JULY 12 — I greet with mild amusement the lament by certain quarters that their holy month of Ramadan has changed into no more than a month of feast and indulgence.
Their lamentations feel ironic to me, because food has always been my fondest memory of the month. It is a season when you can get everyone to agree on one thing — that there must be food at the end of the day, never mind whether you are fasting or not.
Pasar Ramadan has been an event to be anticipated, where a smorgasbord of food awaits the thronging crowd, a mix of busy bees and food hunters. I make it my personal quest to seek rare regional dishes that somehow only find their way out during the festive month.
These days though, pasar Ramadan is a mere shadow of itself. It is now just a synonym for disappointing hawkers who jack up the price because they realise that in the end their potential customers have to buy something as time runs out to “buka.”
I much prefer to “buka” with homecooked meals, and if I have to eat out, pick a restaurant. The latter choice, however, also inconveniently comes with the annoyance of needing to avoid long queues of grumpy hungry people.
So in a way, yes, Ramadan has evolved into a month where food comes into everybody’s mind. Then again, a daytime of hunger tends to do that.
What people seem to not be aware of is that, it is just natural for religious festivals to evolve, changing their meaning as time goes by. Much like religion itself.
Christmas did not start off as a festival symbolised by the Christmas tree and Santa Claus. It did not even start as a festival to celebrate Jesus’ birthday — which date is still in dispute. (Some celebrate it in January, some say it is nearer to between March and May in the modern calendar.)
It has been suggested that Christmas has its roots in a number of pagan rituals celebrating the winter solstice, such as the ancient Roman festival Saturnalia and the Germanic festival Yule.
Nowadays though, people mostly associate Christmas with gift-giving and shopping, together with the subsequent Boxing Day.
As for Easter, what are the chances of the festival starting out as one involving chocolates and bunnies?
Much closer to home, instead of celebrating triumph after Ramadan, Hari Raya is now synonymous with forgiveness, visiting relatives to eat kuih raya and open houses. The Malay culture has contributed touches not be found anywhere else: the colourful baju raya, the ketupat, the duit raya (which itself is based on the Chinese angpows.)
Judging by the trend seen in the many dramas, songs and advertisements which are prevalent during the Raya season though, it is not entirely impossible that Aidilfitri will instead be known in the future as a time for penitence and great, great sadness.
A more worrying trend seen during Ramadan is the increase of moral policing among Muslims that inadvertently involve non-Muslims as well.
As if to make up for being less than stellar Muslims the rest of the year, some of them attempt to “repent” and redeem themselves by being extra holier-than-thou.
Instead of a month where Muslims are urged to practise their rituals, Ramadan is increasingly becoming a month where they are deterred from doing things. This Puritan lifestyle recommends Muslims to forego any sort of entertainment and happiness — which also includes Facebook.
Of late, this extends to non-Muslims too, who are being told that they cannot eat in front of those who are fasting. They are also told to not wear less-than-modest clothes in front of those fasting. Because these will tempt those fasting Muslims, and we do not want that.
Remember that controversial TV advertisement where a Chinese woman was criticised for wearing something sleeveless and being loud in a pasar Ramadan, as if that is the stereotype?
Perhaps in the end materialism and commercialism will conquer everything. We already see huge sales all year round, and even more so during religious festivals.
Perhaps in the end, all religious holidays will shed their mythical origin and side story, and evolve into celebrations of secular values instead. People shall celebrate values they share with each other, only in different cultural forms.
Above all, the festivals are a celebration of togetherness, of sharing treasured and precious moments with family and friends. It does not worry me at all if that is the one value that is left intact from the old practices.
Then again, perhaps in the future Ramadan will be remembered as the month where the Muslims try to out-Muslim and out-Arab each other. Who knows?
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
