much potential to offer society and the world. And yet I find myself, for the first time, discriminated against and not given a real chance for something I’m confident at, for something that I know sets me apart. Nobody should ever be told that they can’t do something based on the colour of their skin, but the sad reality is that this is real, and this is really happening.
Needless to say , I probably will never buy flour, cakes, pastes or anything from these people ever again. But I do wish them the best of luck maintaining their halal certification, and I do wonder how they will maintain their minimum Muslim employment quota.
Source: Sarah Carmariah
QINGTONGXIA — The wine-swilling co-founder of Sai Wai Xiang Halal Foodstuff Co enjoys his pork and does not follow Islam, but still sells more than US$50 million (S$67.4 million) worth of food to Muslims across Asia and the Middle East.
The company is at the forefront of a Chinese drive into the global halal food and beverage market, exporting as far away as Saudi Arabia.
Businessman Deng Zhijun bills his wares as “products with Muslim ethnic flavour”, but has difficulty recalling some of Islam’s basic dietary tenets.
“Muslims definitely don’t smoke and don’t drink alcohol,’ he said over a lunch at the company, in a garden lined with caged peacocks, macaws and chickens. “There’s also some kind of meat they don’t eat, but I forgot.”
His half-knowledge is typical of China’s complicated relationship with Islam, which officially has more than 23 million adherents in the country. Some independent estimates put it as high as 50 million — which would put China among the world’s top 10 Muslim nations.
Beijing’s officially atheist Communist authorities oscillate between tight restrictions and more liberal policies that are enforced unevenly.
Mr Deng’s company is based in Ningxia, a western region a third of whose six million population are Hui. The group are a separate minority under Beijing’s classification policies even though most are essentially from the Han ethnic majority, differentiated only by being Muslims.
Violence in Xinjiang, the homeland of the other main Muslim minority, the Uighurs, has killed hundreds, with Beijing attributing it to Islamic extremism and foreign influence, while activists blame draconian restrictions on religion and culture.
In a promotional video playing at Sai Wai Xiang’s factory — set up 14 years ago — a table of happy Chinese diners clink glasses of beer before tucking into their meal.
“Drinking red wine is very good for the body and has health benefits, just like eating halal food,” said Mr Deng, who recalled a recent trip to Bordeaux and said he often finishes a bottle of the local Ningxia vintages with dinner.
PORK SAUSAGES
The global halal food and beverage market is projected to grow to US$1.6 trillion by 2018, according to a report from the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, up from US$1.1 trillion in 2013.
Mr Deng and other company executives pointed to President Xi Jinping’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative that aims to boost trade with a host of countries across South Asia and the Middle East, and he expects a windfall of incentives for halal food.
But there are concerns over how strictly halal standards are followed in China.
Last year, hundred of Muslims took to the streets in Xi’an to protest the sale of alcohol in halal restaurants. In Qinghai province a crowd destroyed a bakery after pork sausages and ham were found in its delivery trucks.
Such fears have an impact in potential export markets, and food safety scares are common in China, from gutter oil to milk powder.
The integrity of Chinese halal food was “questionable”, Dr Miriam Abdul Latif, a professor of food science and a halal expert at the Malaysian University of Sabah, told AFP, citing examples of “fake halal documents or certificates”.
To build consumer trust, Dr Latif said, Chinese companies should have their products inspected by certification bodies from Muslim countries.
SECURITY STRATEGY
But the issue goes to the heart — or perhaps the stomach — of the relationship between religion and the state.
China’s current halal certification system is a patchwork of local regulations, with varying strictness. Mosques technically have the right to inspect nearby facilities, but ultimate power rests with local government Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureaux.
At a high-level national political meeting in Beijing last month, Mr Ma Guoquan, a delegate from Ningxia, called for a single national standard for halal food, and improved enforcement.
“There are many problems regarding halal food management that can’t be ignored,” Mr Ma said, according to the Ningxia Daily newspaper.
But some say national laws would be anathema to the ruling party’s official atheism.
“This kind of legislation would be contrary to the principle of secularism,” Mr Xi Wuyi, a Marxism expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences wrote on China’s Twitter-like Weibo in March. “It could threaten China’s national security strategy.”
At the same time some Muslims complain over too much government interference in their religion.
Away from the high-level politics of policing halal food, many of the faithful in Ningxia rely on personal relationships to guarantee quality.
“I know the meat I buy is halal because I know the butcher, I see him frequently at the mosque for prayer,” said rural resident Na Liang. “I know the baker, I know the family that runs the noodle shop and I know all the food I eat is halal.”
