Not knowing what you have eaten...

Imagine reading this after opening your fortune cookie in a Chinese restaurant.

To the Chinese, the joke will be about whether it was dog meat instead! The Chinese are perceived to be eaters of any creature (except human) on earth.

To those who are very particular about the quality and cleanliness of food, as long as you eat out, you are at the mercy of the cooks and their assistants.

Generally, seafood tastes best when fresh and steamed. If restaurant captain suggested other method when you wanted it steamed, it means it wasn't fresh. Similarly, all kinds of meat which are not fresh are likely to be cooked with more spices to cover up the poor quality.

Years ago, Malay and other Muslim friends ate with other races of other religions, all kinds of foods in restaurants and hawker centres. There were instances of Muslims who either did not know or refused to know, would ask for more 'kacang' in their Char Kway Teow! Some friends even said they actually preferred the Chinese menu during wedding dinner instead of the Muslim food offered instead. But with stricter religious rules and regulations, Muslims can only patronize in Muslim restaurants or those with special Halal certificate. The cooks have to be Muslims and cooking utensils and cutlery have to be new, and not used in non-Muslim restaurants before.

Working in a housing development company before, I had the experience of allotment of  houses for sale to Bumiputeras. Following the suggestion from a Malay DBKL officer to have a good mix among residents, we decided to have 2 Bumi lots alternating with 1 non-Bumi lot (60% Bumi quota because land was alienated from the state). It was most distressing to hear from a Malay purchaser that they would prefer whole row of houses for Muslims instead, mainly because of halal and non-halal reasons! But it was too late then. That was in mid-1980s. Years later, I was surprised when my daughter read my post about this and found it relevant in her research into Ethnic segregation in housing and education in Holland!
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