Anyway, like every culture, Muslims (or Malays as they are more commonly known) have their own celebrations and religious beliefs, you know, like Christians have Christmas and the Chinese have their Chinese New Year. Well, Muslims have what is known as "Hari Raya". Literally translated it means Happy Day. It is much like a new year. This festivity is also known as "Ramadan". This new year is based on the moon or something i.e. it is not held on the same day every year.
Prior to this celebration (and it is a big deal in this country), Muslims have to "puasa" for a month. Puasa is the Malay word for "fast". What basically happens is that Muslims cannot eat when the sun is up, they can't drink, smoke, swear etc. Their fasting period starts early in the morning, around 5 - 6 am I believe and they have to abstain from a whole lot of things till the evening... usually around 7.15pm. The times when they can start eating differs from place to place i.e. in my area, it is 7.18pm and in another state, it could be 7.20pm. I am not sure how this works.
OK, I have got no problems with fasting. Hey, it is a religious belief and
people are entitled to their beliefs correct? You see, they fast so that for
one month out of a year, they know what it feels to be poor. I suppose that
there is some sort of logic in that. It makes them better people (I think 
).
The problem I have with fasting is that, well, Muslims are the majority in this country and for one month out of every year, work productivity levels in this country fall like you wouldn't believe. Hey, how productive can a person get when he or she doesn't eat / drink for the whole day? I mean, if I don't have my lunch, I get weak from hunger and my brain ceases to function properly. They have to wake up in the wee hours of the morning just to eat and drink and then, they have to go to work on a VERY full stomach (thus, making them feel sleepy during the morning). They can't have their coffee to wake up, they can't eat for stamina, nothing!! Then, they have to stop work early so that they can go home and prepare for the breaking of their fast. People who used to leave work at around 6pm leave by around 4.30pm because the breaking of fast is a big deal for them.
The business generated by local restaurants / food outlet drops by half during the puasa month. Some Muslims are so fanatic about fasting that they refuse to take medication during the fastime times, thus there are a fair number of sick people moving around (infecting the rest). Work evolves around the fasting ritual, traffic jams are terrible in the evening for people are rushing to go home (more so than usual), food stalls emerge everywhere because one does not need a business license to sell food during the fasting month (again creating more traffic jams) etc. Muslims have to pray a number of times a day, during the fasting month, the number is increased. There are heaps of mosques (Muslim temples) everywhere and there are no parking restrictions at these areas. One does not get a ticket if one triple parks their car and goes to talk to their God (don't know if this is the same for Christians though).
I think that the biggest problem I have with the fasting month is the bad breath. I don't know why this is but humans are built in such a way that if they don't eat / drink / talk for a while, they get bad breath... you know, like morning breath. We need some sort of mouth activity happening so that our breath doesn't become stale. Well, there is a lot of bad breath happening out there... these people can't do anything to counteract this problem because they are not allowed to put anything into their mouths.
Another major problem I have is that for those smoking Muslims, they sure
get irritated. You see, they can't smoke and thus experience nicotine
withdrawals, that on top of feeling weak from thirst and hunger... doesn't
paint a pretty picture does it? STAY AWAY from these people I tell you . Not
only are they terribly irritable, but they are also irrational!! You can't really
blame them really... their religion states that they have to not eat / drink
/ smoke. Still, I don't understand the logic behind all this. Perhaps, one
has to suffer before enlightenment? Maybe this is the case, maybe it is not.
I don't understand why people do the things they do with regards to
religion. I am one of those people who need empirical proof before I can
accept anything. This does not mean that I have no respect for religion...
hey, I do, just don't ram it down my throat! I can respect your religious
beliefs but you do NOT want to get into a religious argument with me. Yes, I
am an atheist which basically means, I don't believe in religion. I don't
know if I believe in God or not though. I will make up my mind one day, but
that day has yet to arrive. Who knows what I might find during my journey
into life.
