By Alfian Sa’at
Jason wanted the whole works for his wedding. Hawa, his wife-to-be, was actually nervous about having the bersanding ceremony, where bride and groom would sit side by side on a dais. She thought that too much attention would be focused on the fact that he was a Chinese man, dressed in traditional Malay garb.
However, when they were choosing her bridal baju kurung, Jason had marveled at the exquisite designs on the songket. Hawa told him, “The silk is from the Chinese, the gold threads from the Indians, and the craftsmanship is Malay.”
“Do I get to wear it too?” Jason asked, clearly excited.
“Muslim men can’t wear silk. But you can have the cotton songket to wrap around your waist.”
“And do I get to slip in a keris too? With the handle sticking out at the waist? I’ve seen it in photos.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. What for? You want to circumcise yourself under your songket is it?”
For the akad nikah ceremony, Jason had memorized the words he was to say in one breath, while shaking the hand of his father-in-law. It could have been uttered in English, but Jason wanted to impress his prospective parents-in-law by doing it in Malay.
“I, Jamal Bin Abdullah (his Muslim name), receive the hand of Hawa Bte Iskandar, with a dowry of $200, in cash.” The kadi, a stern-looking man, made him repeat the line, but this time replacing the word ‘ringgit’ with ‘dolar’. Jason glanced at Hawa, who had taught him the words the night before. She blushed, realizing her mistake. Jason sped through his sophomore effort with ease, and there were smiles all around.
A few months later, Jason was informed by his superior that he was to be transferred to another unit. No explanations were forthcoming. He was told that he could still keep his First Sergeant rank, but that he would now be trained as an Infantry Specialist.
“But I’m a Combat Engineer,” was all Jason could say, blinking at the letter in his hands. His superior sighed, avoiding Jason’s eyes, and said, “It’s a directive from Manpower. But you shouldn’t worry, you’ll still be getting the same pay.”
It was only later that night, lying beside his sleeping wife that Jason thought of an answer to his superior: “I never went around telling all of you to call me ‘Jamal’. I’m still Jason.” But was he? He turned towards his wife and kissed the back of her neck. She stirred and arched her back to rest in the concavity of his body.
Two years later, in an editing room, a producer was reviewing rushes to be used for a montage for the National Day Celebrations. Ordinary Singaporeans were asked to respond to the question, ‘What will you defend?’ A yuppie-type with black-framed glasses said, ‘My job.’ A scout hesitatingly said, ‘My future?’ A woman at a food centre said, ‘Myself’. And then Jason appeared on the monitor. He was wearing his army uniform, with his green infantry beret. He stared straight into the camera, and in a slow, measured tone, said, ‘I will defend my family. My beautiful wife, and my one-year-old son.’
The producer thought this was the most heartfelt and sincere testimony, and slotted it right at the end of the montage. It helped that one could almost detect tears filling up the soldier’s eyes.
Note: Alfian Sa’at was inspired to write this fiction after being inspired by Amir in A City of Shared Stories Kuala Lumpur.
Great story Alfian, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
They forgot to upgrade the directives.
Baggage is still there.
yep..got transfered to an infantry unit because muslims can’t serve as a combat engineer, eh?
Hi alfian, anyway, I just wanted to ask, why is jason’s muslim name jamal bin abdullah.
isn’t that jamal son of abdullah? If his father is already abdullah, wouldn’t that make him muslim-malay-chinese already…(and I would think he would be speaking malay quite ordinarily rather than an exception to be impressed by).
//loupgarou
it’s actually a common practice for converts here in singapore to add a “bin abdullah” or “bte abdullah” at the back..it’s not really a compulsory thing, but just a common practice
A similar thing happened to a friend – she married an officer who was in Signals, and he was transferred out after he converted.
Muslims cant serve in any other arms of the military except Infantry because there’s no muslim cookhouses, you see ;-)
Unless there’s extra money to be made, like when they train muslim Bruneian officers in any arm of the military – be it Air Force, Navy or Army.
There’s no muslims serving in the Navy nor Air Force..maybe there’s one or two poster face for Air Force perhaps. Zilch for Navy.
The only malays in the Navy and Air Force are perhaps the name “Angkatan Laut Republik Singapura” or “Angkatan Udara Republik Singapura”. Pathetic actually. Might as well take off the name as its offensive and disrespectful to use it in that tone. I would feel the same way if the characters are in chinese.
Army..well in battles, the infantry are the soldiers to die first.. unless of course the commandos get back in one piece for the recon mission. So infantry should be perishable. So the malays should still be “ok” to be in Infantries. And of course with the exception of non-sensitive posts..
If the pledge is any good, lets question the “as one united people..regardless of RACE,language or religion…” . I think its just bull.. what do u think..
Let’s get rid of racial classification and discrimination of Singaporeans. It’s Lee Kuan Yew’s myopic insistence that he should continue this legacy left behind by British colonialists. The British used these differences to exploit and oppress the locals and the PAP is continuing the practice as it suits its purpose.
