different faiths
i don't know how big the hoo-hah is regarding the couple charged under the sedition act since i've spent most of the month away.
i have just finished reading the bible : a biography by karen armstrong last night, and being in an environment surrounded (mostly) by muslim colleagues, the incident struck a chord.
before even considering if the couple understood Islam, i wonder if they have understood Christianity.
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my colleagues brought me out for lunch two days ago. it was at a kedai kopi, which served rather good ayam goreng. the special thing about this place is that we only pay when we are about to leave - and the cashier has no idea what we ordered. it is based on trust that we declare what we took, and they collect that amount.
this kind of trust system is rarely seen in singapore, or anywhere else in the world. perhaps in the rest of the world, the assumption is that all men are evil, and will cheat the system if given the opportunity. as i reflected over these two days, i wondered if one implicitly trust someone, would they be obliged not to betray that trust? because the owner trusted his/her customers to honestly pay for what they ate, did the customers feel even more strongly about not shortchanging the owner?
i told my colleagues this when they pointed out this system that is contrary to how businesses are run today - i believe the owner is a devout Muslim; he/she trusts that there is the goodness in all men and has faith in the divine justice of Allah.
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in each faith alien to me, i have learnt something.
from buddhism, i have learnt the pain of attachment, and the real meaning of peace. from islam, i have learnt the meaning of community. and i wonder what the other faiths have learnt from mine?
i have just finished reading the bible : a biography by karen armstrong last night, and being in an environment surrounded (mostly) by muslim colleagues, the incident struck a chord.
before even considering if the couple understood Islam, i wonder if they have understood Christianity.
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my colleagues brought me out for lunch two days ago. it was at a kedai kopi, which served rather good ayam goreng. the special thing about this place is that we only pay when we are about to leave - and the cashier has no idea what we ordered. it is based on trust that we declare what we took, and they collect that amount.
this kind of trust system is rarely seen in singapore, or anywhere else in the world. perhaps in the rest of the world, the assumption is that all men are evil, and will cheat the system if given the opportunity. as i reflected over these two days, i wondered if one implicitly trust someone, would they be obliged not to betray that trust? because the owner trusted his/her customers to honestly pay for what they ate, did the customers feel even more strongly about not shortchanging the owner?
i told my colleagues this when they pointed out this system that is contrary to how businesses are run today - i believe the owner is a devout Muslim; he/she trusts that there is the goodness in all men and has faith in the divine justice of Allah.
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in each faith alien to me, i have learnt something.
from buddhism, i have learnt the pain of attachment, and the real meaning of peace. from islam, i have learnt the meaning of community. and i wonder what the other faiths have learnt from mine?