sought shelter from this terrible heat and haze at coffee-club at siglap with the friends. i only had one thing on my mind- an ice-cold coffee. as hubby and i arrived before the friends, i ordered a iced-blackberry coffee.
seconds later, the manager came over and informed us that the coffee contained jelly which contained gelatin. i was obviously muslim to her, which was why she brought it up (i don't think they go up to all their patrons to inform them that there's gelatin only muslims) i didn't ask whether she knew whether it was animal based gelatin (often times from pigs) or vegetable based gelatin, but immediately changed my order.
when the girlfriend arrived, she ordered something else, and was later told that it contained gelatin too, and she too promptly changed her order. only difference between our experiences was that she wears a head-scarf, and therefore obviously muslim ( i suppose).
some thing similar happened to some of my abu dhabi friends. they wear the abayah, and were at raffles city, looking for food. they went to some restaurant, i can't recall which, that is not halal-certified, and the waiter told them that the place was not halal and they shouldn't eat there. my friends KNEW it wasn't halal and they were comfortable with that fact, and was comfortable eating just no pork no lard type stuff. but they were denied this freedom and choice to do that, feeling terribly scrutinised they went to BK instead.
it's not that it's a bad thing that the staff pointed this out. it can be good. it makes muslims feel assured that there are people out there to looking out for them (us). it's just that i like my anonymity- that i look a little chinese, filipino, thai, malay,cambodian and nepali. i don't like that people know what race or religion i am, just from looking at me. it's also why i'm reluctant to put on the headscarf, if i do- i'd be pigeon holed as a muslim girl. i just like my anonymity too much at this point of time to give it up.Labels: eveel ramblings
