KUALA LUMPUR: In conjunction with the first day of Ramadhan, badminton legend Dato’ Lee Chong Wei shared a conversation he had with his son Kingston Lee regarding showing respect and tolerance towards Muslims and their fasting culture. He also took the opportunity to wish all Muslims a safe and blessed Ramadhan.
Lee is known for regularly posting stories about his family on social media, and the conversation began with a question from his son:
“During recess , I wanted to share my food with my classmates. But my best friends Syihan dan Amli refused to eat. Why is it so? After that, my teacher asked me to eat at a distance from several of my friends. What have I done wrong?”
He likened Kingston’s immense sadness to that of glass being shattered by a rock, making him realise that he should’ve explained the concept of fasting during Ramadhan, which he did.
“Koko (Lee’s referral of Kingston), you did nothing wrong. Your friends are fasting for religious reasons, and your teacher asked you to eat elsewhere as a sign of respect to them.
Thus, you should take the initiative to advise your Chinese and Indian friends to avoid eating in front of your Muslim friends to help them carry out their fasting as we should tolerate and respect each other’s practice and culture.”
But the naïve eight-year-old did not seem to understand and replied,
“Why should we tolerate? Fasting is their business, and eating is my business.”
Before Lee could respond, his wife Datin Wong Mew Choo gently hit Kingston’s hand for his wrong mentality, causing him to cry in protest.
Lee then used a metaphor to help Kingston better understand.
“If you do not show tolerance, you will no longer be friends with Amli and Syihan. Imagine if there’s no tolerance among the different races, people will scold you for playing fireworks during Chinese New Year.
Without respect, there will be no Thaipusam processions. Shopping malls can’t decorate with Christmas trees during Christmas. Also, we wouldn’t have won the Thomas Cup without this same tolerance and unity.”
Finally, Kingston seemed to have gotten the point and answered, “I want to continue to be best friends with Amli and Syihan,” with a solemn face.
Lee ended his post with Malay poem:
Batu Covid pasti berudang,
Diharap bersabar sesama sembahyang;
Petunjuk Ramadhan moga diundang,
Semoga Raya di kampung tersayang.
You can read the original post here:
From the post, one can see that the couple takes great pains to educate their children in showing respect to their friends of different faiths.
Lastly, all of us from WeirdKaya would like to wish all our Muslim readers Ramadan Kareem!
Sources: FB/ Lee Chong Wei 李宗伟
Editor: Raymond Chen
Proofreader: Sarah Yeoh
