Day: October 21, 2006

Here’s wishing my Hindu friends and readers a very Happy Deepavali, and I pray that good will triumph over evil.

To those self-centered, narrow-focused Muslims who subscribe to the views of Takaful’s Head of Syariah Department, Fauzi Mustaffar, I have this to say to you: come and suck my dick.

As a 10-year old boy 30 years ago, I used to walk from my house (official residence of the IGP) at Jalan Perdana to the National Mosque for the weekly Friday prayers and Terawih prayers in the month of Ramadhan. I would do that for the three years before I went of to the Malay College in Kuala Kangsar. If my memory serves me right, the last Terawih prayers I did there was back in 1987, Friday prayers a year later.

I went there again last night for Terawih prayers. There was only one full line of people praying, unlike those days when you can get at least three. It does not mean that people are less religious, it just shows that there are alternatives to the National Mosque. 30 years ago you will not have another mosque nearby save for the Masjid Jamek some 2 kilometers away. Those days, the National Mosque’s staff quarters was nearby; the Police Officers’ Mess at Jalan Perdana (Venning Road Mess – now the Police Museum) was occupied by police officers and men; where the National Planetarium now stands, there were government quarters; there was a police barracks at my neighbour’s house (the Prime Minister’s official residence: Seri Taman) and the staff quarters co-located there; the Travers Road Police Station still had its barracks and quarters; where the Bird Park’s car park is now, there were quarters for the officers of the Prime Minister’s Department. Oh, of course there still is the Royal Malaysian Police Headquarters at Jalan Bukit Aman (Bluff Road). Then there were the railway workers from the old KL Railway Station, and the police’s Guards and Escorts division, that was quartered there too.

So all these people, myself included, would converge onto the National Mosque. It was so lively. The crowd more enthusiastic and so on, that I would look forward to going for my Terawih prayers every night. The atmosphere, pleasant. After prayers, I would just hang around at the mosque a bit longer, staring at the red neon sign of Aji No Moto flickering above the Klang Bus Stand.

Now, most KLites would prefer the sparkling and relatively new Federal Territory Mosque along Jalan Duta, air-conditioned and all. The nearby quarters are no longer there, including my house which has now become part of the Tun Razak Memorial of the National Archives Department. The police has its own mosque within the compounds of the RMP HQ at Bukit Aman.

It was sad to see less-enthusiastic crowd, but nevertheless, I was happy to see that people actually go to the National Mosque still…for Terawih prayers. If I live long enough to be able to see Ramadhan again next year, I would certainly do my Terawih prayers there at least once.