Ustazah: 'Muslims do not eat with chopsticks'

'Air Kotak' and chopsticks in Sarawak

Mariam Mokhtar

COMMENT | The people of Sarawak may not have heard the saying, "Be careful who you vote for because there is always a catch. Casting your vote is the only good part. From then on, it is downhill all the way."

Although PAS is hugely unpopular within Sarawak, because of its diehard conservative stance on national issues, do the Sarawakians realise that it is not necessary for PAS to win, to change Sarawak from being harmonious and tolerant, to a country that is divisive and intolerant?

What PAS cannot outwardly achieve, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and his army of civil servants and teachers will carry out by stealth.

In early November, a Sarawakian mother related her child's experience in a national school in Kuala Lumpur. The family lived in Semenanjung whilst the husband was on a work assignment.

Like most mothers, she would take an interest in her child's lessons. However, three things about the primary school education made her vow to return to Sarawak as soon as her husband's contract was over.

'I don't wear the tudung'

One day, her son proudly showed his drawing of their family tree. When she asked him who the woman in a tudung represented, he said, "You, Mother!"

The Malay Sarawakian mother, who prides herself on being open-minded and is more comfortable in shorts, skirts, and short sleeves, said, "I don't wear the tudung. That's not me," to which the son replied, "My teacher says that all mothers must wear the tudung."

On another occasion, the boy's Sarawakian grandmother visited the family and whilst granny was praying, the son switched off the fan, to which his horrified parents said, "Why did you do that? Granny will be sweltering in the heat."

The son's reply was, "Ustazah says that we must not have any unnatural wind whilst praying. No fans. No air-conditioning."

This strengthened the mother's resolve to return to Kuching.

'Muslims do not eat with chopsticks'

A few months later, when the mother laid the table for the evening meal of Sarawak laksa, her son said, "We cannot eat with chopsticks. Ustazah said Muslims do not eat with chopsticks."

What an eff-ing kerbau, sure as my name is Zheng He

Wouldn't we all like to know what the Ministry of Education, ustazahs, and ustads teach our children in school? Does an independent body vet the standard and quality of teaching, and teaching materials in our schools?

Is the ustazah of the Sarawakian child aware that there are around 25 million Muslims in the People's Republic of China (PRC)? She thinks that Muslims should not eat with chopsticks. So, are the PRC Muslims deviants?

Then again, if we were to go by Dr Mahathir Mohamad's logic, non-Malays who eat with chopsticks cannot possibly claim to be Malaysian.

Do both Dr Mahathir and the ustazah attend the same National Civics Bureau (BTN) class?

The Sarawakian family eventually returned to Kuching, but they noticed that the spread of West Malaysian bigotry was already present in East Malaysia.

Many Sarawakians claim that children who are sent to boarding schools in Semenanjung, or who later enrol at Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (UPM) or Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) would return to Sarawak, with very intolerant views. Many warn their mothers and grandmothers to cover their hair and aurat.

Where the Sarawakian Muslim family would once have no qualms about eating at pork-free restaurants, their newly returned graduate children would refuse to join them.

A Kuching parent said that a decade ago, her daughter's mission school had a shortage of teachers, so the Education Ministry sent 15 teachers6 from Kelantan to fill the shortfall.

Refused to integrate

She was not sure who suffered the worse culture shock. The current crop of teachers which was comprised of many races, or the very insular Kelantanese?

The Kelantanese refused to integrate, and made life difficult for the teaching staff. The Sarawak Malay teachers at the school were also forced to take sides. Join the conservatives or continue mixing with the infidels. The Kelantanese' fluency of English was another issue. It was a toxic teaching environment and not conducive to the school's well-being.

Some mothers claim that the ustazahs would tell their primary school pupils not to give alms to non-Muslims. This confused many young children because intermarriages are common in Sarawak families. One (Muslim) child with Chinese and Iban grandparents said, "Does this mean I cannot give to yeh-yeh (grandpa) and nai-nai (grandma)?"

All Catholic mission schools receive government aid and it was common to start morning assembly with a doa and end with a Christian prayer.

As a matter of respect, everyone would stand whilst the doa was read, but when The Lord's Prayer was read to close the assembly, the Kelantanese group immediately sat down.

Failure to assimilate

This mark of disrespect infuriated many but was fortunately resolved. So, are these teachers from Semenanjung deliberately obtuse, or simply arrogant?

It was a common tradition for teachers to share pot-luck after long meetings. However, the Kelantanese refused to eat, as the food did not come from Muslim households, and refused to drink water from the glasses in the school pantry.

It was only a matter of time before the teachers from Kelantan brought their own drinks, which they called 'Air kotak' (drinks in cartons).

This was the first time many Sarawakian teachers and parents had heard of 'Air Kotak'

Incredibly, the Kelantanese failure to assimilate has also affected the non-Malays.

Years later, one of the Sarawak Malay teachers left to do her PhD at Edinburgh University. She paid a visit to her Malaysian Chinese friend, another postgraduate who had recently arrived in Scotland.

The Malay lady was thirsty and asked if she could have a drink. The Chinese lady panicked and was embarrassed when she said, "I'm sorry, I can't offer you a drink. I don't have any 'Air Kotak'."

My question is simply this: "How bad is the level of brainwashing amongst non-Malays? For how long do people remain stigmatised?"

In Saturday's Sarawak state election, will the people choose wisely, and stop the creeping influence of the bigots from Semenanjung?

Sarawak's harmony is too precious to destroy just for 30 pieces of silver10 from Ismail Sabri.

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army, and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog, Twitter.