Pageant organisers meet Jawi, feeling optimistic

Miss Malaysia World 2013 organisers today met religious authorities and believe that Muslim women might be allowed to participate in the pageant after all.

Anna Lim, the pageant's licensee and organiser, said Federal Territories Islamic Department (Jawi) officials have heard her arguments and will decide on the matter by Monday or Tuesday.

"They said that even if they make an announcement on Tuesday, it still wouldn't be too late. Sounds promising isn't it?" Lim told Malaysiakini when contacted.

The meeting, initiated by Lim, took place today at the Jawi headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. Jawi was represented, among others, by its director Che Mat Che Ali.

Lim described Che Mat as a "very nice man" who was open to discussions.

During the meeting, Lim said she had brought to the attention of Jawi representatives that the pageant format was tweaked to suit Malaysia.

"Although we have a swimwear session, Muslim women have the option to wear sports attire," she said.

Invite extended to Jawi

She also explained to them that the Miss World 2013 will be held in Indonesia - the world's most populous Muslim nation - and will not feature a bikini competition.

"They will be wearing either a sarong or a pareo as a mark of respect local culture," she said.

The programme details of both Miss Malaysia World and Miss World were also submitted to Jawi.

"I told them that they can attend tha pageant to see for themselves and that we are not going to go against them," she added.

Four Muslim women had made the top 20 finalist of Miss Malaysia World 2013 but were later dropped by organisers upon request from religious authorities.

Jawi has initiated a probe against the four for allegedly insulting Islam.

Court overturns conversion of minors to Islam

In a landmark decision today, the High Court sitting in Ipoh overturned the conversion of three minors, the children of M Indira Gandhi, whose father converted them to Islam without her knowledge.

The decision comes after the predicament of Indira Gandhi entered into the fourth year since the conversion of her children, after another bench of the High Court in Ipoh ruled that her matter cannot be heard until several similar cases of conversion of minors, such as the S Shamala case, are disposed of by the Federal Court.

Shamala's Federal Court case did not come to a conculsion as she left the country with her two converted children before the matter came up.

In today's decision, Justice Lee Swee Seng ruled that Indira's children had not been converted as the 'dua kalimah syahadah' (pronouncement to embrace Islam) was not performed on them and therefore, such an act was unconstitutional.

“It is against the right of natural justice because the conversion was made without hearing from the mother or the children,” Justice Lee said.
"Under the Perak Islamic Administration Enactment, the three children must have the intention to embrace Islam without force.

"In this case, the three children cannot be proved to have recited the syahadah (affirmation of faith) and they, as well as their mother, were not present at the Islamic Religious Office for the conversion purposes," he said.
'Conversion goes against UN convention'

The judge also ruled that the alleged conversion attempt went against the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

"This decision is no victory for anyone, but we have to learn to live in harmony," Justice Lee said in reading his one-hour-40-minute judgment.

There were no orders made on costs. This decision of the civil court means that the three will remain as Hindus.

According to tweets from PusatRakyatLB, who was present when the judgment was read out, Justice Lee said the interpretation of the Federal Constitution says parents have equal rights as this is consistent with the international norm.

There have been a lot of arguments on this issue alone, following several laws being introduced in several states allowing unilateral conversion to Islam by one converting parent.

The Administration of Islamic Law (Federal Territories) Act Amendment Bill 2013, which was tabled in Parliament for its first reading, was withdrawn following an uproar against it from various groups.

Children were reportedly converted in 2009
Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran, who represented Indira and her children, took to Twitter to express his delight with the decision. The other lawyer representing them was K Shanmuga.

When contacted Kulasegaran (right) and Shanmuga confirmed the landmark decision made by Justice Lee.

Kulasegaran, had tweeted his concern that there could be an appeal over this matter following the landmark decision.

Malaysia has a dual court system, civil and syariah courts, which govern matters pertaining to Islam.

Indira's three children were converted in April 2009 by her estranged husband, Mohd Riduan Abdullah, without her knowledge.

She filed the civil case against the state registrar of conversions, the Perak Religious Department director, the state and federal governments, the Education Ministry and her husband K Patmanathan (now known as Riduan).

