The curious case of the open minded Halaali

As a traveler, one of the most important features that one should have is to have an open mind. I am all for this, but there are some boundaries that I just cannot cross as a Muslim especially with regards to my diet. However, Asia seems to have other plans for me.

As a Muslim, I often get asked what it means for food to be Halaal. So let's get to the bottom of it. Firstly, the word doesn't necessarily refer to food, but rather to ideas of the Islamic faith. For something to be Halaal, is for it to be permissible or lawful in Islam. Secondly, with regards to food, a bit of explanation is needed and I have to say that most South African's and central Asians have a pretty good to brilliant understanding of this, in my experience at least. East Asians (Koreans, Japanese, Coronese(Chinese) (I should stop doing this!)) tend to suffer a bit in this department and you'll soon read why.

For meat to be Halaal, it must be slaughtered in a specified way: The animal may not be stunned before slaughter nor may it see another animal being slaughtered. It should be slaughtered with a single swipe through the carotid artery, jugular vein and windpipe and allowed to bleed out after being prayed for. That being said, a pig can never be Halaal even if slaughtered in this manner. In addition, if non-halaal food comes into contact with Halaal food, the Halaal food is no longer Halaal. We say it is Haraam (Forbidden, not permissible, contaminated - you get the idea.)

Sounds pretty simple and to be honest, it is! So why then has the following happened:

My time in Korea was absolutely amazing, from the Cherry blossoms to the never sleeping city of Seoul, the adventure kept growing...Just like my hunger! Korean's absolutely love meat, pork in particular and fried chicken as well. Both of these I could not have...(Why couldn't they find Muslim man to slaughter the damn chickens) I could tell you about the number of times I ordered vegetable soup and it came in pork stock or how Korean's don't consider ham to be meat (the Korean word for stupid is babo) but instead I will tell you about the cheese pizza I once ordered.

The Koreans don't mess around with chicken  

It was during the month of Ramadaan in which Muslims do the mandatory fast from sunrise to sunset. It was time to break fast, so a couple of Muslims friends of mine and I went to a nearby pizza place. We ordered one seafood pizza and another margarita. I still remember asking the cashier if the pizza had any meat on and he said no. Why then was I surprised when that cheese pizza had 15 of the pinkest slices of filthy pig (pigs aren't really filthy, I was upset) ham on it? What's more, a single medium pizza in Korea is about R130 and frugal Indian here was not about to lose.  I proceeded back to cashier and asked why there was ham on the pizza after he had told us there was no meat and his reply was, "Ham no meat."  After telling him that I couldn't eat it, he said OK and took the pizza back. He then took a pair tweezers and removed each peace of ham from that pizza with such precision as though he was diffusing a bomb! I decided to cut my losses and eventually said thank you and took the pizza, which I later gave to a homeless man not far away.

In hindsight, I think that I was meant to get that ham pizza. Ramadaan is also the month of charity -  because I received a ham pizza that day, some homeless man had a meal...

One of the perks of being a teacher in Korea is that you get a well balanced lunch at school everyday. On the very first day, I had informed the cook that I cannot eat any meat apart from fish and eggs. So not to inconvenience the kitchen staff, on days when there were meat options, I would just eat rice and have fruit. There was one day when I was given 5 rice balls beautifully wrapped in seaweed. They seemed to have a dark purpley brown colour to them, so I assumed it was brown and red rice that was used. I was about 4 down when I asked the local teacher next to me how these were made. She replied, "Oh, is very easy! We take a rice, we add a blud (blood...yes blood), a pigs blud. Then we boil until rice good. Then we put in seaweed."

I started a new paragraph here to indicate the pause I took just as I did in Korea as the 4th bloody rice ball was in my mouth as she was telling me it's makeup. I spat it out and told that I could not have it and her reply was,"Don worry, is not meat. Is blud, you can have!" I decided to leave it there and give the 5th ball to Onyu, a third grade student of mine....(lose is lose) (I have to admit, sadly, bloody rice ball was tasty!)

On day 4 of my 14 day lockdown here in China, I ordered supper as I am not allowed to leave my room. I have to order through a lady downstairs as all the ordering apps are all in Mandarin which I cannot understand. I had previously ordered the same meal, fried eggs and tomato, as I did today ,except that today, I wanted it with rice instead of noodles. I paid the lady R45 for my meal and within 30minutes, my meal arrived. It was stir fried rice with a lovely fat pork sausage running through the middle...ie not what I had ordered. I messaged the lady:

Me: I think someone else's food has come to my room by mistake.

Lady: No, it's yours.

Me: This is has meat in it and I have previously told you that I can't eat meat.

Lady: You ordered that last time

Me: I didn't. I had tomato and fried egg with noodles. This meal has a sausage.

Lady: The sausage was a gift.

Me: There are no tomatoes here.

Lady: Take sausage out and eat it!

Me: I can't. It's contaminated.

Lady: No no. No virus in food!

Me: (hehehehe)Can I please have another meal or a refund, I can't eat meat?

