An ex-bunny girl’s conversion

Tay Tian Yan, Sin Chew Daily

In the midst of all the chaos surrounding religious controversies in this country, we have an interesting interlude.

Felixia Yeap, once a beauty queen, a model and even a Playboy bunny at a Macau club, formally declares that she is embracing Islam to be a Muslim.

Apostasy is by no means a novel idea in this country. There could be several such cases on a daily basis. But, given Yeap’s status, especially her experience as a bunny girl, her conversion has aroused much attention among the public.

There are plenty who offer their own interpretations as to why the pretty young lady has embraced Islam, among which, she has banked on religion to give her a boost in popularity, especially in the Malaysian showbiz industry, and because she has intended to marry a Malay “Datuk,” hence the conversion.

Not a surprise at all. Although Malaysia is a multicultural country, people generally have stereotyped impression of religion, and to them, religious conversion must have been either due to marriage or personal interest.

Perhaps these two factors do exist in many instances, but that shouldn’t be all, given the fact that everyone with his or her own experiences and thinking has the freedom of choice to some extent.

As for what has caused Yeap to convert, that is her personal matter. It doesn’t really matter how the world is speculating, she has made her choice. Period.

Moreover, religion is about a person’s relationship with his god, not in any way a public issue.

I’ve read a Malay daily’s interview of Yeap in which she squarely denied both the suppositions. She said she used to be an atheist and had little knowledge about any religion, including Islam, until one day she was required to put on a tudung at the request of the advertiser while doing a photo shooting session. She said she suddenly felt secure and moved, an experience she had never had before.

She later came to know more about Islam and was moved by its teachings. She had the capacity to make her own choice and be responsible for her own life while her family had given her their blessing. Just that simple.

At least she had the guts to openly declare her religious affiliation as compared to many who have converted to Islam secretively outside the knowledge of their families. Moreover, she insisted to keep her Chinese name, and therefore no one should accuse her as a traitor of the Chinese ethnicity.

However, the spate of discussions has somewhat reflected the uneasiness in the non-Muslim community. Under peer pressure, a very common conversion case could trigger tremendous resistance from the society,

As a former atheist, if had Yeap eventually chosen Christianity or Buddhism, perhaps not many would even give a heed, nor would anyone discuss about it.

But Islam, especially after what some religious officials and extremists have said and done that have to a certain extent impacted the non-Muslim society, is never seen or treated with fairness, often disrupted with some prejudices.

Thanks to the stereotyped impression of non-Muslims towards the Islamic faith, aggravated by the negative perception from recent incidents, a very commonplace conversion has now become a heated public issue.

This is by no means a healthy development, and will not augur well for enhanced interfaith mingling and understanding.