Sydney in the making?

I am feeling disturbed and really worried when reading this article in The Star today; "Malay youths drink beer during Ramadan". I don't think it is exclusively for Malays. It portrays that Ramadhan has not much effects on Muslims.

The alcoholic beverages issues will surely continue to simmer in the discussion among the political parties. Personally, I really think it should be banned altogether in the country. In Australia and other western countries, the alcohol-related crime and accidents is one of the highest contributors to the country's death toll. So why not take the action and ban it now rather than later, when alcohol has become a 'regular' stuff in the society. At that time, it will be of no use because it is not going to be easy once it has become habits of the community.

People might say this is a secluded case and it is not the norm in the society for Malays to drink alcohol. Nothing to worry about. But for people who has first hand experience looking at this so called Malay Muslim drinking, will definitely have different views. It is alarming to know that some muslims have adopt drinking as a habit. Just imagine, if a father of four is a drinker, and all of his children followed his footsteps, and so does the following generations. If no action is taken, the prevalence will increase with each generation and by a few decades from now, we will be just like other western countries.

Just look at the evolution of dress. Until in the middle of last centuries, skirts and bikinis were not an acceptable attire in many if not all countries in the world, even on the beaches. Look what happened now. The less of body part covered, the more favorable it is. So does sex before marriage, it was a taboo. Nowadays, even parents don't mind their daughters to bring back boys home and stay overnight in the same room. Having a bastard in the family is no longer a disgrace. Of course this is true in many western countries, but not yet in Malaysia.



Picture: Just look how decent the western people dress-up just a few decades ago.


What worries me is, if we continue to sort of 'agree' with what is happening to our younger generation by not taking any actions, be it their clothing attire, behavior or whatever stuff and values 'imported' from the west, I believe one day we will be just in the same situation as in the previous paragraph.

The influence of TV and the environment is a major factor in influencing the changes in the community. A simple example, just look at how a small kid try to imitate the act of smoking when he saw it in TV. As teenagers, the instinct to try and explore everything new is normal. With the TV keeps on showing movies and programs with the western values as I described previously as if they were acceptable, they will pursue the acts among themselves. Reality shows, bunches of them were imported from the west, has created 'entertainment loving' community. I sometimes just don't understand how some parents, with ketayap and fully covered head, can fell into tears full of joy when their daughters excell in a singing competition, wearing a dress that look more or less like a jala. Don't they worry that anything could happen when boys and girls were dumped into the same house for a long period of time? What about growth rate of nightclubs, prevalence of drug use among school aged children, bullies, murtad cases, people with no religion, just a few to mention.

After more than 4 years staying in Australia, particularly Sydney, I can foresee that the situation in my beloved homecountry, if no action is taken seriously, will turn into another Sydney. This situation at the beginning will create social problems, and slowly will also end up as acceptable values.