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Fed-Up With Malay-Muslim Personalities Drinking Alcohol To Fit In Non-Muslims’ Networking And Celebratory Events

I was at a celebratory event a couple of days ago and the waiters were offering wine. ‘oh I don’t drink alcohol’ – a simple reply that I’ve said time and time again but this time, I hear a new acquaintance pip in ‘oh not just a little? but (insert name of successful Malay person) does!’.

this is why I’m disappointed with us. Not the ignorant friend I had just made – us, the Malay Muslim community.

alcohol is almost always associated with celebrations and networking. I know this because for most of my career, I’ve been offered it and I’ve had to spend quite a bit of time explaining the reason why I don’t drink – I’m a Muslim and the Quran forbids it’s consumption.

In the Qur’an Surat Al-Baqarah [2:219] it says “They ask thee concerning wine and gambling. Say: ‘In them is great sin, and some profit, for men; but the sin is greater than the profit.’”

this is why I get disappointed in the success of Malay Muslim professionals/success stories who choose to drink. I do not applaud their success because you are one more person who is saying ‘it’s okay, I’ll bend the rules so that I can succeed’ and that sucks. it paints a picture of me (not successful yet but working towards it) being inflexible when really, there is no room for flexibility in this matter – it’s a great sin. not a small one, a great one.

I’m sure there are many success stories of people who have achieved their amazing careers without ‘bending the rules’ and I want to meet these people. i want these people to be applauded and to be identified as role models. I want the future business/accountancy/law/whatever other fields that require networking graduates to know that it’s possible – to be successful in your career while not having to compromise on your beliefs.

Source: Nur’Ashikin Ahmad

July 25, 2015
Malaysian Police Cannot Help Singaporean Robbery Victim In JB, Witnesses Please Come Forward

Dear family and friends, i was robbed earlier today in JB around Lorong Bapok, my car window screen was smashed and i have lost everything, thankfully Ive not lost my life. Alhamdulilah. Well… to cut things short. The culprit who robbed me earlier had used up all the money in my bank even b4 i call the bank to block the card. Now i am left with $0. Nothing. Not even a single cents with me. And the culprit had even swipe my Crdit card amounting to 800 bucks in a bar name Elite in Grand Paragon Johor Bahru. Also, my card was used to pump petrol at Shell at the following address.

Stesyen Minyak Shell, Lot Ptd 71041, Jalan Serampang, Taman Pelangi, Johor Bahru, 80400, Johor Bahru, Johor, 80050, Malaysia

Amounting up to rm200. I had make a police report in Perling but they told me it is out of their area and they need to refer my case to the Central station. Its already more than 12hrs and i have not receive any news. Even with all the details i have provided.

Anyone here who knows of anyone who can get me a cctv record at the said petrol kiosk on the culprit photo and vechicle plate number. It is at 0133hrs on 24 July 2015.

Also anyone from Grand Paragon Johor Bahru at a bar named Elite at 0217hrs.

Please help me to share this post and i hope to get some information and leads to the culprit. I thank all of u in advance for the help rendered.

May Allah bless all of u. Please keep me in your prayers as i am left with nothing. I am not contactable now, i dont remember anyone number and i have to result in borrowing someone phone to use FB platform to reach out to my family and friends.

Thank You.

Source: Farhana Yusoff

July 25, 2015
Walid J. Abdullah: The Contextual Proud Singaporean

*this post is partially inspired by people linking an act of human kindness which should be celebrated when Singaporeans lifted a lorry to save a man trapped underneath, to the sg50 spirit, whatever that means (so if the incident happened next year, Singaporeans would not lift the lorry????)*

Whenever someone asks whether I am proud to be Singaporean, my response would be ‘what do you mean by that?’ More often than not, they would be stumped, as if it was inconceivable that someone did not know what being ‘Singaporean’ means. Then they would ask ‘I mean, would you die for this country?’ And again i would go, what do you mean by that?

If you mean dying for this country in a war where we were unjustly invaded, i hope and i pray that I would have the temerity to participate. If you mean dying in a war that is fought at the whims and fancies of politicians to serve their own political agendas, then i do not wish to participate and die such a meaningless death.

Being ‘proud to be Singaporean’, really has no innate meaning. For me, there are many things that Singapore and Singaporeans have done that i am proud of, and there are many others that i am not proud of.

I am proud that we are extremely efficient in most cases. I am proud of the cleanliness levels in our streets. I am proud that we have not experienced racial and religious riots since independence. I am proud of our universities’ performance in any global ranking. I am proud of the fact that I am able to practise my faith relatively freely.

I am not proud that over the past decade, there has not been any discernible improvement in our transportation system. I am not proud of the fact that many Singaporeans feel superior to other human beings – especially our Southeast Asian neighbours – because of our supposed material achievements. I am not proud that racial and religious discrimination still exists on so many levels in everyday life. I am not proud that many Singaporeans do not bother to read beyond official narratives. I am not proud of contraints imposed on some personal liberties in the name of ‘public order’.

If someone wants to proclaim ‘I am proud to be Singaporean, no matter what happens!’, that is really his/her choice that no one should take issue with. What i do take issue with is the attitude of some Singaporeans, who in their quest for national pride, think of people from
other nations as less intelligent, as less civilized, and even worse, as lesser human beings.

So am i proud to be Singaporean? It depends on what you mean….

