Misunderstood

Right up till now, 4 years into my conversion, I still have people coming up to me, asking if I do celebrate Chinese New Year since I’m a ‘Malay’ now.

Umpteen times have I repeated myself, that I am and will always be a Chinese. Wearing a scarf doesn’t make me less of a Chinese and being a Muslim doesn’t contradict nor clash with my beliefs and practices.

My colleagues were exchanging CNY cards one week before. Those who understood ‘who I really am’ would not leave me out on this, whereas those who didn’t, I received none. Receiving CNY cards or not is actually a small matter. I don’t really bother if I don’t get a single card. What bothers me most is the one-sided perception that people have towards muslims like us, who are not amongst the majority Malays/Muslims. And it really bothers me because I think there’s a need to let them in on the truth about Islam being a universal religion, and not a religion for the Malays (no offence to the Malays are intended in this post). Thus, I could really understand the urgency felt by my teacher to spread the message of Islam (da’wah) to the public.

So back to what happened at my workplace. On the last working day before CNY, all of us went around to shake hands and wished everyone. My Malay/Muslim colleague wished me ‘Happy Holidays’. I was shocked! I corrected her and say: “You should wish me Happy Chinese New Year, and I should wish you Happy Holidays instead.” And she replied: “ oh yeah yeah. Sorry.”

Maybe it was just a slip of the tongue. Allah knows best.

I think I would rather they ask from the horse’s mouth than to assume that I’m a Malay and I have adopted the ‘Malay’ religion and culture. Seriously, I wouldn’t mind sharing with them if they are INTERESTED to find out more.