Monday, August 14, 2017

Ambassador

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.