She has two daughters, now aged 16 and five years, and a 15-year-old son.

Patmanathan @ Mohd Riduan, who is said to be in Kelantan, has the five-year-old daughter with him, despite a court order instructing him to return the child to the mother.

Shanmuga said today's decision covers the religious status of all three children, including the one held by the father.

In Negri Sembilan last month, the state's Islamic Affairs Department ruled that consent of only one parent who has embraced Islam is needed to have their children converted to the faith.

The department took this position after a mother from Jelubu, aged 29, complained that her estranged husband had secretly converted their two children, aged five and eight, to Islam in April this year.

Negeri Sembilan Islamic Affairs Department director Johani Hassan said the woman's only remedy was to appeal to the syariah court, but this may pose a problem as she is not a Muslim and is therefore not subject to syariah jurisdiction.

I was ordered to go on leave, says HM

The SK Seri Pristana headmaster claims he was ordered to go on leave before the Education Ministry decided on actions to be taken.

PETALING JAYA: The SK Seri Pristana headmaster, Mohd Nasir Mohd Noor had not gone into hiding after all when he surfaced today claiming that he was forced to go on leave while the issue over the school canteen was sorted out.

SK Seri Pristana in Sungai Buloh came under the spot light when photos of students having their meals on makeshift tables in the shower room went viral on the internet.

The issue which sparked anger among netizens and concerned citizens caught the attention of the Education Ministry almost immediately.

According to Utusan Malaysia today, Mohd Nasir said he was ordered to go on leave for a week before the ministry could decide on taking necessary actions.

Mohd Nasir said this when he went to the Saujana Utama police station this morning to lodge a report claiming he had been slandered.

“I lodged a police report because I was disappointed with the behaviour of some parents and other individuals when they slandered me by saying I had behaved like an uncivilised man.

“I even received threatening phone calls, some of them would call just to curse at me,” he said.

Mohd Nasir said the only reason he had ordered the use of the shower room was because there was lack of space in the canteen to accommodate all the students.

“The sun would shine directly into the canteen in the mornings and students often sit by the drains around the canteen as it is much cooler there.

“I felt sorry as it was unhygienic to eat by the drains, So, I decided to put in makeshift tables and benches in the shower room which was not fully utilised,” he added.

“I also put up a notice to ban students from using the shower room to relieve themselves and locked the water pipes too.

“Moreover, the shower room had been cleaned and has sinks for students to wash their hands before and after meal,” he said.

Following the uproar, the Education Ministry has ordered for the school canteen to be renovated so that it could accommodate all the students.

The school had previously stated that the canteen was closed since March as it was undergoing a minor renovation work.

The school and the ministry had also apologised over the use of the shower room as a makeshift canteen. The school canteen was opened for the students’ use today,

Hindu mother wins legal fight to also decide children’s faith after husband converts them to Islam

In a landmark decision, the Ipoh High court today quashed a man’s move to convert his three children to Islam, the latest episode in a combustible issue in Malaysia.

Judicial commissioner Lee Swee Seng said that while K. Patmanathan could convert, he did not have the right to deprive the children and their mothers of the freedom of religion.

He quashed the three certificates in converting the three minors, which were made without their mother M. Indira Gandhi’s knowledge.

Lee made this decision in allowing Patmanathan’s estranged wife, Indira’s judicial review application to quash the certificate issued by the Perak Religious Department.

The state registrar of conversions, the Perak Religious Department director, the state and federal governments, the education ministry and Patmanathan were named as respondents

Lee allowed the application with no order as to cost.

Indira, 38, a kindergarten teacher, filed a judicial review application in 2009.

Patmanathan, 44, had himself converted to Islam on March 2009 and is now known as Muhammad Ridzuan Abdullah.

He then converted his three children on April 2 the same year.

That same month, the Syariah Court granted him custody of his three children, an order which Indira had challenged in the civil courts.

The High Court subsequently granted Indira an interim order for the custody of their children.

