We walked along together with the busy morning crowd and arrived at shops selling Dutch colorful clogs.
It reminded me of my late father. Way back in 1960s my father made wooden clogs for each of his children with different sizes. He made them himself. I saw how the clog developed from a raw piece of wood into a footwear. He was a good carpenter. He also made book cabinets and book holders normally used for reading the Quran, which in Malay is called ‘rehal’.
Then we came along row of ‘fast food’ shops and restaurants. One of them is named ‘Free Adam’ coffee shop. FEBO is one where fast hot food are dispense at an insertion of coins.
At another row of wider back-lanes are shopping centers and shopping malls carrying branded clothings, shoes and accessories. We stopped for a long time inside one of their supermarkets and were amazed with all kinds of strange products and product names. One of them was a peanut butter with the brand name ‘Pindakaas’. It looked tantalizing that we bought a bottle to bring it home for memories.
We liked the Pindakaas very much and missed it when it was finished.
We also bought many kinds of unique chocolates and sweets for our children. For relatives we bought cookies, biscuits and uniquely flavored tea bags.
Just outside the supermarket were flower shops. We stopped here again for quite a long time admiring the beautiful flowers of Holland. We were especially, hypnotized by the various colors of fresh tulips. My wife bought some glass and plastic tulips for our home and souvenirs.
It was by now almost lunch time. We asked around and catch a tram back to Centraal. We had decided earlier that morning to have lunch at the Turkish restaurant where we bought our pita kebab last evening.
During lunch, each of us had a Shish Kebab. It came in 2 very long skewers which extended beyond the circumference of the large dining plates. Each piece of lamb skewed in the skewer was about a size of a 50 cents coin and the thickness was about the thickness of the bristles of a toothbrush. It was really filling.
That Turkish restaurant was located at Oudebrugsteeg, which was the name of a road. God forbid, that the restaurant was flanked by indecent adult shops both on the left and right of it, such that, a naughty glance was unavoidable. They sold all kinds of items to arouse our sexual desires and temptation to buy their ‘dirty’ products. Please don’t quote me, but I would call that business ‘dirty money’. The dirt here is pornographic.
Some pictures and techniques displayed in the windows were actually depicting women as sex slaves.
I thought the West are very concerned about women liberation and equality?
How come their society allowed such a free display of enslaving women to satisfy the sexual desires of men?
Where is the liberty of the women?
When will the women be treated decently equal to men?
What happen to the morality and dignity of women?
When will the women be treated decently equal to men?
What happen to the morality and dignity of women?
Women liberation organizations must make strong effort to help the women of the world to be given the freedom and equality to live decently and be free from becoming sex objects. The Girl Power must protect women from becoming nude and half-naked models on advertisement boards, magazines, televisions and internet.
For example, what does naked women had to do in car, computer and condominium advertisements?
Instead, the advertisers should portray elegant ladies in jackets and official-cut pants to potary an image of professionals and carrier women.
Being present in Europe and seeing their lifestyles with my own eyes, I do not have anymore high hope for western philosophy of modernism, education and way of life. Although my religious adherence had worn out, I still cannot accept such extreme lifestyles.
No wonder in one of the wall painting graffiti in Basel I saw the word ‘sex objek’. I assumed the graffiti was displaying the painter’s disagreement with the western social system that does not protect people from becoming the sex victims.
Once again, I saw the liberal philosophy of life, defeating man’s natural instinct to be a good human and servant of the Al-Mighty God.
Given the ultimate freedom, man will do things to their own destruction.
No wonder, many prophets were sent to this Earth.
I came to know that there were about 124,000 genuine prophets sent to this world from the time of Prophet Adam to Prophet Muhammad. Man need to be guided to lead decent lifestyles and be obedient to the Sustainer and be always mindful and thankful to the Creator of man, heaven and Earth.
643 words
Drafted on 07.04.2007
Edited on 22.07.2007 at 1022hrs
At Woodlands Avenue 5
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