Source: www.todayonline.com
Freedom of worship is a right enshrined in the constitution. We have been praying under the staircase at the capark of Regency Park Condominium for many years. We understand that it is the common property of the estate and we have kept the place clean and neat and it does not obstruct any human movement nor does it pose a safety hazard to anyone.
However, the condo manager, Ms Jennifer Peh from Saville property management pte Ltd managing agent has thrown our praying carpets and told us to pray outside the permises.
When we appealed to let us use that little space under the staircase, she told us arrogantly “If you want to pray, go to the mosque”. She even challenged us to “complain to your MUIS”
We work as personal drivers and have to be in the condo vicinity at all times, in case our bosses need our services. Even our bosses who are residents in the estate do not mind us praying under the staircase and our bosses feel that the harsh action and words of Ms Jennifer Peh is uncalled for.
Where is the religious tolerance that the government keeps on promoting?
Source: Ismail Ahmad
Dengan perubahan dan transformasi yang berlaku dalam dunia sekarang ini, budaya lebih progresif yang dipegang generasi lalu seperti saling menghormati, merendah diri dan bersikap inklusif masih perlu diamalkan oleh masyarakat Islam hari ini.
Menteri Bertanggungjawab bagi Ehwal Masyarakat Islam Dr Yaacob Ibrahim juga berkata menerusi pendekatan kontekstual, masyarakat Islam mampu berpegang teguh kepada kepercayaannya dan pada masa yang sama menyumbang kepada pembangunan negara.
Beliau berkata demikian di Persidangan Islam dalam Dunia Kontemporari yang dianjurkan Sekolah Pengajian Antarabangsa Rajaratnam RSIS pagi tadi (28 Apr).
Dr Yaacob berkata sudah menjadi sifat setiap kumpulan agama di mana para penganutnya mahu memikir dengan mendalam bagaimana mengamalkan ajaran agama sebaik mungkin dan pada masa yang sama terus menjalin kehidupan hari ini.
Tetapi tidak seperti mereka yang menganggap bahawa visi dan tafsiran mereka sahaja yang mutlak dan tidak boleh dikritik, masyarakat Islam sepatutnya mengamalkan budaya yang lebih progresif dengan nilai-nilai seperti hormat-menghormati, merendah diri dan bersikap inklusif yang dipegang teguh oleh generasi terdahulu.
Beliau berkata pendekatan yang mengambil kira konteks dalam mengamalkan agama akan memastikan seorang Muslim itu boleh terus berpegang kepada tradisi agamanya dan pada masa yang sama menyumbang kepada pembangunan negara.
Dr Yaacob memberi contoh bagaimana masyarakat Islam Singapura menyesuaikan diri dalam konteks masyarakat berbilang kaum serta negara yang dipimpin secara sekular.
“Sebagai contoh ialah MBF, di mana diwujudkan oleh Encik Lee Kuan Yew, untuk kita gunakan sistem CPF untuk mendapatkan dana untuk mewujudkan masjid-masjid yang baru yang akan memenuhi keperluan keagamaan masyarakat Melayu/Islam,” kata Dr Yaacob.
“Ia menunjukkan bahawa keinginan kita untuk mencari huraian yang praktikal mendorong kita untuk sama-sama bekerjasama untuk mencari apa yang dinamakan “common ground” antara apa yang kita pegang sebagai kepercayaan kita, dan apa yang kita perlu untuk berlaku di Singapura,” tambah beliau.
Pemerintah juga mempunyai peranan dalam menyediakan sekitaran di mana dasar-dasar pemerintah menggalak kesederhanaan dan rasa hormat terhadap kepelbagaian budaya.
Dasar-dasar sebegitu menyokong pembangunan masyarakat yang padu.
Atas sebab itu, Singapura kata Dr Yaacob tidak menyokong mereka yang bersikap eksklusif dan yang cuba meletakkan sesebuah budaya sebagai lebih baik daripada yang lain.
Menurut beliau, ajaran-ajaran bersifat eksklusif boleh menyebabkan sikap saling tidak mempercayai semakin menebal di kalangan para penganut agama yang berlainan dan akhirnya ini akan membawa kepada konflik.
Masyarakat Singapura kata Dr Yaacob mempunyai tradisi berpegang kepada prinsip-prinsip sederhana, inklusif, menghormati kepelbagaian dan menyertai dengan aktif dalam pembangunan negara.
Inilah cara Singapura yang harus kita pertahankan dengan bersungguh-sungguh.
Source: http://berita.mediacorp.sg