Oh, ini sungguh pelik..
hurm..
okay, the journey was great..its tiring and i still could feel my bones shaking but i guess, overwhelmed by the fact that i am now at my own place, this feeling has indeed eclipsed the boredom, tiring and so forth..
enough about that.
I would write again about how wonderful it feels to be in here..
but now, i still can't forget what happened through out the journey.
30 minutes before we landed at Cairo, the nice lady beside me suddenly asked something, that moment, right after i took off the ear phone.
"Do you always wear this?".
What do you think, what should this question referred to?
jeng jeng jeng...
its my tudung/scarf/hijab/any other names for it.
and then, the 30 minutes passed by with lots of questions , answers, explanations, criticism, and many more...
To cut it short,
here are the things that I would like to stress on again. If anyone out there are still wondering, here is my answer, my very own answer.
1. I am wearing what i choose to wear, and no one, absolutely no one, no any particular man for sure, forced me to dress up like this.I wear the way you see i do out of my obedience to my God, Allah swt.
2. My hijab is not a symbol of oppression by anyone. I am NOT BEING OPPRESSED by anyone, not even by this hijab. I am instead, feel more oppressed by various criticism and strange stare given towards my choice of dressing...
3. I am not locked behind, my parents did not closed 'any possible doors' for me to see the outside world. (ironic enough having heard this, when I am in a plane, travelling across thousands miles from my own country).
4. Absolutely no one, not even my parents will forced me to agree with 'arranged marriage". And this also, not "the only thing they let me to decide".
5. Yes, today, lots of teenagers dare enough and crazy over different hairstyles, and dying to try every single one. I am a teenager too, but I do not feel tense on the fact I cant do that, in public. I will try some if i want at home...
6. I do attend party, (if birthday and farewell party considered as a party to you). and I enjoyed myself, the way I want to. It does not involve drinking and xoxo but the way people enjoyed themselves is subjective. Mine, do satisfy me. I am 100% sure.
7.I live in a country name "Malaysia". It is a country, a safe and free from any wars. It is peace here. We do have 27 millions citizen, and I do not lie, there are more than 10 different ethins and races in Malaysia, which also mean there are lots of different religion and languages used here.
8. There are no winter, spring, summer, autumn in Malaysia, but we do have sun and rains, and sometimes, it does, with thunderstorm and even flood.
9.I do understand few words, of Arabic Language. No one said it is a compulsory to learn a particular language.
10. When I said, what's in your heart is important, I do mean it. I cannot be the one to take full responsibility of everyone's heart even though their religion is the same as mine. And yes, there are suicide bombing cases as you said, and lots of war too, I won't deny any of this, but this has nothing to do with my scarf, and oppression.
11. Yes, London is a great city, I like it a lot too. Like i said, Its beautiful and even more beautiful as it reminds me of Malaysia. There are people of widely different races, religions and so on live there and we accept each other. They never, ever stare at my scarf.
12. I think I have made myself very clear, my hijab is an obligation for my religion, it is not an oppression, nor stealing my freedom. Though you think, it is unfair that man dont have to wear this while we have to, I am not feeling stressed over that matter. They (men) do not dominate my choices, my worlds neither my freedom.
Its very frustrating to me, when you keep on saying that you are an open minded person which is why you think people should be accepted as who they are. Its weird, to say that you are open minded one when you can't open your eyes and see for yourself that I am not crying when I wear this, I do not take it as a burden at all. You should accept differences, including what religion they choose, and what dress they choose to wear.It is again, another frustrating moment, when you refused to accept what i said simply because i'm being honest about my age. Age has nothing to do with one's knowledge and opinion. I am not 'just a baby'. My answers come straight from me, and only me. And thanks for keep saying that i am a nice girl, but sorry, i am not 'a nice girl whom poorly being kept away from the outside world'. i am free, but my freedom is not visible for your eye.
Thanks for listening, i'm actually glad that you asked me instead of carry on with your own assumption. Though you refused to acknowledge what i said due to my age, and also because of lots of other people whom you met before, but I still hope some of these will open up a bit, even if its a tiny one, a door for others to see the truth. Thanks for your concern, but again, this scarf/hijab/etc, does not hurt me at all, not physically, emotionally and not even in terms of freedom.
Thanks for reading. Please, this is my opinion, genuinely from my heart and mind. I hope anyone who is reading this would accept it. I am not trying to change anything, I just want to make clear on your curiosity and hope this will clear off the wrong perceptions about it. By saying this, and writing it down here, I have done my part.
