FW: Too much food, guilt to stomach

I find this article very interesting. It was good to hear his side of the story. I mean he is talking about his country (Malaysia) and I live way far from that. Yet it is very similar to the place where I brought up and to where I live now. So it's not just me, it's not just us. Folks there too have similar reality, interesting!

-x86

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http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Wednesday/Columns/
20061004083413/Article/index_html

Zainul Arifin on Wednesday: Too much food, guilt to stomach
By Zainul Arifin

08 October, 2006

FOR Muslims, Ramadan is a month of prayer and solemn reflection. But the reality is, it is also a month of conspicuous consumption, which kicked off a month or so before with the nationwide officially-sanctioned annual Mega Sales Carnival. The rumblings in the tummy and the dry, parched throat are to remind us of the unfortunate. But they have also become convenient excuses to indulge, and not just in food.

Resistance is futile. The mind is weak and so is resolve when the body is deprived of what it is used to. Maybe we don’t try hard enough, or life generally does not try most of us hard enough these days. Hardship in Ramadan is running out of ice cubes during the breaking of fast.

Those who fast tend to spend much more, realising only too late that a dish here and another there, a kueh or two, the sugar cane juice, and suddenly it’s a third of your weekly marketing money gone.

It seems that because Muslims are deprived of food and drink during the day, they find it acceptable to splurge, and retailers know this very well.

Ramadan has also turned out to be the most profitable month in the year for hotel food and beverage outlets. It is no wonder they spare little when promoting their buka puasa fares, hence the extra tables in lobbies and walkways.

After all, the multi-coloured dessert and dishes of old have brought about the path of least resistance for the faithful to loosen the purse strings.

But looking at the amount charged and the food often left to waste, I can’t help feeling rather at odds with the feasting at sundown. I can think of a charity or two that could use some of the money spent.

At times greed has showed its ugly head in this holy month, too. I am not sure how much the prices of food this Ramadan had to do with the recent hike in fuel prices, but I am inclined to believe that a large part of it could also be attributed to greed.

A hawker in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, just lost a customer for the rest of the month when she refused to sell me RM1 worth of cooked vegetables. The minimum purchase she told me was RM2. I would have bought it but for the fact that there are only three of us; my daughter hates vegetables and I do not want to waste.

She declined my logical suggestion to halve the RM2 portion, so I walked off. It was 15 minutes to breaking fast and she had quite a lot left in her tray; still she refused. I suspect greed got the better of her.

We also break a lot of rules and regulations on food handling every Ramadan. Why are almost all food sold at pasar Ramadan uncovered?

Often located by the roadside and exposed to the elements, the makeshift stalls and their wares often bring hygiene issues to mind. But we do not seem to mind. In fact we are oblivious to it.

Also, I am not sure if the guys selling or handling food have been given jabs against communicable diseases, as required by our laws for food operators and handlers. There are no statistics to back my claim, but I do believe Ramadan has the highest number of cases of food poisoning compared with any other period in the year. This month, food is often prepared early. It is likely to turn bad by the time it comes to breaking fast.

Ramadan also makes me feel guilty about the number of plastic bags I bring home from the pasar Ramadan. I have to decline bags and return some of them since hawkers tend to put even a single kuih inside a single plastic bag. Apparently, we the consumers want it that way.

Meanwhile, I do believe that there should be at least some show of decorum even in the commercialisation of Hari Raya. I am not sure how it works, but shopping centres and department stores should not be playing Hari Raya songs in the first few days of Ramadan, which after all is a month of prayer and reflection.

But crass commercialisation has taken hold of us. As discomfited as I may have been over the weekend about the Raya songs played in the mall I was in, I could not resist humming to the tunes. I am after all hungry, and weak.

However, I am rather perplexed that I saw little reference, either visual or audio, to Deepavali, which will be celebrated a few days ahead of Hari Raya. Come on now, retailers and mall owners. But I digress.

I sometimes fail in my mission for a more meaningful Ramadan. I head to pasar Ramadan with a clear plan and strategy, but often leave with more food, drinks and guilt than I can nibble through.
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