SO here we go again.Deja vu all over, as they say. Well, it wasn’t really a surprise if you’ve been following the news and have the mental capacity to grasp the nature of cause and effect.

It’s easy to point a finger at others and cast blame but we need to also take ownership of our own shortcomings and failings in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. While it is evident that it is as much a class crisis as a health crisis, it must be said that our mental attitudes and reactions have been mostly mediated – the internet being a landscape of both information and misinformation.

The media has become so much a part of our daily lives and barometer of our so-called common sense that it is easy to miss the forest for the trees – a lot has been written and said about fake news, disinformation and whatnot and I’m not interested in delving into the self-centred finger-pointing “woke” tropes anyway.

Plus, it’s the second day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Eid Mubarak (for those who love their Arabic lilt) or Lebaran as our Indonesian brothers and sisters call it. As per tradition, ‘tis is the season of feasting, visiting, and stuffing ourselves silly (Muslims) with many homemade delicacies and goodness, calories be damned. 

As the pious say, the coming of Eid saddens the pious and I too feel sad every time Ramadan ends – as I’ve mentioned recently it is a spiritual month of contemplation and reflection as much as an opportunity to “top up” your credit points for entry into heaven.

I guess I do consider myself pious – driven as much by faith as ethic. Far from the dictates of tax-funded rule-crazy governmental religious bodies, I prefer a direct route to my Maker. We really don’t need the middleman.

While the Covid-19 pandemic and the MCO, CMCOs, EMCOs etc. that followed are no laughing matter, I think we need to take stock on whatever silver lining there is to keep our individual sanity and pick our battles. For, there have been plenty of hashtag-worthy battles aside from our private temptations during this year’s Ramadan, but also societal and political battles that are disconcerting in so far as our nation is concerned ranging from the #MakeSchoolsASaferPlace, #SatireIsNotACrime and #KerajaanGagal.

I’d like to divert your attention, dear reader, to something that is music to Malaysians: food.

One local middle-class phenomenon (and fast becoming a modern “tradition”) that irks me every Ramadan are Ramadan buffets. I’m not against it per se for I have also indulged in it with my family (it’s a pre-Raya family bonding occasion) at least once every Ramadan pre-pandemic.

My irk is informed by my direct experiences and observations as an annual participant. I’m not lifting a hypocritical finger here.

One incident I will never forget came about a decade ago at a popular Ramadan buffet at a five-star hotel in Petaling Jaya. Apparently, the buffet spread at this particular hotel is renowned for its spread and its affordable price. I prefer to only check out the spread and take my pick after the maghrib prayers – most tend to pile their plates early and then stare at the food while it grows cold.

What stuck in my mind was not the food (it was good indeed) but what I witnessed when I was heading to the toilets: due to a possibly increased demand (and not setting a limit) the hotel had opened tables all the way to the entrances of the toilets outside of the restaurant. My heart went to the families who were forced to be seated next to these. I’m sure VIPs would’ve gotten the best seats inside for sure.  

For the sake of argument, let’s take the assumption that religion and consumerism have successfully cross-pollinated in Bolehland, where the boundaries between the spiritual and the material have been slowly chipped at through decades of the nation’s prosperous economic boom times, gnawing away at our rational minds.

What have we lost and what have we gained through the decades? From my vantage point, the lush Ramadan buffet is a site to gauge our nascent (or descent depending on who you ask) into collective materialistic piety – the phenomenon represents both the worst (gluttony and waste) and the best (our broad local dishes) of our collective indulgences.

There’s no denying that it is a boon for the hospitality and food and beverage industry as it creates income. But what I’m trying to get at is this fundamental question: are we missing the real point of Ramadan? 

We’ve had it good in Malaysia all this while but like all good things it must sometimes come to an end. As a society, we are collectively caught in a Catch-22 situation when it comes to spiritual and material divide – the blurring of the finite line between our needs and wants.

The turn of events and lackadaisical attitudes leading to our current predicament is driven by this conundrum – the inability to rationally discern between the need to comply versus the stubborn urge to carry on with life as usual.

So, since Aidilfitri is also a season for forgiveness (“kosong-kosong”), let’s reset to a more rational place and ponder the possibility that the opportunity to forgive is not infinite and could be lost forever if we take it for granted.

Selamat Hari Raya and Maaf Zahir dan Batin to all. Please behave. – May 14, 2021.

* Azmyl Yunor is a touring underground recording artiste, and an academic in media and cultural studies. He has published articles on pop culture, subcultures and Malaysian cultural politics. He adheres to the three-chords-and-the-truth school of songwriting, and Woody Guthrie’s maxim “All you can write is what you see”. He is @azmyl on Twitter.