Ridhuan Tee’s MH370 takeaways include serving cendol and change to short uniforms of stewardesses
(MM) – Ridhuan Tee Abdullah has suggested that a change to the “annoying” short uniforms of stewardesses and offering cendol instead of alcoholic beverages are among the lessons to be learned from the saga of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.
The controversial columnist offered advice today in his regular column for Malay language daily Sinar Harian, ranging from the spiritual to the practical, but he drew no direct correlation to the reasons why the plane has gone missing.
Listing down seven lessons, Ridhuan Tee recommended that Malaysians avoid being “too western” on an aircraft, saying that the country’s culture should be practised instead.
“Give priority to the Malay language. Give greetings according to our ways,” he said in his Sinar Harian column today, adding that cabin crew members should learn from their counterparts from Thailand and Brunei.
The academic also pounced on the chance to offer advice against eating food that is haram (forbidden in Islam) or doing forbidden things during the flight.
Passengers who ask to be served with alcohol are used to drinking it, Ridhuan Tee observed, while suggesting that their tastes be diverted with healthier local food choices such as the cendol dessert.
He also said air stewardess should cover up their aurat — parts of the bodies which need to be covered in Islam — if they are willing, saying it would prevent hair from falling into food.
“It is not wrong for air stewardesses to cover up aurat (modesty) and wear decently for non-Muslims. It is very annoying when air stewardesses’ uniforms are short and jarang (revealing),” the National Defence University senior lecturer said.
Ridhuan Tee also appeared to mock the appearance of bomohs or shamans in the search for MH370, saying that Muslims would not have to suffer if bomohs had the power to cure.
“Seventh, if it is fated that another incident such as the MH370 happens in the future, don’t ask bomoh to find it,” he said.
A local bomoh had twice carried out rituals to purportedly find the MH370 in the Kuala Lumpur International Airport with the aid of bamboo sticks, a carpet and coconuts; but the government’s Islamic authority has since called his practice superstitious.
Ridhuan Tee said stringent security checks on passengers should continue to be carried out, expressing his willingness to be subjected to such checks while observing that other countries would do the same and would even go to the extent of using dogs.
All Muslim crew members should also not drown in the pleasures of the flight and they should always remember “Allah” (God), while non-Muslim crew members should remember “Tuhan” (Lord), he said.
MH370 and the 239 people on board disappeared less than an hour after the Beijing-bound flight left Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 12.41am on March 8.
The plane and its passengers remain missing despite over two weeks of intensive searching by a multinational effort.
