Ebola-themed Halloween

Halloween is here again, and that means, fancy dress. So it is not surprising that there may be "tasteless" – actually, it all depends how you look at it – costumes that are guaranteed to offend some people.

 

Ebola is in the news and as the war against the deadly disease is being fought – somebody realized that Ebola can be fashionable.

 

Think hazmat outfit complete with breathing mask, blue latex gloves and an Ebola face shield. But a sexy version of the Ebola containment suit – see left pic.

 

“The short dress and chic gas mask will be the talk of Milan, London, Paris, and New York as the world's fashionistas seek global solutions to hazmat couture,” reads the Brands On Sale website.

But it isn’t just for women – there’s also a sexy male version, because “ending plague isn't the endeavor of a single woman.”

 

For sure, Ebola is a feverish topic. And in England, a Birmingham nightclub had apologized for "a huge error of judgement" in holding an Ebola-themed party. The building was even decorated with fake biohazard tape and warning signs.

 

The event was advertised as "Broad Street has been infected and is no longer safe!! All students must head to Bar Risa for Decontamination!!".

 

A spokesperson for the club said the theme night, held on Wednesday, was run by a third party and management was sorry for letting it happen.

 

"We will be donating all profits to Doctors without Borders and we wholeheartedly apologise to anyone we have offended," the spokesperson continued.

 

The event provoked both condemnation and praise on social media. Some comments had described it as "sickening" "outrageous" and "disgusting", while others claimed the theme was "only a bit of fun".

 

Personally, I don’t understand what the fuss is all about! There will always be people who will take offense by a leaf blowing past them in the wind – if they don’t like the look of the leaf! Chill lah!

 

On Wednesday, I was at the D’Utama Toastmasters meeting at the invitation of Johnson Yike. Given that the theme was “Truly Distinguished” – he, as the Toastmaster of the Evening had assembled a distinguished panel of six DTMs (Distinguished Toastmasters) – whose task was to evaluate six speakers, all of whom are D’Utama members. I was certainly in distinguished company.

 

Overall, a good evening and I am happy to give the meeting a score of an 8 over 10.

 

 

Halloween is Not Welcomed in Malaysia

Valentine’s Day is haram. Yoga is haram. Oktoberfest is haram. Dogs are haram. And now Halloween is haram. The list of prohibitions just got longer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image credit: http://www.bpcblockparty.com/halloween/

 

The National Fatwa Council has declared that Halloween is “haram” and as such Muslims in the country are forbidden from participating in this celebration in any way on October 31.

 

According to its Facebook posting, the council stated that Halloween was a Christian event that honored the dead and that if Muslims wanted to do the same, Islam suggested reciting “doa” (prayers) instead.

 

The edict was issued in reaction to a complaint lodged last week by Muslim residents in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan against a private international school there that put up a banner inviting students (including Muslims), to attend a Halloween bash it was organizing. The invitation caused a great furore among some Muslim groups as well including ISMA who demanded the state religious council put a stop to the event.

 

For a start, these Muslims should learn to get their facts right. Halloween is not even remotely Christian – it is a pagan ritual. For your info, there are also Christians who are also dead against Halloween.

 

Anyway, these clerics think they are being righteous but they are just party poopers. Spoilsports. Killjoys. They have expeditiously decided that "trick or treat" is unIslamic.

 

On Tuesday, I attended the Taman Indrahana Toastmasters meeting and I was one of only two speakers. My evaluator was Lim Thian Seng and I delivered CC speech #8 titled “Masks”. Another good speech, if I may say so. The meeting was a little on the quiet side but at least, I enjoyed the speeches (including mine!). I would score this meeting a 6.5 over 10.

 

 

The Interest in Tiny Houses

The other day (i.e. last Friday) I blogged about this shoebox (sorry, house) in Islington, London that was sold at an astronomical price. Believe it or not but the interest in tiny homes is increasing.

 

For some people, it is an interest in beautiful bits of bespoke ingenuity, built by specialist architects and sold to those with an active interest in living with as little stuff and as little impact on the built and wider environment as possible. Of course, these can be off-grid, self-sustaining, portable or fixed dwellings and more importantly, they give a reassuring sense of homely comfort.

 

In fact, please feel free to check out these interesting and informative websites: tinyhouseuk.co.uk, nomadmicrohomes.com, microcompacthome.com, tinyhouseblog.com and many others that populate the cloud. 

 

In the US of A, I read that there is a “tiny house movement” – a small house usually being defined as one offering less than 400 sq ft of space – is gaining greater traction as ever more people choose to downsize for economic or ecological reasons.

 

I reckon we should wise up and embrace this same idea here in Malaysia.

 

On Monday, I was supposed to be at Universiti Malaya because I had a speaking slot at the Toastmasters meeting there – but at 03:46 PM, Heng Jing Yi informed me that the meeting was cancelled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I must be lucky because I was given another speaking slot at MidValley Cititel and it was there that I delivered a “Sell a Product” speech from the Specialty Speeches manual. 

 

I decided to make my speech very different – you are correct if you describe it as “wacky” – and I even injected a generous dosage of humor. Certainly, the speech met its objectives.

Anyway, this was very much done on the spur of the moment and I think I did well with my speech that was titled “Victor Ong, Ghostbuster”! Sometimes, I can be so creative that I can even blow myself away!

 

Overall, the MidValley Toastmasters meeting was a fun meeting – although it was draggy in the beginning. Still I am giving this meeting a score of a 6.5 over 10.