Confessions of a former meat eater, by Vera Yap.
Oh, so you’re vegetarian? Do you eat chicken or fish?" "Not really, last time I checked, chicken and fish were still classified as animals, not plants." "What, all vegetables, no ikan (fish)?" "Yeah, I’m vegetarian." Blank surprised look. "Is it because of religion or health?" "Ahh, all of the above."
Those are usually the types of questions I come across as a vegetarian, and the answers I give. A funny thing I notice is that many Singaporeans don’t see anything wrong with eating meat. If you’re Buddhist and you don’t eat meat, that’s ok. If you’re vegetarian because you just had major heart surgery, that’s ok. But to not eat meat because you have compassion for animals, that’s bizarre! Some people can understand the ethical reasoning behind not eating animals, but they shut off the emotional part of themselves so they won’t have to stop eating meat. After all, this is sunny Singapore, with all the delicious satay, hokkien prawn mee, laksa, chicken rice, duck rice, char siew rice, kong bak, bak kut teh….
I went to the zoo the other day. And guess which fast food restaurant was providing incredibly healthy meals to the visiting hoards. Yup, good old Colonel Sanders. Talk about irony. At the Jurong Bird Park, they have Macdonald’s. I suppose it wouldn’t be a good idea to have had the KFC at the Bird Park instead. Heaven forbid some little child refuses to eat his drumstick after looking at all those magnificent birds in there.
But I believe children take their cues from their parents. At one children’s party I attended, I was horrified to watch a crab race. To make the crabs move faster, the children were hitting the crabs with chopsticks. Some of the crabs had their legs torn off. I didn’t realize we still lived in kampungs. I guess there just aren’t enough toys at toy stores for the kids nowadays.
Before I continue to sound like a crazy militant vegetarian, I perhaps should pen a few words about my "sins." I confess, when I was still a semi-vegetarian, I ate a heck of a lot of chicken and fish. I don’ think my intake of meat reduced that much, it just was diverted to poultry and fish. In fact, assuming I had the equivalent of one whole chicken a week, that means I’ve eaten 240 chickens in the 5 years I was semi-vegetarian. That’s a lot of chickens to have killed. Now, some people will object to the term ‘killed." To them, if there’s no blood on their hands, it’s not their fault. Hey, ever heard of demand and supply? Or how about murder by association?
Oopps, but there I go again. Another confession I would like to make is this. Now that I’m full vegetarian (lacto-ovo anyway), I could be more meticulous about checking my food for those annoying pieces of hei bi (dried shrimp) Nasi Padang stores love to use in their vegetable dishes. I do try to do my best, but sometimes, you just miss some. Conclusion? I’m not perfect, and neither are meat eaters. Do you need to be vegetarian to become enlightened? Who knows? But it can’t hurt to reduce your meat intake. At the very least, your heart will thank you. Bon appetit!
Article by Vera Yap. Copyright Oct 1999
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