She had claimed that Patmanathan had stormed into her house, had used force against her and their children, Tevi Darsiny, Karan Dinish and Prasana Diksa, who were then aged 12, 11 and one, respectively, before leaving with their birth certificates.

Patmanathan then took away their youngest daughter and until now, the police have failed to locate their whereabouts.

In the decision yesterday, Lee said the certificates were null and void as it was unconstitutional because it was given without hearing the mother or children.

“This was unconstitutional because Articles 3, 5 and 11 of the Federal Constitution state that a mother has an equal right to raise her children to follow her own religion,” he said.

“This decision is no victory for anyone, but we have to learn to live in harmony," said the judicial commissioner.

He also said the conversion was unlawful as the Perak Syariah law states that children must be present to utter the affirmation of faith.

Lee also ruled that the conversion attempt was against the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Indira married Patmanathan in 1993 according to Hindu rites. They have been embroiled in a legal tussle over custody of the children for the past four years.

Today's decision comes after Putrajaya bowed to public pressure and was forced to withdraw the Administration of the religion of Islam (Federal Territories) Bill 2013, at the last Parliament meeting to legalise conversion of minors to Islam unilaterally. – July 25, 2013.

Polis akan siasat kes sebar gambar murid makan

Pemangku Ketua Polis Selangor Datuk A Thaiveegan memberi amaran untuk mengenakan tindakan mengikut Akta Hasutan ke atas individu yang menyebar gambar menunjukkan murid bukan Islam makan di bilik persalinan SK Seri Pristana.

Thaiveegan dalam satu laporan Utusan Online berkata, penyebaran gambar berkenaan “boleh menimbulkan isu provokatif dan perbalahan kaum”.

"Polis tidak akan teragak-agak mengenakan tindakan kepada pihak yang menyebarkan maklumat berbaur hasutan di laman sosial berkenaan isu yang membabitkan sekolah berkenaan," katanya seperti dipetik laman tersebut.

Gambar yang berlegar di Facebook itu dilaporkan mencetus kontroversi di kalangan pengguna Internet

Beberapa keping gambar di Facebook yang didakwa memaparkan murid bukan Muslim makan di kawasan bilik air di sebuah sekolah sewaktu bulan puasa mencetuskan kontroversi di kalangan pengguna Internet pada hari Selasa lalu.

Gambar itu dikesan dimuatkan oleh ibu bapa kepada pelajar sekolah terbabit, yang terletak berhampiran Sungai Buloh.

Ia menunjukkan pelajar duduk di meja makan yang terletak dalam kawasan bilik persalinan sekolah tersebut.

Timbalan menteri pendidikan II P Kamalanathan yang meninjau kawasan tersebut keesokan harinya bagaimanapun berkata, tindakan berkenaan tidak melibatkan soal agama atau kaum.

Kamalanathan yang berkata, ia hanya melibatkan lokasi kantin sementara tersebut, yang digunakan sejak Mac tahun ini.

Laporan awal mendakwa hanya pelajar bukan Islam dipaksa makan di kantin sementara tersebut pada bulan Ramadan.

Katanya, ia berlaku memandangkan kerja-kerja menaiktaraf kantin tersebut bermula antara seminggu hingga dua minggu lalu.

Kamalanathan juga berkata Persatuan Ibu Bapa dan Guru sekolah tersebut juga maklum mengenai kantin sementara tersebut sejak Mac kerana ia dibincangkan dalam satu mesyuarat sebelum ia dilaksanakan.

Fourth suspect in custodial death claims innocence

EXCLUSIVE Inspector S Hare Krishnan, the fourth suspect in N Dhamendran’s custodial death, says he is innocent and claims he was dragged into the case to “protect certain parties”.

This was revealed in a police report Hare Krishnan made on June 1, nine days after Dhamendran’s death on May 21, and two weeks before the inspector went into hiding.

A copy of the report obtained by Malaysiakini states that Hare Krishnan was not even in the Dang Wangi police station lock-up on the day Dhamendran died after horrific torture.

Dhamendran (right), 31, was found dead in a cell at the station 10 days after he was arrested over an alleged gunfight. The police initially claimed that he had died from breathing difficulties, but a post-mortem showed he had suffered 52 injuries, including staples in his earlobes.