Lady: Sausage is not meat. Take the sausage out and eat it! I made mistake. Order from someone else next time.

Me: I can't eat from animal flesh. Please can I have a refund or and egg at least (I was hungry at this point)

Lady: (Blue ticks)

Asia: 3

Naadir: 0

Remember that open mind thing I wrote about in the first paragraph? Well, this is one such case where it definitely applies. As angry I was, there was no point at taking it out on her. Whilst China has over 10 million Muslims, it has 1.39Billion people, and practices a very rigid way of life with no religious freedoms and teachings. To be specific, there was a 0.7% chance that she could have ever seen a Muslim let alone engaged with one. I realized at that point how fortunate I was to be a South African: to have had the opportunity to meet an learn about so many different types of people, their culture and heritage and moreover to celebrate our diversity instead of treat it like it is some kind of evil. 

To be an open minded traveler is more than just to accept. "It is to release with every exhalation the barriers, boundaries, expectations and attachments you carry with you. It is to praise life with every inhalation, to welcome new thoughts and ideas. It is to leave nothing on your path but grace. To listen to the birds, the waves and the insects. To smell what the breeze brings you. To see every colour, every angle of light, every beetle. To taste and touch what is presented to you with mindfulness to what you are tasting and touching. To allow the natural environment to speak to you and for you to listen as you go in peace." - Camino  

A case of close-minded communism

The PRC, also know as the People's Republic of Corona formerly called China and my new home for one year boasts a population of 1.39 billion people, the fastest train, most skyscrapers, longest wall in the world and has recently been praised by the World Health Organization for its response to the Corona pandemic, is currently checking "all foreigners" for the virus and placing us "all" under lockdown.

At first, you might be reading this and thinking that it is a very good measure and precaution to prevent further spread of the virus and to the extent that my statement is true, I would agree, especially since we have seen the numbers in China stabilize whilst the rest of the world continues to increase in general, thus it does make sense to check incoming foreigners. Before I begin to share my evidence and experience for the contradiction of the point above, I have to give credit where it is due: Now, given the current propaganda in the Chinese media, my points hereafter should be taken with a grain of salt, but having been in China for almost two months I can say that what I have seen from both the Chinese people and government has been exemplary. 

The government dealt with each province differently, locking down the Hubei province in which the epicenter, Wuhan, is situated and keeping other provinces semi-operational whilst others in full lockdown. Down in the Guangdong province, where I am situated, public transport was still operational, but businesses were closed, however, they could still function via the large network of delivery services and ease of online payment schemes. If we walked around, we were policed by citizens as well as officials to wear our masks. Our temperature was tested at every entrance and we could not enter without a mask. It was compulsory for us to wear masks wherever we went and we were tracked via our cellphones to ensure that we had not been in high risk zones. We were also given an app to show to officials that indicated our health and were given hand sanitizer before entering any building. When receiving food, we were always given plastic gloves to eat with, that came wrapped in a condom-like enclosure!

However, I remember things being a little strange when I asked a man how many religions there were in China and he replied, "Only Wun! Buddhism." And then proceeded to take me to a traditional Uyghur Muslim restaurant where we were served by a Muslim man wearing a thopi (Muslim head gear) . Things got worse after a man asked me if South Africa and Africa were different countries...Yes, countries... (In Mandarin the word for stupid man is Dum Fuk). However, I didn't know these peoples'stories, hence my judgment is from my bias and not theirs. 

The real pain of my stay came just within the last two weeks:

Firstly, the damn cleaning lady! Every, single, day at 7:30am, eventhough I had put the 'Do not disturb' sign on the door  "Ni Hao pu dien! pu dien!" and she would continue to open the door then close it as if she was soooo shocked and could not believe to see I was still asleep. This happened for 8 days straight. What made it worse was by the time she had left and not cleaned my room, I was wide awake... May her legs break (joking) in many pieces (not joking)

Secondly, policemen and guards in China are extremely rude. They don't understand how to talk. Everything is SHOUT so that the common person remains extremely fearful. Well, they never thought about the Indian foreigner they'd be shouting at that cannot understand a word they are saying.  I recall a day that I went into the passage of my hotel to quietly do some stretches as my room was too small. After 15 minutes the guard came up to me and spoke abruptly in mandarin. I told him that I couldn't understand him, but I think he thought that I couldn't hear him so he shouted out the same phrase! I decided to take this convo to Google translate and tell him that my room is too small so I came out to do some stretches. He nodded and proceeded into my room to the aircon control, which he turned to as low as possible. He then physically pushed my into the room and closed the door... I hope his legs...

Thirdly, whilst sleeping one morning, I was awakened by my old friends: the cleaning lady and guard only to find them already in my room snooping around, taking pictures of everything... I mean, how rude could she be? She didn't even greet this time!

