Someone posted the following screenshots of a conversation presumably between a lady and an Australian man where she captioned “Sexism in 2017”.
In the conversation, it is believed that the lady applied for a presenter job and was rejected due to the following reasons below. After that she kept thinking about the incident and decide to confront the Australian man again through texting.
Editor’s Note:
How would you feel if this happened to you?
Source: Juwon Park
BY SARAH PRICE
Islamist. Jihadist. ISIS. Terrorist. Women banned from driving in Saudi Arabia. Burqa. 9/11… For a word that means ‘peaceful submission to God’, Islam is a religion that is connected to some pretty negative connotations and often seen in the media for all the wrong reasons. So, why would an educated, independent and well-travelled young Australian woman decide to convert to a religion widely considered ‘backwards’?
I get confused looks at my fair skin and light eyes. Some Australians ask what country I’m from, and get shocked to hear I’m Australian. Australian AND Muslim? The combination is unthinkable to some.
Converting to Islam hasn’t been easy. I’ve been called names, been scrutinized, rejected and fired from jobs, lost friends and had a really difficult time with my family accepting the changes in my life. Despite the harsh and rude comments about my change in faith (including how some assume I converted for a man), I’ve also had people come up to me and ask me why. It’s a question I’m happy to answer. My conversion to Islam was down to three main factors. This is my story and the story of the journey that led me over the course of two years to where I am now.
MALAYSIA
Traveling to Malaysia was definitely the foundation for my conversion to Islam. I went there after deciding on a whim to go on student exchange, not imagining what a crazy adventure I had set myself up for. It got me out of my comfort zone and exposed to things I had never seen as a small town Australian girl from Gippsland.
Before Malaysia, I knew nothing about Islam. I had never met a Muslim (to my knowledge) and I always thought of Muslims as wearing heavy black garments somewhere in the Middle East, far, far away from ‘civilisation’. I thought Muslim women were oppressed. That they couldn’t go anywhere without their husbands, that they couldn’t have careers, and had to wear black all the time.
My image of Islam was shattered when I went to Malaysia. I found myself becoming curious about the pretty South-East Asian Muslim girls with their colourful hijabs and clothes. I made many Muslim friends who went to university and had jobs. Some wore veils and others didn’t. They all seemed quite content and loved their religion and Islam quickly became a religion I wanted to learn more about.
My eyes and mind were opened, when, as a journalism student, I did an article about Muslim women’s rights. That was the beginning of everything. My mind was suddenly bursting with knowledge about Islam and the fact that women had many rights in Islam! Muslim women were legally given rights (including divorce, land rights, monetary rights, the right to choose who to marry, etc) in the Qur’an and Hadiths hundreds of years before Western women won the same rights.
The first time I stepped into a mosque in Malaysia, I felt an immediate sense of calm and peace. The strong yet humble cry of the call to prayer invoked feelings in me I never felt before. When I first bowed my head toward the Ka’ba, I felt home in my heart. I didn’t convert to Islam in Malaysia – I did that over a year later – but it introduced me in a beautiful way to Islam and to the Oneness of God.
CHRISTIANITY
I was a very staunch Christian before converting to Islam. My life as a Christian was a focal point of my faith journey; without it I would not be a Muslim and it was my love for Jesus (peace be upon him) that actually led me to Islam.
Christianity is actually the closest religion to Islam, not only theologically but also historically. There are many misconceptions about what Islam teaches about Christianity. To begin, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) wrote a letter regarding how Muslims should treat Christians. We are to treat Christians with respect – even if a Muslim man is married to a Christian woman, she cannot be stopped from praying in her place of worship.
Christians and Jews are commonly referred to as ‘People of the Book’ in Islam, because we all have the same Abrahamic roots. Jesus’ (pbuh) name is actually mentioned more times in the Qur’an than the Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh). Muslims still believe in the virgin birth and places importance on Mary (may Allah be pleased with her). Jesus is an important figure and you cannot be a Muslim without believing in the life and work of Jesus (pbuh).
The only difference between Christians and Muslims is that we take Jesus (pbuh) to be a prophet and not to be worshipped alongside God. Islam teaches the Oneness of God, and to worship Allah (swt) alone and we believe that Jesus (pbuh) taught this himself. The term ‘Allah’, by the way, is the Arabic word for ‘God’ and is not just an Islamic term. Arab Christians also call God ‘Allah’.