In his police report, Hare Krishnan says he was on May 21 instructed by a superior officer to “release and re-arrest” Dhamendran while he was having lunch at a restaurant in Cheras.

The inspector said he subsequently ordered his subordinates to do so, but later discovered that Dhamendran’s re-arrest was done using his (Hare Krishnan’s) identification, without his consent.

“The officers made the arrest report using my PRS ID without my approval,” Hare Krishnan says in the report, which also states that he had gone back home right after lunch as he had a night raid to conduct that day.

He was notified of Dhamendran’s death at 4.30pm that day.

Hare Krishnan claims that there was an instruction to include his name in the lock-up diary, something which was also done without his knowledge and permission.

“All the entries of me in the lock-up diary are untrue and were done to implicate me and protect certain parties,” he says in his police report.

Police confirm report

According to Hare Krishnan, he did not “touch or beat” Dhamendran that day, and claims to know who “beat him, who was there and who knew about it”.

“I only got to know about the interrogation orders (on Dhamendran) when I reached the office later in the day, at 5.45pm,” the report says.

Hare Krishnan’s report was lodged at the Brickfields police station at 7pm on June 1.

Although the report is filed under the Dang Wangi police station, it is being investigated by the Tun HS Lee police station in Kuala Lumpur.

When contacted by KiniTV, police confirmed Hare Krishnan’s report.

However, KiniTV was told that the officer assigned to investigate the report is working for the D9 Unit, coincidentally the same unit that Hare Krishnan was working for.

Hare Krishnan is currently on the run, and the police released his photograph last Tuesday, in an effort to seek public help to track him down.

The police have claimed that he has gone missing from duty since June 15.
Three other suspects - police officers Jaffri Jaafar, 44, Mohd Nahar Abd Rahman, 45, and Mohd Haswadi Zamri Shaari, 32 - were on June 5 charged with the murder of Dhamendran.

Prison threatens to put Uthaya in 'dark room'

Prison authorities have granted imprisoned Hindraf leader P Uthayakumar needed items to alleviate his severe back pain but have threatened to put him in a “dark room” if he complains further, says his wife S Indra Devi.

“He was given a pillow last Thursday and a chair on Monday.

“But they said if he makes any more complaints they will put him in a dark room and take away his phone rights,” she told Malaysiakini when contacted.

Indra is allowed to speak to her husband, who is in Kajang Prison, for 15 minutes every Wednesday.

Despite the items given to Uthayakumar, Indra says her husband’s prolapsed disc, a degenerative disc disease of the spinal lumbar area, has yet to be properly addressed.

“He was taken to the prison clinic but the doctor said he has no power to refer Uthayakumar to a hospital.

“Uthayakumar is getting sicker and he told me his legs are swollen now. I just want him to be taken to Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia for his prolapsed disc appointment on Aug 1,” she said.

Last Sunday, Indra had expressed concern that Uthayakumar may be struck by paralysis if his prolapsed disc is not properly treated by his doctors.

Indra also complained that Uthayakumar’s notes to his lawyer for the submission of his sedition case had been confiscated.

“Those notes are very important as he needs to prepared for his sedition case,” she said.

Uthayakumar was on June 5 jailed for two years and six months for sedition over remarks on discrimination against the Indian community and sent to Kajang Prison.

Prior to this, he was also detained for one-and-a-half years under the Internal Security Act for similar reasons.

Utahayakumar’s lawyer, M Manoharan, had said that he plans to appeal the sentence.

Parents insist shower room only used during fast, contradicting Deputy Minister

‘Jihad to convert Hindu girls is continued unabated’ by Muslim Fanatics in Pakistan – AHRC Report.

PAKISTAN: Jihad to convert Hindu girls to Islam rages on.

AHRC (Asian Human Rights Commission) | Karachi | 19 July 2013:: The Jihad to convert Hindu girls is continued unabated under the indifferent attitude of Pakistani authorities. In recent months, seven Hindu girls have been targeted in the conversion to Islam campaign. Of the seven, five have been abducted and converted by Muslim goons. One Hindu girl was abducted and forced to convert to Islam, but she has been subsequently recovered by the police. In one case, the attempted abduction was foiled by the passer-byes.

