OPINION | The Mermaid That Threatened Kelantan
27 Feb 2026 • 2:00 PM MYT
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Fa Abdul
FA ABDUL is a former columnist of Malaysiakini & Free Malaysia Today (FMT)
Photo credit: Focus Malaysia
A man wore a mermaid costume to sell drinks at a Ramadan bazaar.
There he was. Fully alive. Fully committed. Twirling, dancing and shimmering like his sales target depended on it - which, frankly, it probably did.
And for some reason, his marketing gimmick offended some snowflakes.
Soon enough, an investigation was opened by the Kelantan Islamic Religious Affairs Department. Because apparently, nothing says moral emergency quite like a man in a seashell bra during Ramadan.
Now, I watched the video.
And I laughed.
Not in outrage. Not in horror. Just… laughed. It was absurd. It was tacky. It was the kind of harmless, low-budget creativity that makes bazaars interesting.
So I’m genuinely curious. Who, exactly, was harmed?
Did someone’s fasting break because a tail swished past?
Did faith crumble at the sight of his colourful mermaid seashell bra?
Did centuries of religious tradition collapse under the weight of polyester mermaid costume?
Honestly, if a man in costume can threaten your entire religion, perhaps the religion is not under attack. Perhaps it just needs more calcium.
Religion vs Satire
We often speak about protecting religion. But protection from what? From satire? From silliness? From a street vendor trying to make ends meet?
Faith, if it is real, should be resilient. It should withstand questions, laughter, even the occasional seafood-themed marketing stunt.
Instead, we behave as though religion is so fragile - one twirl away from shattering.
And that’s the irony. The more we panic, the smaller we make our own faith look.
Ramadan bazaars are full of gimmicks. Mascots. Inflatable characters. Viral marketing stunts. Nobody files reports when a giant cup of bubble tea waves at customers. But add a bikini top to a fish tail and suddenly Islam is on life support.
If anything, the mermaid-man demonstrated entrepreneurial spirit. In this economy, that deserves applause.
Frankly, some of us are not offended. Some of us are entertained. And some of us are quietly wondering whether we have become so allergic to harmless joy that we now see moral decay in every bloody thing that is out of the ordinary.
Come on lah, Malaysia. Not everything needs to become a moral battleground.
Sometimes a dance is just part of a gimmick. Sometimes a bra is just part of a costume. Sometimes a costume is just part of a marketing strategy.
Let people be colourful. Let people be silly. Let people laugh. Let harmless nonsense remain harmless nonsense. And let people hustle in creative ways without assuming the heavens are filing a complaint.
If we police every moment of lightness, we will eventually succeed - and wake up in a country so serious, so tense, so terrified of itself that even smiling will require a permit.
Surely we are better than that.
A man wore a mermaid costume to sell drinks at a Ramadan bazaar.
There he was. Fully alive. Fully committed. Twirling, dancing and shimmering like his sales target depended on it - which, frankly, it probably did.
And for some reason, his marketing gimmick offended some snowflakes.
Soon enough, an investigation was opened by the Kelantan Islamic Religious Affairs Department. Because apparently, nothing says moral emergency quite like a man in a seashell bra during Ramadan.
Now, I watched the video.
And I laughed.
Not in outrage. Not in horror. Just… laughed. It was absurd. It was tacky. It was the kind of harmless, low-budget creativity that makes bazaars interesting.
So I’m genuinely curious. Who, exactly, was harmed?
Did someone’s fasting break because a tail swished past?
Did faith crumble at the sight of his colourful mermaid seashell bra?
Did centuries of religious tradition collapse under the weight of polyester mermaid costume?
Honestly, if a man in costume can threaten your entire religion, perhaps the religion is not under attack. Perhaps it just needs more calcium.
Religion vs Satire
We often speak about protecting religion. But protection from what? From satire? From silliness? From a street vendor trying to make ends meet?
Faith, if it is real, should be resilient. It should withstand questions, laughter, even the occasional seafood-themed marketing stunt.
Instead, we behave as though religion is so fragile - one twirl away from shattering.
And that’s the irony. The more we panic, the smaller we make our own faith look.
Ramadan bazaars are full of gimmicks. Mascots. Inflatable characters. Viral marketing stunts. Nobody files reports when a giant cup of bubble tea waves at customers. But add a bikini top to a fish tail and suddenly Islam is on life support.
If anything, the mermaid-man demonstrated entrepreneurial spirit. In this economy, that deserves applause.
Frankly, some of us are not offended. Some of us are entertained. And some of us are quietly wondering whether we have become so allergic to harmless joy that we now see moral decay in every bloody thing that is out of the ordinary.
Come on lah, Malaysia. Not everything needs to become a moral battleground.
Sometimes a dance is just part of a gimmick. Sometimes a bra is just part of a costume. Sometimes a costume is just part of a marketing strategy.
Let people be colourful. Let people be silly. Let people laugh. Let harmless nonsense remain harmless nonsense. And let people hustle in creative ways without assuming the heavens are filing a complaint.
If we police every moment of lightness, we will eventually succeed - and wake up in a country so serious, so tense, so terrified of itself that even smiling will require a permit.
Surely we are better than that.
Warning : it is an offence to smile or laugh or tell jokes.
ReplyDeleteLife is not meant to be happy.