The show began.
It was nice. It was good. It was superb! I was particularly amazed by the synchronization of the performers and of course, the fireworks..speechlessly superb.
Then, I waited patiently to see and show my support to my beloved Malaysian contingent. I was excited when I finally saw the Malaysian flag. Proud of that!
But, I was surprised when I saw their costumes: Malay costume and songkok. The contingent consists of 33 athletes in which the majorities are non-malay, and of course, non-muslim as well. Besides, Malay cannot solely represent the image of Malaysia, it's multi-racial. I don't understand the need to wear songkok among non-muslims, it's an insult. If there is a real need to glorify Malay ethnic, they can be asked to wear tanjak/tengkolok (the one you see in malaysian ringgit), why songkok? Thankfully, the female athletes were not required to wear headscarf(tudung).
As a multi-racial country, the most suitable outfit is definitely suit and trousers. Batik is another good choice. For the muslims, they can add-on by wearing songkok.Anyway, I still fully support Malaysian athletes. Hope they manage to grab a few gold medals and make us proud. Heard that each gold medalist is gonna be rewarded with Rm1 million, is it true?
This entry was not surprising at all. I came to your blog and read few of your entries and yes, i now have better understanding on what my-very-silent friend has got in his mind.
ReplyDeleteU mentioned that u dont understand the need to wear songkok among the non-muslims AND called it as an insult.
INSULT? which part? is it because it is closely related to the malay costumes and because malay muslims, so, it is a religious-kind of insult?
there is much much more for u to understand. songkok is NOT part of the muslims' costume wear. same goes to baju melayu etc. It is part of the culture. It is like the indian christians wearing their sarees. Is that considered an insult because most indians are hindus?
Same thing goes to tanjak, tengkolok. They are all part of the costume wear.
So, why insult then?
I'd agree with u that it is not fair to only show the Malay culture to represent Malaysia. Maybe as we grow older and have our voices heard, we can make such changes.
if u read carefully, the insult is directed to the songkok.
ReplyDeleteyou should go n learn the origin of songkok before asking me to understand more. I don't blame u for thinking that songkok is part of malay costume as all of you are born as muslim, so, automatically you think that songkok is part of ur cultural. but, in fact, songkok is closely related to islam. You can do some reading about that.
I don't reject malay costume at all, but definitely, not songkok.
non-muslim shouldn't be asked to wear songkok.