I love most aspects of Christianity. I love how it teaches compassion, mercy, love and all the good things we human beings should aspire to be. It’s wonderful that many churches are so active in the community and want to do good things in society and help others.
After returning to Australia from Malaysia I felt like something was missing. I researched key aspects and foundations of Christianity. I researched what Paul taught, what various historical leaders implemented after the death of Christ and I read my Bible inside out.
I researched what has been taken out of the Bible, what has been put in and the various contradictions and solid truths of the Bible. There are similarities between the Qur’an and the Bible. For me, the Qur’an answered many questions I had about my Christian faith for a long time. I could find no fault, no contradictions in the Qur’an. I listened to debates between world-renowned Biblical and Qur’anic scholars, with the Qur’an making more sense to me every time.
However, even when I found Islam to be the truth for me, it was very hard for me to actually leave Christianity. Religion has always been the most important thing in my life, and I wanted to make sure I was converting to Islam with all my heart and for all the right reasons. Converting to Islam meant I had certain obligations – praying at least five times a day, giving more to charity, wearing more modest clothing (a choice that I gradually implemented in my life) and give up drinking (drinking is forbidden in Islam).
This is a mammoth change; as much as I didn’t want to leave the safe haven of the church, I also knew I had to follow my heart to what I believe whole-heartedly is complete truth. I didn’t see converting to Islam as so drastically different to Christianity however; I saw it more as an update of my faith, for many reasons.
Christianity taught me to love God. It taught me humility, it taught me to love others, and it taught me a lot about Jesus (pbuh). I would not be who I am if I wasn’t once a Christian.
JOURNALISM
The best part of being a journalist is being able to make some change in the world; to give people a voice, to learn about human beings and the world around me. Being a journalist led me to learn about Islam.
Interviewing U.N. Person of the Year, passionate leader of SIS (Sisters in Islam), writer and strong advocate for women’s rights Marina Mahathir shaped my view of Muslim women’s rights and of Islam itself. I still remember how sweaty my palms were when I interviewed her. A million thoughts were rushing through my head. ‘Am I good enough?’ ‘Am I really cut out for journalism?’ This was my first interview with someone quite famous.
As soon as I met Marina, her quiet yet assertive nature impressed me and I immediately felt a sense of ease. I knew the interview was an important one, a life-changing one. She answered so many questions I had been asking myself since arriving in Malaysia. Her knowledge was exhilarating and I felt as if I had a newfound understanding of something much bigger and deeper than I ever thought possible.
“We are all one people on this Earth,” said Marina as we finished the interview. Looking back now, I know that was the most important lesson I had learned thus far. Despite various factors that apparently make us so different –national borders, politics, culture, tribes, heritage, skin colour, race and religion – we all bleed the same and breathe the same air. I think we should all try to remember this daily.
Becoming a Muslim and incorporating it into my life has not been easy in the slightest. It’s hard, and I learn more every day. People judge me, even Muslims judge me. Being a Muslim has tested my patience more than ever before or ever imagined. But they say the right path is not always the easiest one – and despite how hard it is at times, it also brings an incredible sense of peace in my heart and into my life. I wouldn’t have it any other way. It makes me happy, it makes me cry, and it makes me question a lot of things about society and about the Dunya (this life).
All I can say is that I find rest with Allah (swt), and no matter what I go through, I know I am never alone every time I make Salat to my Creator. Truly, ‘verily with every hardship comes ease’ (Al-Inshirah 94:6).
Yes, I am Muslim. I am also Australian, I’m a journalist, and I am also a traveler. Being a Muslim doesn’t change the elements that make up who I am as a person.
Sarah Price is a Master of Journalism student at Monash University Australia. She has interned in Malaysia and Melbourne.
Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com
An Australian woman in her 50s was found dead at the parapet of the second floor of Swissotel The Stamford today (May 30), Channel NewsAsia understands.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to a case of fall from height at the hotel at about 2pm. An ambulance and a fire engine were dispatched to the scene, it added.
According to SCDF, the woman was pronounced dead upon arrival of the paramedics.
Channel NewsAsia also understands that she fell from the 60th floor of the building. No foul play is suspected.