My goose pimples stood on end towards the end of the story. I am not a Muslim but can assocate with this as had a Christian friend from Uni days who converted to Muslim after marriage and had to pay a price.. in NS, career wise. really sad that this happening in Singapore. Few people remember that it was the Singapore Malay Regiment who fought for Singapore’s interest against the Indonesians during confrontation. They lost their their lives. It happend in kota Tinggi..
Nice one. What do you have to say about this Dr Saát.
http://dotseng.wordpress.com/2010/02/18/the-new-wonder-weapon-the-esc-missed-by-a-mile/
I personally can’t make up my mind. I agree then again I rather keep some things private to myself.
However, I do detect that you may perhaps be trying to write for a wider audience, I will not be surprised to see this piece in the ST sometime, it has that feel. Do take it as a compliment or whatever. Thats just how it comes across.
Either way thanks for the fish!
Abdullah means Servant of Allah, hence why converts sometimes add this behind their Muslim names. In this instance, it does not actually refer to being the son/daughter of Abdullah.
Interesting story, for it questions if the discrimination is not only racial, but also religious.
aygee: “Muslims cant serve in any other arms of the military except Infantry because there’s no muslim cookhouses, you see ;-) ”
I can’t detect a joke in that, but if that’s really the reason (excuse, really) by the SAF then it’s a bery de lame reason. The Muslims (mostly Malays and Indians) are still part of Singapore, why shouldn’t special arrangements be done to cater for them so that they can serve the nation just as equally?? They are a sizeable group too, so I don’t see why it doesn’t warrant the necessity.
Mr Sa’at, I was just reading through your blog yesterday coincidentally, and your writing has always struck a chord in me. I love this piece of yours too. Although it’s not very blatant, the underlying message is very clear. :)
We can safely say that “Not all Muslims are Malays but all Malays are Muslims”.
Blatant discrimination against Malays and Indians takes places in Singapore which according to Lee Kuan Yew became independent from Malaysia to create a truly multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-lingual, multi-cultural, meritocratic Singaporean Singapore. But what a disappointment.
The PAP and some pseudo-oppositionists try to sidestep the rampant overt and covert discrimination of the Malays by claiming that it is due to “dysfunctional families”.
It is true….I was in the combat engineers and the only muslims I see are at the quarter master department
We are in this sad state of affairs because of one man, yes only one man, who just cannot let go of the historical baggage. Ironically he has been doing just everything that he had stood against before the Tunku kicked Singapore out of Malaysia.
But there is still hope. He is already almost 90. We may still be able to build a united nation, regardless of race, language or religion. This is provided his disciples in the PAP change course.
Not only LKY’s “disciples in the PAP” but there are also some opposition wannabees who believe in his racist bigotry. To them “the root cause of minorities being left behind is a result of dysfunctional families”.
When are these bigots going to grow out of their marrow-mindedness and stop talking about their so-called “desire” to help the “minorities” in Singapore?
We are in this sad state of affairs because of one man, yes only one man, who just cannot let go of the historical baggage. Ironically he has been doing just everything that he had stood against before the Tunku kicked Singapore out of Malaysia.
But there is still hope. He is already almost 90. We may still be able to build a united nation, regardless of race, language or religion. This is provided his disciples in the PAP change course. – Taufik Ikhlas
Most Singaporeans have probably come to the same conclusion. That is why we need change.
@centaur
here’s the sordid details of what happened to our 1SIR in Kota Tinggi: http://goodmorningyesterday.blogspot.com/2008/05/ulu-pandan-heritage-trail-7-famous-kota.html
Correction it was the 2nd SIR… not 1st…
Despite official denials there can be little doubt that there is an unofficial
pro-Chinese bias in Singapore, and that in spite of the structures of “meritocracy” and
sometimes because of them, the Malay minority in particular has suffered structural
discrimination. Even a cursory survey of recent history confirms this impression. For
two decades after separation from Malaysia in 1965, for instance, the Singapore
government had an unofficial policy of excluding Malays from the Singapore Armed
Forces and the police force because of concerns about their loyalty. Not only did this
practice deny Malays a traditional source of employment, but it made other employers
reluctant to hire them because they were, technically, still eligible to be called up. (1)
At the same time, the government exaggerated, possibly unintentionally, the structural
impediments to Malays’ educational advancement
http://www3.ntu.edu.sg/lib/ne/lky/raceculturegenes.pdf
kr, Feb 18, 2010 17:13
i’m a malay muslim and thats what i was told many many years ago when i was in the army. There are no malays in air force, navy or the support arms of the Army because there’s no muslim cookhouse.
it was “sarcasm”, not joke.
but i do still find it funny tho. I mean – is that how stupid they take us to be? This is institutionalised racism and they tell us “no muslim cookhouse”.
Oh actually, there ARE malay muslims in the air force and navy, contrary to popular belief. They just happen to be in the Air Force and Navy military bands. Very important people they are – cos they’re always in No.1 uniform.
My concern is, as to why there are very few Malays in the Opposition like RP, NSP, SPP, WP, SDP with the exception of the PKMS?
To me, the Malays must get involve with the Opposition if the mainstream does not favour them.
Not necessary to change your name when u become a moslem . Retain your name and practise your new faith.