“To Shake or Not To Shake Hands…Is That The Question?”
Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad
It’s been a while since I last updated my blog. Whatever could be the excuse for that is immaterial for now. But what could be not excusable is the fact that I’m posting you the least-of-the-important-things in the life of this embattled nation.
Yes, but with the raging debate in the public sphere, out to almost split this already-very-beleaguered-nation, I’m ostensibly taking liberty again to post you the many things Malaysians have said, responding to this unfortunate “To Shake or Not To Shake Hands” Debate.
As the Umno-BN controlled media is on the round-the-clock capitalizing and making a huge political meal of this issue of hand-shake and lest you have missed the debate, I now invite you to intelligently peruse the 156 comments of this ‘great national debate’.
As usual, it’s always in very trying crisis time like this one that brings out the best of us and perhaps also the worst of us, the jewels from our pens and similarly the darnest words from our own pens, surely coming out of our own perverted logic.
Not wanting to be excessively judgmental, I will allow you to read all the comments and then decide for yourself whichever way you think is the right decision to go objectively, principally and perhaps even pragmatically.
But prior to that, let me take on Dr Chua Soi Lek first. This MCA President despite of, or perhaps because of all his infamous ‘sins of omission and commission’ has transformed to become the fighting dog or more appropriately the attack dog of Umno, outperforming and putting to shame even Perkasa and callously leading the charge against PAS, for his political master, Umno.
After embroiling the nation in again the Islamic state and hudud issue, CSL has turned his savage attack on the noble lady of Cikgu Normala, the PAS’ Tenang’s candidate, for refusing to shake hands with men of her opposite sex (Muslims and non-Muslims alike, save those with matrimonial and blood relation), in typical fashion of a ‘budak-suruhan’ Umno.
I’m wanting to pose him a question or two, given his profound ‘intellectual’ grasp and his recent ‘moral’ advocacy.
To CSL, is shaking hands a Chinese culture?
As 80% of Chinese in Malaysia are Buddhists, CSL shouldn’t require a reminder from this writer, a Muslim, that Buddhists do not greet each other by shaking hands. I’ve a personal experience in getting an awareness of this in my not so recent visit to the Malaysian Buddhist Association of Kuala Selangor’s branch. I was gracefully informed then that Buddhists greet each other by the salutation of OMITOFO with their clasped hands in paying obeisance (a sign of respect) and even bows to an elderly, while ladies use a form of courtesy in a charming manner.
Incidentally, as a blogger put it, refined Chinese culture does not encourage the shaking of hands even between man and man, much less between man and woman. (please refer to bloggers’ comments).
