Chef Wan and friends fast for diverse Malaysia

ARCHIVES 2009

By admin-s On Sep 15, 2009

(The Nut Graph) PETALING JAYA, 15 Sept 2009: A beloved chef, a renowned compere and a respected entrepreneur are but only a few of the notable Malay Malaysians reclaiming the meaning of multicultural Malaysia come Malaysia Day tomorrow.

"Malaysia has become a very scary country. Why can't we just love people for what they are, regardless of the colour of their skin? Have we not learnt from the experiences of Rwanda, Bosnia and the Holocaust?" Chef Wan told The Nut Graph in telephone interview.

Chef Wan (Pic by Roland Tanglao @ Flickr)

"Malaysians have to learn to respect each other. Those [Malay Malaysians] who want to hurt Indian and Chinese [Malaysians], they should ask themselves this. If we cubit ourselves, do we not hurt? Then why do we want to pinch them? This logic should also apply vice-versa," he said.

In the light of the protests threatening violence over the relocation of a Hindu temple in Shah Alam, and in order to take part in an inclusive gesture to uphold what Malaysia means, Chef Wan will be participating in the Fast for the Nation, Peace for Malaysia event on 16 Sept.

Other Malaysian personalities who are also participating include activist, blogger and The Nut Graph columnist Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir, compere Datuk Mahadzir Lokman, entrepreneur Anas Zubedy, and popular artistes Reshmonu, Rafidah Abdullah of Gol & Gincu and 3R fame, and DJ Roshan from Mix FM.

Responding to communalism

The inclusive fast was triggered by the recent protest in Shah Alam, in which a group of Malay-Muslim Malaysians opposed the relocation of a Hindu temple and dragged around a severed cow's head.

According to Anas: "When a certain group of people offends another group of people, I always feel it is important for other members of the 'offensive group' to come forward and say that it is unacceptable. In this case, the offending group consisted of Malay Muslims."

He said that this is why he, as a Malay-Muslim Malaysian, has spoken up about the cow-head protests, and why he is involved in the inclusive fast.

In a telephone interview with The Nut Graph, Anas also explained that his company, zubedy (m) sdn bhd, already has a tradition of holding at least one multifaith "puasa day" every year.

"On this day, everyone at zubedy will fast and berbuka together. We can fast in any way — the Buddhist way, the Muslim way, or some people forego food but not water. The point is we do it in solidarity with each other," he said.

Anas is also known for taking out a full one-page ad on behalf of his company on 16 Sept every year to commemorate Malaysia Day.

"This year, seeing that Malaysia Day falls during Ramadan, we decided to do a joint Malaysia Day and 'puasa day' celebration, and this was even before I learnt about Fast for the Nation, Peace for Malaysia," he explained.