An open letter from Johanan Sen
I thought I'd make this point clear, there's a distinctive difference between the Islamic World and the Arab World. The Arab world is made up of countries spread over North Africa, Eastern Europe and Western Asia, also known as the Middle East. They speak the language and share similarities in culture.
Malaysia is an Islamic country, not an Arab one. Malaysians pay more attention to Billboard's hot 100 than any Arab music industry simply because the majority of Malaysians do not speak Arabic. We were a British colony once and even though Malay is our national language, English is still a big part of everyday life in Malaysia.
Please make the distinction between Arabic countries and Muslim ones, Malaysia is not apart of the Arab world and I'm truly sorry that an Arabic Web-source was too shoddy to point that out. The majority of Muslim Malaysians know as much about Arabia as Catholic Brits know about Rome.
I have also been a fan of Mariah Carey for over a decade now. Her performance falls on a religious holiday in Malaysia known as Awal Muharram. Ms Carey's reputation and bad press have carried to Malaysia and even though in the mind of this fan, it's mostly nonsense, I do see why it would be inappropriate for Ms. Carey, or any foreign performer for that matter, to perform on the 22nd of February.
In response to Mr. Ahmad Sabki Yusof, Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party youth wing leader, Ms Carey has done more work for those in need than you ever have and we should be so lucky to have more Malaysians share in her spirit and Congressional Award Winning Heart. Mr. Yusof, your inability to see beyond Ms. Carey's dress sense has shown you up as a shallow man.
As for her "Un-Islamic Principles", the girl is Catholic and we have always been a tolerant society, accepting different religions and the practices of different cultures no matter how Un-Islamic they may seem as long as they are neither rude nor crude and I have met Ms. Carey and can assure you that she is neither. Respect for your holiday is due but there is absolutely no reason for you to slur Ms. Carey in the press, in our national papers or in any other publication. Hold your tongue to at least show that you have the maturity to hold your position. Encik anda kurang ajar (Sir, you were badly raised). Explain it to the accomplished singer that her date falls on the wrong day, do not insult her. We are capable of being courteous, if nothing else. That is what Malaysians are known for.
To Ms. Carey, please respect and understand that it is a religious holiday that calls for reverence and the choreography and costumes you have planned might be too festive for the occassion. Please do your best to reschedule the performance. You have many fans in Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia would be happy to have you. You are respected by many fans who are Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Atheist, Chinese, Indian, Malay, Portuguese and of whatever other religion and culture that make up the melting-pot that is Malaysia. Do accept this Malaysian's apology for my country-men's lack of tact. Please do not take it to heart, love you or hate you it is a combination of plain bad journalism and ignorance that has brought the matter this far. A phone call to your management have been all that was necessary.
To Mariah's fans, please remember to speak out. Do not insult my country, just the men who put forward silly little campaigns because Malaysia is so well run that they have nothing else to do. Sincerely, Johanan Sen (johanansen.com)
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