Image from: http://www.360dhr.com/Mamak%20Conspiracy.jpgRoti prata, roti canai, sup tulang (bone soup), mee goreng 'mamak', maggi goreng (fried maggi noodles), teh tarik and your favourite Barclay Premier League matches shown on projector televisions. Sounds familiar? Of course it sounds familiar. Most Singaporeans and Malaysians would probably have tried out all these cheap and delicious food while watching their favourite football clubs in action at their favourite Indian/Muslim food stall or restaurant.
These Indian/Muslim food stalls have been one of my favourite places to hang out with friends. Reasons? The food is great and the price is affordable. These outlets are normally owned by the Indians/Muslims themselves and most of the workers are of the same religious background.
I remembered an unforgettable experience that I witnessed years ago at one of these Indian/Muslim restaurants back in Johor Bahru where I came from. A conflict started when a group of Chinese teenagers, who were seated several tables away from me and my friends, called one of the waiters to take orders.
All this seemed fine, but the Chinese teenager addressed the waiter as "Mamak". "Mamak" basically refers to Indian/Muslim, but in a very crude manner. In fact, all the waiters in the restaurant, including the owner himself, heard the teenager addressing the particular waiter as "Mamak". This spelt big trouble as it did not go well with the Indian/Muslim people at all. The waiters and the owner were fuming and proceeded to the table where the Chinese teenagers were seated and started a row with them. This matter escalated to a whole new level when both parties started hauling racial remarks at one another. I sensed that something worse could happen and immediately called the police. And guess what happened next? Chairs were flying in the air and cutlery were targeted at the opposing sides.
My friends and I quickly dashed out of the restaurant to avoid from getting hurt. Soon enough, the police came and took the Chinese teenagers and the Indian/Muslim waiters to the police station. Some of the Chinese teenagers and Indian/Muslim waiters suffered superficial wounds. The whole restaurant was in a total mess as the tables, chairs and cutlery were broken or misplaced. I imagine that worse things could have unfolded if the police had arrived later.
Luckily, all customers were unhurt and most of us actually had a "free treat" since we did not manage to pay our bills. However, this is one of the "free treats" that I would rather not have.
The moral of the story is: Never insult other religions or groups of people from different races as this will only bring hatred and dissatisfaction. Living in a multi-racial and multi-religion country such as Malaysia, the Chinese teenagers should have known better about the importance of preserving racial harmony. They should also have known that calling Indian/Muslims as "Mamak" is an insult to them. The teenagers could have called the waiters in the conventional methods such as showing hand signals or even "whistling" at them (although it is not so polite to do so) but they chose to take the "forbidden route" instead. Respect is the key to racial harmony and I believe Malaysians do not want to experience a repeat of what happened on the fateful day of 13th May 1969.
