I remembered and encounter in which I displayed cultural insensitivity. It happened when I was in primary 5. My Muslim teacher, Ms Helimmi, treated my friend and me to nasi lemak. However, she had forgotten to take cutleries for us. Ms Helimmi apologized for her carelessness and taught us to use our hands to eat like how Muslims do. As that was my first time eating with my hands, I felt rather uncomfortable but did so anyway since there was no choice. I ate with my left hand thinking that it was alright. When Ms Helimmi noticed and corrected me to eat with my right hand instead, I brushed it off saying that it was alright since I was already halfway through with my food.
In retrospect, I think my action was unintentional because I was really ignorant about the Muslim culture as well as the cultural differences between them and the Chinese. It was kind of Ms Helimmi to not reprimand me then. Now that I’m older, I realized that Muslims do not eat with their left hand because they use that hand to cleanse their private body parts. I learnt from my Muslim friends that their right hands are also used for ‘cleaner activities’ like hand-shaking and accepting gifts. Another interesting fact I learnt is that on the Day of Judgment (which leads to annihilation of all living species), Muslims will bear their righteous deeds with their right hands and receive their sins with their left.
From such experiences, I realized that it is important that we know and are sensitive to the different cultural behaviors of other races and religions in this multi-racial country. Racial harmony is the key to peace and stability, thus we have to be careful not to be offensive but instead practice cultural tolerance to sustain this harmony that we have now.
