Playing host to two arab men

Recently, my brother played host to 2 arab men. They had thought that Singapore was a muslim state. Unfortunately, we're secular!
Things were definitely unpleasant when my father decided to treat both of them to dinner in a fancy restaurant. One of them refused to eat because he doubted that the food was halal. Despite showing him the HUGE Halal certificate, he did not want to eat. My father called the manager of the restaurant to explain to the man that the ingredients as well as the preparations for the meal are all halal certified.
He still didn't eat.
I feel pretty insulted that he would think that my father would bring him to a restaurant that was not halal and then to make things worse, lie to him and paste a false halal certificate on the wall.

We might not be living in a muslim majority country, but we are muslims just the same.

When Race,Religion and Language Collide

Malaysia - A recent court ruling allowed a Catholic newspaper (by Malaysia's Roman Catholic Church) to use the term 'Allah' in its Malay Language edition, overturning a three year government ban on non-Muslims using the term 'Allah' in prayers and religious literature. The ruling ignited a series of arson attacks on churches. The government is appealing the verdict, citing that making the term 'Allah' synonymous with the term 'God' will lead to confusion among Muslims and may cause them to convert to Christianity.

Religious tension caused several government leaders to condemn the attacks as un-Islamic. Church leaders have also stepped up to deliver statements of forgiveness for the arsonists as well as to state that the attacks were done by extremists and do not represent the majority of Muslims in the nation.

(This is starting to read like a newspaper article.)

Firstly, I don't see why the Malay language edition of the newspaper HAS to use the term 'Allah'. When I write in Malay, I use other terms such as 'Tuhan' to represent God. The paper argues that many Arab Christians use the term 'Allah' but isn't Allah an Arabic word? So, wouldn't Arab Christians speak in their native tongue? Or am I wrong to assume that anyone would choose to use a term that they are most comfortable with? Arab Christians speak Arabic and use the term 'Allah'. Malaysian Christians speak Malay and use the term 'Tuhan'. Or not. Is it really that big a deal or am I being ignorant if I say that it's just a word and people should just live without fighting over it? I think I will research on this.

Secondly, I don't like the way the media has been sensationalising the situation in Malaysia. The Church leaders have been shown delivering messages of peace and tolerance to church goers while Muslim leaders have been shown shouting into loudhailers, protesting the ruling and proclaiming the court verdict as an attack against Islam. I am pretty sure that there's a Christian somewhere in Malaysia itching to burn down a mosque, just like there is a Muslim somewhere in Malaysia shaking his head in disgust at the arson attacks. News headlines read 'Another Church Attacked' with pictures of a badly damaged church. However, a few of the churches were hardly damaged and service continued. The same file picture was being used again and again even though it was a different church. Terrible representation.

What do all of you think? Should Malaysians live and let live? Or should they continue to protest until the court ruling is overturned?

* I do not condone any acts of violence nor do I tolerate insults to Islam.

Hong Kong

Assalam alaykum everyone.

2010 started with a divorce, deaths and now a trip to Hong Kong. I'll be taking lots of pictures and maybe if I get a nice one, I might post it up here when I return from my trip.

Roller coaster rides in an abaya is okay, right? :D