The real bane of my time in China came 3 days ago. Whilst exploring the 300 or so channels on my hotel room TV. After hearing a loud knock on my door, I opened and was firmly spoken to in English by a well-dresses Chinese man in black. He was accompanied by two policemen and 5 hotel staff fully clothed in protective gear. He proceeded to ask me a bunch of questions including my name, passport number, age, where I have been, how long I have been in China for, what flight I arrived on, my seat number and the number of the vessel. The look of disappointment on his face when I could not answer the last two questions made me feel so bad for being Asian... How could I dare forget the seat and plane I had been in over 2 months ago?

He later told me that they are testing all foreigners for the virus and that they need to test me. I showed them a test I had received 5 days prior during my visit to the local dentist. He insisted so I complied as it was free #frugalIndian and done via a throat swab which is much better than the nose test my family back in South Africa had taken. 

Two days later, the Guangzhou government apparently released a press statement indicating that some African men had been found with the virus, but were asymptomatic and had been in the country longer than two months. The local government then issued a statement saying that ''all foreigners'' should be checked. Almost immediately, this lead to an anti-foreigner sentiment by some locals. I recall sitting on the bus next to a local lady, she got up and moved away from me as soon as I sat down. Being the stubborn Indian that I am, I followed her and sat next to her and pretended to cough symptomatically - She almost threw herself out the window! In hindsight, this was wrong and could be likened to a man reading Arabic words in a flight from the US...mmm I wonder if I could get away doing that on an Emirates flight in the US. Nevertheless, I wasn't allowed into some of the local places and received strange looks from locals.

The next day, I was woken up at around 12:05am by my favourite guard. He took a picture of me after shouting some Mandarin and then left. The next morning, I woke up to many Facebook messages like the one below:

Anti foreigner sentiment taken from a local Chinese foreigner Face Book page 

There were so many arguments going on regarding how African people are being kicked out onto the street with no place to go or being involuntarily taken into quarantine even though they don't have the virus. I continued my day by going to pick up my results from the previous days test...Negative again. I was then told by my company's manager that I should not go out again as Chinese authorities have become very strict towards foreigners. He said that he would come and see me later that evening to sign my new contract as my employment would commence within a few days.

At roughly around 12:30pm. Three gentlemen came to my door: My good old guard friend, a policeman dressed in civilian clothing with a hat that had written on it, "Police" and a translator. The translator informed be that I cannot leave my room for 14 days and that twice everyday, I should record my temperature and send them a pic. (because I'm going to put my actual temperature on the paper they gave to me) I told them that my two sets of results show that I cannot have the virus and the fact that that I haven't left China aids my argument. But, I was speaking to walls... 2 hours later, I again opened my door to a translator, policeman and 3 fully kitted medical workers. They told me that I have to move to a quarantine hotel and I must pay for it as well as my meals (That's like going to jail and then paying cash for your meals and stay in jail)What's more, is that these guys quarantine in a 4-star hotel. 

I asked about my test results and they said that they were just following orders and if I did not comply, my visa would be cancelled. I asked if this is for African's only and the interpreter kept saying, "We are checking foreigners." So I asked how come my New Zealander neighbour isn't being checked or my colleague from Canada and I was told, "That only my name came up on the system." It was clear what or who the system was targeting. That being said, I was made aware of some cases where other foreigners were checked. I was then taken and placed into a police van waiting for me downstairs. In that moment, I had felt what those suspect murderers, who put their jacket over their heads as they leave the Johannesburg high court, feel. You know, the ones we see on the news all the time back in South Africa. The street had stopped and for a brief moment, time itself. I watched as the local bread man, whom I had bought my breakfast from every morning, looked at me with shame... I was innocent, virus-free, healthy, but it meant nothing. I couldn't be angry at them because they are merely pawns in their governments game.

Sirens on,I was placed into the back of the police van and taken to my current venue, where as I left the vehicle, I was bombarded with flashes by the press as if I was a celebrity, or a convicted felon. Nevertheless, it was all part of the adventure, so I posed for them and gave them my picture to take. I met three other Black African men who gave me the traditional heads up, I replied with traditional Indian head bobble - both of us unable to fathom why we were here.

Two of the medical staff  (front), interpreter (left back) and police van I was placed in(back) as seen on my arrival

Now, I understand that China is taking the necessary precautions to prevent the spread, but logically, rationally and all the other words that can indicate some kind of academic brain function, why am I here in quarantine? I have proof that I have been in China for more than two months as well as two sets of results taken within a space of two weeks that show I don't have the virus. I am all for "Flattening the curve" but then why aren't ALL Chinese and foreigners being quarantined. There are various sources indicating that China only started reporting asymptomatic cases from the beginning of April. If my math is correct, that's 10 days, which is enough time for anyone (like my African brothers) in China to contract the virus from China and possibly still remain asymptomatic. I have to admit though that my case is not the worst. Some Africans were removed from their local residence to the streets whilst some were apparently deported.

In times like this, I am reminded: how small and insignificant we are; how fragile freedom is, how naive innocence can be in the face of corruption and just how vulnerable we are as humans. "We are not necessary. The air, earth, water and sky without us, will be fine. When we come back, remember that we are guests, not masters."