Source: Walid J. Abdullah

July 25, 2015
MOH: Traces Of GBS Bacteria Found In Raw Song Fish And Toman Fish

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has issued an advisory on Friday (July 24) asking food stallholders to temporarily suspend sale of raw fish dishes as traces of Group B Streptococcus (GBS) have been found in test samples of Song fish and Toman fish.

MOH said that it is working with the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) and the National Environment Agency (NEA) to investigate the recent uptrend of GBS cases in Singapore.

The health ministry has received reports of 238 cases of GBS infections from public hospitals from January to June this year, a marked increase from the annual average of 150 cases over the past four years. It also noted that more than half of the patients are over 55 years old, similar to previous years.

AVA and NEA have been conducting field investigations at various locations, including sources and distribution chains of raw fish, while MOH has asked all hospitals to report GBS infections.

The authorities’ preliminary findings showed that some samples of Song fish, also known as Asian Bighead Carp; and Toman fish, also known as Snakehead fish, contain traces of GBS.

Although there is no proven link between eating raw fish and serious GBS disease in humans to date, the analysis of a limited number of identified cases in Singapore has found an association between the consumption of raw fish and GBS infections.

However, MOH said that more cases will need to be studied for a more definite conclusion.

While investigations are on-going, vulnerable groups of people, especially young children, pregnant women, the elderly, or people with chronic illness should avoid eating raw food such as uncooked oysters and sashimi as a precautionary measure.

GBS is a common bacterium found in the human gut and urinary tract of about 15 per cent to 30 per cent of adults without causing disease. However, the bacterium may occasionally cause infections of the skin, joints, heart and brain.

Source: http://yourhealth.asiaone.com

July 25, 2015
She Called Him A Cina Babi. His Reply Was Pure Gold

One of our team members here at Greater Malaysia stumbled upon this story where an old lady and her daughter was cutting the queue at the express counter in a supermarket. When this happens, the usual response would either be silence or the people in the queue would tell the queue-cutter off and the matter would be resolved. Not this time.

After being told off, she called the netizen who posted this story “Cina b***…” and the story below ensued. We at Greater Malaysia would hope that one day, things like this will be relics of the past and we can all live without prejudice.

Note: The italicised words in the status update below are comments from the editorial team

Here’s The First Status (With Some Minor Censorship)

See below the photo for the short non-extended status

I told off a 40 plus year old malay lady and her daughter (probably in high school) for trying to cut the queue at the express counter in a supermarket. I said “tolong jangan potong queue. Orang lain pun beratur juga.”

Her response:

Cina b***…

Fuhhh! Cari pasal… Soh*****!

Pendek cerita, Abang Shuq kasi settle dan tepukan dari pembeli lain kedengaran sewaktu Abang Shuq meninggalkan cashier. Sekian terima kasih.

P/S: teruk sangat ke my Malay that she thought I was Chinese?

This was the short version of the story, before he added the extended version below due to overwhelming response.

Here’s The Extended Version Of His Status

Due to overwhelming response, here is the

EXTENDED VERSION:

I was the third person from the cashier with at least 10 people in line and this woman and her kid had been standing in the sidelines talking about how the supermarket should have more cashiers open. I was just observing cos I had a feeling that she was gonna cut the line cos she kept creeping closer to the line. True enough by the time I was the at the counter, she made her move.

I politely said to her:

Tolong jangan potong queue, orang lain pun beratur juga.

She gave me a cock stare, took a step back and said those two magical words…

Cina B***!

I was like, “oh no you didn’t b****!” Its on now m***********. You brought this on yourself. Abang Shuq is gonna tear you a new one!

Jilake betul.

Apa akak kata tadi? Cina b***? Cina b*** ya? Memandangkan akak ni tak reti nak beradab, saya harap akak reti baca…

…and I pulled out my IC. (Yes I did. How else was I to prove I wasn’t a b***) Note that the author explains his comments below if you misunderstood his comment about proving he wasn’t a ‘b***’ below.

Reti baca tak? Nama Melayu ke nama Cina?! Tapi pasal orang macam akak yang serupa takde agama, adab macam puaka lah saya nak mengaku orang Melayu pun malu!

Then I turned my attention to the people in the queue:

Perempuan biadap ni nak cuba potong queue, bila saya tegur, dia panggil saya cina b***! Patut buat apa dengan orang macam ni?

I then told the cashier:

Selagi dia tak ke belakang queue awak jangan kira barang dia!

I asked the crowd,

..fair tak?

Then they started to sound her. She didn’t know what to do and proceeds to say:

Pergi mampos laa korang!

Drops her basket and leaves with her kid. Throughout the whole thing, her kid just kept quiet and kept her head down.

The guy in front of me high-fived me and the queue clapped after me. Abang Shuq dropped the mic and left the building.

Here’s A Note From The Author Of The Status

NOTE: A friend brought to my attention that some have misunderstood when I said “How else was I to prove I wasn’t a b***” when I pulled out my IC to prove I wasn’t Chinese. Its not about race which I’m glad most people understood.

However this does raise a concern. Some of my fellow Chinese Malaysians feel that when the word b*** is mentioned, its referring to the Chinese race. Please don’t feel that way my friends. Its something you shouldn’t associate yourselves with. Only small minded people think this way. I know you’re better than that.

It raises a concern indeed, we are definitely better than that.

Source: http://greatermalaysia.com

July 25, 2015