The Muslim abductors have also begun using new modus operandi. In one case, a Muslim man first became the ‘brother’ of a Hindu girl, and also observed the Rakhi Bandhan, a custom cementing the bond between brothers and sisters. Later, the same ‘brother’ abducted his ‘sister’. After the abduction, he married her. Perhaps, as the prevailing understanding goes, he will be extra pleased with the idea that he will be rewarded after death for converting one Hindu girl to Islam.

Incidents of abduction of teenage Hindu girls are of no concern to the Sindh provincial government. And, such abductions are music to the ears of Muslim fundamentalists and powerful local elements that operate freely within and around the local administration.

According to advocate Veerji Kolhi, President of Progressive Hindu Alliance and Council for the Defense of Bonded Laborers, two Hindu sisters belonging to a low Hindu caste were abducted on 7 July 2013 by armed men from their village Kohli Vairi, located in Nangar Parka Taluka, Tharparkar District, Sindh. The girls, Ms. Tarki aged 16 years and Ms. Beena aged 14, daughters of Vanoon Kohli, were abducted by Hanif Nohri, Inayat Nohri, Majnoon Nohri , Jamal Nohri and Ismail Khoso, residents of Bado and Jud’dan villages located in the same taluka and district. They forcibly entered the house of the Kohli family in the night at 8 p.m. Mrs. Savarian Kohli, mother to the girls, was taking dinner with her children when the armed men entered her house. The abductors are alleged to be henchmen of the former chief minister of Sindh who has now joined the ruling party, the PML-N.

Watch some revealing videos: Najam sethi on forced conversion of Hindu girls in Pakistan…



Tragedy of Hindus in Pakistan Part 1 - 4






Mrs. Kohli fears that her daughters will be moved to another location, converted to Islam forcibly, and be killed by her abductors, as they are powerful and have great influence in the area. Demonstrators also appealed to the authorities to search the madressas for the recovery of the girls.

The Daily Awami Aawaz has recently reported that the case of Hindu Girl from Tendo Jam village who was kidnapped on the pretext of a ‘love marriage’ has been solved. Police have arrested a man, Mr. Mohammad Ali Machi, along with a woman, said to be his sister. There was an emotional scene in the police station as the girl, upon seeing her father Lilaram and mother Laxmibai, embraced her mother and started crying. In her statement the girl said that she came to Korti with her maternal uncle. She visited a dargah to seek blessings, after which she proceed to the Md. Ali Machi residence where she was forcibly taken to Kinri, converted to Islam, and married to Md. Ali Machi. She pleaded to be handed over to her parents. After recording the statement of the girl, the police arrested Md. Ali Machi, along with his sister Zarina. A case of kidnapping has been registered against them Read the rest of this entry »

Child sees parents slain in Narathiwat

• Online news: Security

A four-year-old boy was left crying beside his parents' bodies on a road after they were murdered by a motorcycle gunman in Tak Bai district of Narathiwat on Tuesday afternoon, police said.

They slain couple were identified as Chuay Dermmuak, 52, and his wife, Prapa Sanguanphan, 43, residents of Narathiwat’s Sungai Kolok district. Both were Buddhists.

Pol Col Prayong Khotesakha, chief of Tak Bai police station, said the shooting occurred on the Tak Bai-Sungai Kolok road at Ban Khok Buema in tambon Kosit.

According to witnesses, Chuay, his wife and  their four-year-old son were travelling along the road on a motorcycle when two men on another motorcycle called on them to pull over, pretending to ask for directions to some place.

The man riding pillion then produced a pistol and fired four shots at them at close range.

The couple died on the spot .The gunman got of the bike, collected the spent cartridges and fled on the victims’ motorcycle,  leaving the young boy sitting, crying near his parents' bodies.
Police blamed separatist militants.

Pakistan takes 'immoral' condom ad off air

Pakistan's media regulator pulled the plug on a condom commercial starring one of the country's biggest female stars on Tuesday, calling it "immoral", after public complaints.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) wrote to broadcasters ordering them to take the advert for Josh condoms off air immediately.

