I
seem to be finding inspiration from the IG of Chef Wan of late and this post is
no exception. Recently, he responded to a post by Aliff Syukri (I don’t know
this Aliff at all and I’m not interested in knowing him as I’m indifferent to
local ‘celebrities’) who was in Switzerland with his family. The latter stated
that he and his family had to eat by the roadside after being denied entry to
eat home-cooked food at a restaurant. He reasoned that it was difficult to get
halal food abroad and hence why they brought along home-cooked food.
My
reaction was like duh, what did you expect? Even in Malaysia, restaurant owners
won’t be happy if you bring outside food into their eateries. They don’t like
it for a number of possible reasons: because they want to you to order their
food, they don’t want to clean up your mess after you, they don’t want the risk
of whatever you bring possibly causing discomfort to other customers. Maybe
other customers would even prefer the look of your ‘outside food’ to the
restaurant and they ask for the same from the restaurant and of course the
restaurant wouldn’t be able to satisfy their request. Whatever the reasons,
almost all restaurants have this policy of not allowing outside food to be
brought in and regardless of whether we agree with the policy or not, we have
to accept that the restaurant has the right to turn you away if you do so. So
surely you shouldn’t be surprised if a restaurant abroad does the same too.
As
for the excuse of difficulty in accessing halal food, well, I’m sorry that I
don’t think it’s a valid excuse. Please don’t use religion or your observance
of it as an excuse to justify your behaviour. Islam is never meant to burden
its followers. There are other halal food options available (even though they
don’t come with halal certification): you can opt for seafood, sandwiches with
halal ingredients, salad, potatoes, sushi (depending where you are in the world
but most cities offer these anyway) or even vegetarian. And Muslims are a large
minority in Europe. You won’t have a problem finding Muslims in Switzerland! So
don’t give that excuse of difficulty in obtaining halal food in Europe. It
would be better if you told the truth that you were trying to be economical. I
myself don’t stop to eat at restaurants as I’m usually too much in a hurry. I’d
rather buy some buns or pizza slices and have them on the train or something. I
also pack some cereal bars too as snack. Nothing wrong at all with either being
economical or bringing your own food just as long as you know where and when
you can eat your food. Money can buy a lot of things but not class.
And
what’s with the idea of eating by the roadside and sharing it on your IG? Was
that to draw sympathy or attract more followers? Or was it to get your
followers to praise you for your humility or humbleness or nobility? Also,
there are so many parks in Europe; all you have to do is find one and have a
picnic in there.
I’m
sure we’ve had our fair share of encounters with the Chinese tourists. I’m
talking about those Chinese tourists who cut into queues, who go somewhere and
act all kiasu and are oblivious to other visitors, who act like they’re the
only ones who matter at any attractions sites, who pile up their plates at
buffet tables... in short, those tourists who give Chinese tourists such a bad
rep that they repel and disgust the locals and even the tour guides. Whenever I
come across them, I get uncomfortable and I can’t help wondering if that is how
they behave back home too. So, do we want to also give a similar bad rep to
ourselves and our country by behaving in ways that may cause discomfort,
disgust or disturbance among the locals? Do we want them to wonder if it’s
normal for people to eat by the roadside here too? Do we want the locals to
immediately dismiss us by lumping us in some category (‘oh typical Malaysians!’
‘Asians, what do you expect?’)? I don’t think so either. Oh, I know there are
people who would claim that they’re being true to themselves and they don’t
care what others think of them but, please, do have some pride.
We
are like ambassadors of our country when we travel abroad. As such, we should
strive to maintain the good name of our country by behaving accordingly (even
if the said name has been sullied by those in power who should know better, do
we still make things worse with our thoughtless behaviour?). Is it so difficult
to uphold the good name of the country and project a good image of oneself?
And
while we’re on this topic, what is it about the Malaysian lazy attitude? I’d
touched on this only last year. We’re inconsiderate and we don’t care if we sit
down too long at the restaurant - never mind that we have finished eating – and
obliviously deprive others from using the table. We claim to be well-travelled but
we fail to observe how other societies behave, their hygienic and tidy ways,
how they treat and respect everyone else, animals and the environment. We are
just too self-absorbed, selfish, inconsiderate, narcissistic, arrogant, blind
and uncaring. Maybe we’re not much different from most mainland Chinese
tourists then. We have the money to travel to new places, to learn and observe
from the locals but money can’t buy us awareness, wisdom and, as mentioned
above, class.
I’ll
leave you with these respective quotes by William G. Taylor and Henry Fielding:
‘Travellers are just commuters with a wider perspective’ and ‘I describe not
men, but manners; not an individual, but a species.’ I’m not sure if we Malaysians
can say we have a wide perspective nor can I say if we can be proud of
ourselves as a species.
