While I taking a class of Jeanluc Renaud professor who is in charge of ‘Global Horizon’, I knew that I had a chance to submit to Hannam Times. So I thought what topic to write about, and I wanted to introduce the Malaysian culture that I knew through the Buddy program. The buddy program is a one-to-one matching program with exchange students who come to Hannam University through the ‘Ames exchange student program’ , helping them live well in our country and our school, and exchanging cultural experiences with each other. I applied for the Ames Buddy program last winter and have been active since March this year.
Do you know about ‘Hijab’ and ‘Ramadan Period’?
In Malaysia , most people are Muslims. Muslim women choose to wear hijab because they believe that God has instructed women to wear it as a means of fulfilling His commandment for modesty. For these women, wearing hijab is a personal choice that is made after puberty and is intended to reflect one’s personal devotion to God. Other than that, wearing hijab also can protect women from sexual harassment. The hijab makes them feel empowered, by putting forth own faith and being identified as a Muslim woman. It also provides guidance for them to behave
Like other religions, Muslim also have their celebration day based on Islamic calendar. There are two official holidays in Islam: 1) Eid Al-Fitr 2) Eid Al-Adha. Eid Al-Fitr is celebrated at the end of Ramadan and Muslims usually give charity on the occasion. Right now is Ramadhan. One month before we celebrate Eid Al-Fitr , Muslim need to fasting. Ramadan is the holy month in which Muslims must fast from dawn to sunset primarily as a devotion to the commandment of Allah but also to harvest the healthy benefits of fasting. However, people with chronic diseases or unhealthy conditions such as diabetes for example, and those who haven’t reached the age of puberty are exempt from fasting. In fact, I did not know much about this culture in the past. But I got acquainted with my Buddy friend Haini Hidayatti Halim from Malaysia.
When I talked to hidayatti, the most impressive experience was that she asked to me “What do you think when you see people who wear hijab?” So I said that “At first it looked amazing, but time goes on I got used to it” Listening to my friend’s question, I thought that my friend might have been hard time from the gaze of people who are still very unfamiliar with Hijab. I do not know if my article will be a great help, but I hope that many people will know about various cultures. Globalization is continuing and our society is moving into a multicultural society. In this society, how about looking them with warm eyes?