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Mihar Dias (C) Copyright January 2023
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness...." wrote Dickens in the opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities, a historical novel set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution, published in 1859.
Bandaraya Alor Setar, the capital of Kedah, and City of Georgetown in Penang are not exactly Paris and London but we are going through a kind of revolution nevertheless. It's more of a mental one rather the bloody French Revolution version.
For Kedah, it is the best of times especially this coming Chinese New Year. The MB of Kedah, Sanusi from PAS, understands Chinese tradition about drinking and he is not stopping them from doing so, especially during New Year's celebrations. They may purchase them through designated outlets. But he is more concerned about gambling, mostly of organised four-digit variety, probably fearing that this habit might affect some of the Muslim Malays who form the bulk of the population of this restive state.
But in Penang, another newly elected PAS MP of Permatang Pauh (formerly a stronghold of Anwar's family for decades) decided that he is opposed to alcohol promotion in a shopping mall in a state where the majority are ethnically Chinese who consume alcohol, more so during New Year holidays. But gambling is allowed. Four-digit lotteries are not banned in this state.
It's the worse of time and place to make a stand against alcohol when we know full well that our fellow countrymen are about to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit.
Please tell me what should they drink when they toast their Yum Seng this New Year holidays?
For Fawaz it's not "the age of wisdom" he lives in. He demands for a banning of alcohol while there are other pertinent issues that plague his own constituency of Permatang Pauh that he ought to focus on. Address family issues like child marriages, divorce, poor performance amongst rural school children and poverty among Muslims instead of alcohol, which most Muslims abhor but know it's legal for those who want to indulge themselves.
Dickens raised the above differences at a time of the French Revolution that led to the change of mindset and system of government in France. However, we may not not be too different from what it was then. Except now, we are only asking for wisdom to prevail through some form of mental revolution for people to understand that we live in a plural society.
We have to tolerate the cultural norms and values long cherished by our neighbours. We just can't go around banning practices that they like just because we and our religion cannot accept their way of life.
Islam has taught us to be tolerant towards others, that we ought to respect our fellow countrymen because they have their own beliefs and we have ours.
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