When I was a kid I accompanied my mum to the funeral of a neighbour. The deceased was a Christian so a Chinese Christian preacher was there at the gravesite to say the last words for her.
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What shocked many of the villagers who attended the funeral, 99% being Buddhists, Confucianists and Taoists, were the extremely harsh and insulting words of the preacher during the sermon, with his derogatory words directed specifically at Buddha and Chinese gods. The sermon was delivered in Penang Hokkien, wakakaka, so the funeral party understood what he said.
The bloke seemed oblivious of who the majority of the funeral party were or rather, what were their religious affiliation. He was lucky that he was not beaten up kau kau by some of the headstrong village young bucks who had to be forcefully restrained by village elders, who mollified the angry youths by appealing to their neighbourly goodwill to tolerate those insulting words and respect the last rite of the deceased.
Flash forward to today - It's known in this blog that despite my political sympathies for the DAP, I've little respect for Tony Pua. Today after reading Malaysiakini's How to explain a poor God of Fortune, Gerakan asks DAP I am even more disappointed in his insensitive behaviour towards Chinese folk religion.
The bloke seemed oblivious of who the majority of the funeral party were or rather, what were their religious affiliation. He was lucky that he was not beaten up kau kau by some of the headstrong village young bucks who had to be forcefully restrained by village elders, who mollified the angry youths by appealing to their neighbourly goodwill to tolerate those insulting words and respect the last rite of the deceased.
Flash forward to today - It's known in this blog that despite my political sympathies for the DAP, I've little respect for Tony Pua. Today after reading Malaysiakini's How to explain a poor God of Fortune, Gerakan asks DAP I am even more disappointed in his insensitive behaviour towards Chinese folk religion.
The MKINI article narrated:Gerakan Youth is upset at DAP for a parody Chinese New Year music video which portrayed the Chinese God of Fortune as poor , saying that this raised concerns what children would think if they saw the video.
Gerakan Youth secretary-general William Chang Yong Hsi said Chinese New Year songs are meant to bring in good vibes and turning the God of Fortune into a beggar was a 'huge disrespect'.
He singled out DAP's Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua and Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching who acted in the video.
"DAP is using such a disrespectful music video to win some cheap political propaganda.
"How would parents explain if their children were to see the God of Fortune looking so poor and terrible in the music video?
"I am not promoting superstition but the God of Fortune is a symbol of good luck and wealth among the Chinese.
"Such disrespectful behaviour should be condemned."
Gerakan Youth secretary-general William Chang Yong Hsi said Chinese New Year songs are meant to bring in good vibes and turning the God of Fortune into a beggar was a 'huge disrespect'.
He singled out DAP's Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua and Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching who acted in the video.
"DAP is using such a disrespectful music video to win some cheap political propaganda.
"How would parents explain if their children were to see the God of Fortune looking so poor and terrible in the music video?
"I am not promoting superstition but the God of Fortune is a symbol of good luck and wealth among the Chinese.
"Such disrespectful behaviour should be condemned."
I am not concerned so much by Gerakan Youth's worry for non-Christian Chinese parents to be able to explain to their children why the Chinese God of Fortune looked so poor and terrible in the music video.
I'm just annoyed that Tony Pua, a known staunch Christian, has shown gross disrespect for the belief of another religion. As I once wrote in my other blog KTemoc Kongsamkok, in Penang Tua Peh Kong (Chinese God of Fortune or Wealth) is probably the second most popular Chinese folk deity after Kuanyim, Goddess of Mercy.
But Tua Peh Kong or not, Tony Pua, himself a Chinese, no doubt one who is a staunch Christian and a politician, should show some respect for Chinese folk beliefs, at least in public.
Sad to say, from my personal experience, some Chinese Christians have been notably very disrespectful towards beliefs in Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism.
Let me advice those DAP Christians - don't be mistaken that all your supporters are Christians like you. In fact most of them are Buddhists, Confucianists, Taoists, Hindus with only a smaller population being Muslims and Christians.
Yea, don't alienate most of your supporters.