That thing called PLURALISM....

...........I'm not so sure it exists in Malaysia.... but I'm still figuring that out. Although I sometimes like to think that I am a well traveled person who has experienced living in many areas with different cultures and religions, today I realized that I am NOT. When it comes down to it I've lived my entire life in Canada, a wonderful multicultural society that accepts people from every race, religion and gender.

After living in KL for a mere 1.5 weeks I have experienced, multiple times already, that a religious nation is VERY different from a secular one. I was always one to say that even though Canada maintained a high level of pluralism and multiculturalism, there were still a number of issues confronting the extent to which Canadian society should prioritize an individual's freedom to practice religion over the public interest and quick to suggest areas that Canada could improve on in terms of accommodating different religious beliefs in a public system. But the realization that I had was that even though Canada experiences problems, Canada actually allows for pluralism so so so so sooooo much more than many other places in the world. Today, I have a real appreciation for the pluralism that already exists.

Malaysia is an Islamic state. This means that Muslim law is enforced as part of the LAW. Even as a religion major, I did not fully grasp what this meant until landing here and reading about the current issues in the Malaysian papers. An issue regarding whether Non-Muslim women should be allowed to cut the hair of men (from any religion) was front page news! I.e: We are talking about Muslim law being enforced on people from all religions! Religious law is part of the law law. Eventually,  it was decided that non-Muslim women could cut the hair of anyone as long as it was not a Muslim man. Luckily for me (and Malaysia), religion falls under the jurisdiction of the state and not the country and the party leaders of KL are much more moderate in their interpretation of Islamic law than the state that was debating this issue. This debate is still concerning as this law sets precedence for forming more conservative laws in other states of this nature.


Before arriving in KL, I  understood it as a place where people from a number of different religions lived side by side. For this reason, I thought KL would be super pluralistic and embrace all religions with everyone getting along etc etc. But I was in for a ruuuuuuuuude awakening (although perhaps it is only rude from my Canadian perspective) after I emailed a person regarding a room they posted online. The reply I received stated:

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Dear Melwani,

First you have to think if living with Muslim is suitable for you as you cannot practice or do any prayer here. If you are hindu (which I am not sure) then living here is not suitable.
Think about this issue first.

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My first reaction was to be totally offended! Was this not racism? And that's when I thought: This is so not pluralism. There are essentially pockets of people that exist that openly do not respect others' right to practice their religion. My second reaction was to laugh - I had lived in a very multicultural/multi-religious house-hold my entire university career and this sort of issue would have never ever ever ever ever existed....ever.
My third reaction was to just accept it. It's not like I would want to live in an apartment that takes this kind of attitude anyways.

And now for for some happy things like:
1) The curry puff woman on the side of the road making fresh food.

2) Auggie (Sumira's dog) Having a bath

3) A Gangnam style themed birthday party - yes... I did sketchily take this picture

4) My new hot water bottle named Roy - hes cute right?

And finally - Sumira and Sheena would like to wish you a very *~*Merry Christmas*~* from Malaysia. (Please note just how INSANELY decorated the malls are here.... and that I am wearing shorts :D :D...)

Check out my photography SKILLZ!!

I'm sorry my pics suck and I'm really stretching your interest here by publishing a pic of my hot water bottle. Buuuut, I have yet to take out my real camera because I have frantically been searching for an apartment and cell phone plan and things of that nature. More stories soon!