Police are currently investigating.
Source: www.todayonline.com
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 ― An Australian woman alleging that she had been sexually assaulted by a Malaysia Airlines steward on an intercontinental flight has gone public about her ordeal.
Known only as Laura, the 26-year-old alleged that the chief steward on Malaysia Airlines flight MH20 from Kuala Lumpur to Paris on August 4 had attacked her during which she had been paralysed by fear, according to a report on News.com.au.
“I couldn’t stop it, I just froze, I was just scared,” the news site quoted her as saying in a interview expected to be to be aired on Australian television this weekend.
“I keep saying ‘why didn’t I scream, why didn’t I shout, why didn’t I stop it? I’m a strong person because I can, I can do that, I know I can, but when I was in the moment I couldn’t. I felt so scared, so petrified,” she was further quoted as saying.
Laura was reported to have recorded an exchange mid-flight in which a woman is heard crying and saying: “I’m so scared, I just want to get off this plane … I don’t want to see you, go away, you give me the creeps, you dirty old man.”
In a statement last week, Malaysia Airlines confirmed the allegations had been made were made and that a member of staff had been detained by French police.
“We will naturally assist the French authorities as they conduct their investigation and would stress that the safety, comfort and well-being of our passengers is always our highest priority,” it said.
While the airline gave no other details about the member of staff arrested, the Australian news site said the chief steward is married with children remains in the custody of French police after “making admissions.”
The story comes at a time when the struggling airline is on its knees after successive years of losses and is now being taken over by the government.
The national carrier has also been in the spotlight for two tragedies this year.
In March, Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing carrying 239 people on board disappeared from the skies in what is believed to be among the greatest mysteries of modern aviation. The jetliner remains missing and everyone on board is believed to be dead.
Mid-July, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over Ukrainian airspace, killing all 283 people on board.-tmmOnline
Source: http://www.malaysiaedition.net/australian-woman-in-alleged-sex-attack-on-malaysia-airlines-flight-goes-public/
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An Australian newspaper on Monday published a photograph of a child it said was the son of an Australian convicted terrorist holding aloft the severed head of a Syrian soldier.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio that the photograph was further evidence of “just how barbaric” the Islamic State group is.
The Australian newspaper reported that the photograph of terrorist Khaled Sharrouf’s son, who was raised in Sydney, was posted on Twitter by his proud father.
“That’s my boy!” Sharrouf apparently posted beneath the image that was taken in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, the capital of what has been declared that an Islamic Caliphate by the Islamic State, the newspaper reported.
The child, who is not named, appears to be younger than 10 years old.
Sharrouf used his brother’s passport to leave Australia last year with his wife and three sons to fight in Syria and Iraq. The Australian government had banned him from leaving the country because of the terrorism threat he posed.
He was among nine Muslim men accused in 2007 of stockpiling bomb-making materials and plotting terrorist attacks in Australia’s largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne.
He pleaded guilty to terrorism offences and was sentenced in 2009 to four years in prison.
Australian police announced last month that they had arrest warrants for Sharrouf and his companion Mohamed Elomar, another former Sydney resident, for “terrorism-related activity.”
They will be arrested if they return to Australia.
The warrants followed photographs being posted on Sharrouf’s Twitter account showing Elomar smiling and holding the severed heads of two Syrian soldiers.
In June, The Australian newspaper published a photograph of Sharrouf posing among the bodies of massacred Iraqis.
Abbott, who on Monday was in the Netherlands, said he expected Australian C-130 Hercules and C-17 Globemaster military transport planes would join multinational humanitarian efforts this week on Iraq’s Sinjar Mountain.
British officials estimated Saturday that 50,000 to 150,000 people could be trapped on the mountain, where they fled to escape the Islamic extremists, only to become stranded there with few supplies.
“Australia will gladly join the humanitarian airlifts to the people stranded on Mount Sinjar,” Abbott told ABC. “This is a potential humanitarian catastrophe.”
He said Islam State’s quest for a terrorist nation posed “extraordinary problems” for the Middle East and the wider world.
“We see more and more evidence of just how barbaric this particular entity is,” Abbott said.
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/jihadist-khaled-sharrouf-tweets-photo-of-son-holding-soldier-s-severed-head-1.2732838
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