The 50-second advertisement stars Pakistani model and actress Mathira, one of the country's most popular stars, as a newlywed bride who makes a neighbouring couple jealous by pampering her husband.

Finally the neighbour asks the rather nerdy-looking husband how he keeps his glamorous wife so sweet and he replies: "Bring Josh into your life."

Pemra spokesman Fakhar-ud-Din Mughal said the watchdog's letter pointed out that the advertisement was generally being seen as "indecent, immoral and in sheer disregard to our socio-cultural and religious values."

"Airing of such immoral advertisement on Pakistani channels and that too in the holy month of Ramadan warrants serious action," he said.

Discussing contraception in public is taboo in Pakistan's deeply conservative Muslim society, though some experts warn the population is growing too fast for the country's natural resources to support.

According to the United Nations a third of Pakistanis have no access to birth control and its 180 million population is growing by more than two per cent a year.

Around a third of Pakistanis who want birth control have no access to it, according to UN and government statistics.

Josh condoms are marketed in Pakistan by DKT International, a US-based non-profit organisation that works to promote family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention in the developing world.

We will abide by fatwa, say Miss Malaysia aspirants

Two of the four Miss Malaysia 2013 contestants who were dropped from the contest have denied that they attempted to challenge a fatwa banning them from entering such competitions.

According to Berita Harian, Sara Amelia Muhammad Bernard said her earlier outburst was merely her way of expressing her opinion and should not be regarded as an attempt to challenge the fatwa.

“I do not have an intention to degrade or insult Islam as I am merely giving my personal opinion. If what I say is seen as a challenge, I would like to apologise,” Sara told the daily.

She said she did not know about the edict barring Muslims from taking part in beauty contests and that the organisers had only stated that those professing Islam are not required to wear swimsuits.

Wafa Johanna De Korte, who had also publicly protested her disqualification, said she would abide by the organiser's decision despite being very disappointed that she could not fulfil her ambition.
“I hold the view that Malays can participate , but since there is a fatwa that bars Muslims from participating in it, I have to abide by it,” she said.

Authorities launch probe

The 1996 fatwa states that any form of participation in a beauty pageant is “haram” and “sinful for Muslims”.

The latest report by Berita Harian comes a day after the same daily reported that the four women still insisted on competing in the Miss Malaysia contest.

The article titled Peserta Islam nekad tanding ratu cantik (Muslim participants insist on participating in pageant) did not quote the four explicitly stating their decision.

However, the article prompted the Federal Territories Islamic Department (Jawi) to launch a probe against the four for insulting Islam.

If found guilty by the syariah court, they face a maximum fine of RM3,000, up to two years in jail or both.

This is not about race or religion, says deputy minister

Using the shower room as a makeshift canteen is not an issue related to race or religion, Deputy Education Minister II P Kamalanathan said today.

Speaking to reporters at the SK Seri Pristana canteen, Kamalanathan said the issue pertains to the location of the makeshift canteen, as it has been used since March this year.

"Let me make this clear. This is not about religion or race," he said, after initial reports suggested that only non-Muslim students were told to eat in the makeshift canteen during the Ramadan month.

"It happened to be that the canteen renovation started one to two weeks ago," he added.

Kamalanathan also said the school's Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) has been aware of the makeshift canteen since March as the matter was discussed in a meeting prior to its implementation.
"Yes, the renovation only involves a glass door at the teacher's canteen, but then these are small children. So the school was concerned that the children might be hurt when they run around," he said.
'Makeshift canteen done with good intention'

The school headmaster, he said, with "good intention" made the decision to have a makeshift canteen.

"The intention was good, but the location is wrong," he said.

The ministry would be supplying aid to the school so that the canteen could be expanded to accomodate more pupils.

Kamalanathan said the canteen was built to hold 500 to 600 pupils at any given time, and that there were 1,300 in the school in the morning and afternoon sessions.

Out of this, the school has 28 non-Muslim students spread across both sessions, with 23 of them being Indians and five Chinese students.

