Two years ago, while I was in Siem Reap, Cambodia, I saw something which I feel has changed me in ways little else has. I was with a group of friends, and we were all having dinner under the stars at a roadside food stall. Another group at the table next to us had finished eating, and got up to leave.<\/p>\n
Faster than you could say \u201csok sabai\u201d (Khmer for how are you), two boys, one shirtless, both no older than ten, descended upon the scraps of food left behind, scrambling to pocket whatever they could. You might have seen something similar in Singapore: hungry mynah birds scurrying for discarded food at hawker centre tables, beaks pecking for something, anything, to fill their empty stomachs.<\/p>\n
I tried talking to the boys but given the obvious language barriers it was difficult to understand who they were, if they had any parents, or a place to stay. In the end all I could do was offer them the few US dollars I had on me, and a bottle of mineral water, which they wasted no time in gulping down, an attempt perhaps to pacify their hunger pangs.<\/p>\n
If seeing those boys stuff somebody else\u2019s leftovers into their little mouths didn\u2019t give me depression, reflecting on Singapore\u2019s love affair with food certainly has. Here, we don\u2019t worry about where our next meal will come from. We worry what to do with all our excess food. Well, some of us at least. The rest of us just throw out perfectly good food. Keep today\u2019s food for tomorrow or the day after? Surely you jest.<\/p>\n
Ironically, this obsession with food is compounded during Ramadan, a month that is meant to remind us of the hunger faced by those less fortunate than we are.<\/strong> Instead, it has become THE month where we indulge our inner food lover. We think nothing of spending huge amounts of money on all types of food at bazaars across the island, or preparing a sumptuous spread for ourselves at Maghrib.<\/p>\n To this end, the iftar has become an important social gathering in the average Muslim\u2019s calendar, a chance for many to play host to hungry guests, and spoil them senseless with heaps of food. In recent years, post 9-11, it\u2019s become an opportune moment for Muslims and non-Muslims to strengthen bonds between one another.<\/p>\n Apart from the ridiculousness of this new Singaporean ritual (which deserves an article of its own to talk about), I\u2019m forced to stifle a chuckle whenever I imagine what goes through the heads of these non-Muslims when they see all the food before them. They must think, \u201cNo wonder these Muslims can fast. Look at how much they eat!\u201d<\/p>\n I reluctantly admit, I\u2019ve lost count of the number of iftars I\u2019ve attended where there\u2019s been far too much food, and I end up overeating because I don\u2019t want to waste what\u2019s been served. No third-world orphans to eat up after me here. Just somebody\u2019s fat kid with a half-eaten double cheeseburger.<\/p>\n Maybe that\u2019s why I seem to have this perpetual look of displeasure on my face, even if I\u2019m being served with the finest\u00a0briyani dum<\/em> this side of the planet. I can\u2019t put my hands through all this food without remembering those Cambodian boys, or the many others who go to sleep hungry every night, wishing they don\u2019t wake up the next morning.<\/p>\n On that note, if you are inviting me to iftar this year, please excuse this look of displeasure of mine, especially if you think nothing of preparing an all-you-can-eat buffet where food is bound to be wasted. Please do not be a pseudo-Sufi, like the many that are in vogue these days, and exhort me to smile; telling me it\u2019s a Sunna of the Prophet. Grinning from ear to ear when tragedy and travesty prevails, that\u2019s a Sunna of the Joker.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s my suggestion for those planning iftar. Serve nothing but dates and porridge, and hang a banner at the dinner table proclaiming this famous Hadith:\u00a0The human being can fill no container worse than his belly. Sufficient for the son of Adam are so many morsels as will keep his spine upright. But if he must eat more, then a third for his food, a third for his drink and a third for his breath.<\/strong><\/p>\n Either that or you could put up a photo of a hungry Cambodian.<\/p>\n [divider]<\/p>\n Shahnawaz Abdul Hamid
\n<\/strong>The writer blogs about being a Muslim in Singapore at\u00a0www.hayatshah.com<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n