"For any inconvenience caused in this whole episode, I would also like to say sorry," he said.

Confronted by annoyed parents in the school compound later, Kamalanathan listened to their complaints and demands for action to be taken against the school headmaster, but did not give a conclusive answer.

"I'm here to solve the problem, and we have solved the problem. I will take care of this. This problem would not be repeated," he said.

Kamalanathan would only respond that the ministry would "investigate" the matter when parents claimed that the makeshift canteen had only been in place from the start of the fasting month

Let Tee Lin Say teaches you how to crush a girl

Let Tee Lin Say teaches you how to crush a girl

I’m writing this piece in response to the article published on The Star entitled “No benefit in being fat” by Tee Lin Say. You can read it here.

Courtesy of Dalila Ali of The Face Project

I went through shit for being obese. I was recently hospitalised due to stress and my “unhealthy” lifestyle. My clothes are size 18. I can’t even fit most XL outfits (especially those produced with the Asian market in mind) and always have to settle with double or sometime the triple-X labels.
I admit, at times, being fat and obese don’t do me good. I sweat like a pig within the first 10 minutes of a dance class (and it was in an air conditioned studio). I get easily tired after 15 minutes of jogging or whatever sports that be. To the society, I am unattractive. I don’t make head turns. Quoting writer Tee Lin Say, when men look at me, their first thought was to run. Who wants to deal with a 600 pound baby elephant, eh?
If I was never hospitalised or if I had read this article prior to being warded, I would have published something equally nasty in return. Perhaps I’ll find a way to bump into you and spit on your face without hesitation. Hateful words of a stranger don’t affect me.
But I was surprised to see how crushed I was reading this. I, Nazirah Ashari, perhaps one of the most confident fat girls in the city of Kuala Lumpur – felt completely devastated by your monstrous and distasteful words. Your offensive writing resound in my head and for the first time in my life, I was broken by a stranger’s depiction of fatness.
Ms Tee, you know what you reminded me of?
You are one of those bullies who thinks they are too good and too superior by “society’s standard” that they deserve every right to talk to people the way you do in that disgusting article. You are the reason fat people like me gets hurt for things they shouldn’t be hurt for. Your hateful words made me rethink society’s perception of my fat self and I’m being honest when I say, for a few seconds, I am disgusted by my fatty nature. You are a reminder of a society so sick that they’re lost in the world of unreal designed-perfection and ignorance. To sum it all up, you are a bully. A monstrous one at that too.
I am a plus size by choice. Ah, the term plus size is too sympathetic. So let me rephrase that:
I am a fat girl by choice. For as long as I have lived, I have always been big in size. Always the biggest and one of the tallest in class and as I get older, my body doesn’t seem to shrink. I am not even embarrassed of that fact nor that I find myself incompetent, stupid, undisciplined or quoting you in this disturbing The Star article, “… have a lower social standing.” Ms Tee, please be known that I don’t give a damn about where I stand in the social scale.
I once was quite a healthy fat girl – size 16, active, was able to juggle a hectic part-time 8-10 hours barista job while studying. I maintained good grades and graduated with a first class degree. I was once a rather healthy size 18 lass who went on TV to talk about fat girls empowerment. I received messages and tweets from fellow young fat girls who was inspired by me. I made an impact. And I hope and believe I still am.
But what do you do? You are in a greater position to leave an impact and to inspire yet you did none. You disgraced the already-shattered name of journalism. You give bad name to nice slender individuals out there. You broke hearts. You crushed people.
You said, men, or people would wanna run away from baby elephants aka fat people like me. But do you know who never run away and continue dealing with people like me and my nonsense? My family and my friends – the people I love. Who needs shallow minded men or strangers when you have friends and family who cares and love you for who you are. Friends and family who are there by your side when you’re at your best and your worse. Friends and family whose take on the idea of being fat solely as being unhealthy, and every nag or advice comes from a good place called love. Friends and family who will never crush me. Never.
You know what, I’m still gonna let the old me use the magic words. Tee Lin Say, be very embarrassed of yourself, you’re such a disgraced and… fuck you very much.