Probably not the best look.

Another thing I did today was to actually attend a religious talk (At my elder sister's behest). Of course, two hours in, I realised the topic was centered on family values and the likes.

They basically talked about;

1. Men's responsibilities towards their families;

2. Women's responsibilities towards their husbands and children.

I spent most of it mulling on how I was really wasting my time since;

1. I'm not a man and I do not, nor have I entered into any arrangement to own a penis in the near future; and

2. I have not utilised my uterus for any purpose of siring an offspring.

So I slept.

And I slept.

And I woke up when an obese, bald participant was asking about polygamy during the Q&A session. The speaker emphasized how polygamy, under Malaysian law, would not require the permission from the man's current spouse. But, that's only if he satisfies ALL four of these requirements;

1. His wife is not able to produce an offspring, or out of some medical anomaly, they are unable to have intercourse (By 'they' I mean him and his wife, as opposed to him and his right hand).

2. He is able to provide for both families without any wants from either parties

3. He is able to act fairly and not evoke feelings of neglect (good luck with that)

And I forgot the fourth one 'cause I nodded back to sleep.

Anyway, the memories seared in me from the talk is definitely not the feeling of inspiration or awe by any divine light or whatever, it was the fact that every woman around me was dressed in oversized headscarves (some even with the hanging mouthpiece thing), loose, long-sleeved shirts and baggy pants. And even socks, to cover up the exposed skin for those wearing slippers instead of shoes. Definitely the more... advanced lot of the Islamic movements in Malaysia.

I wasn't wearing a halter top or mini skirt or anything, but the stares that I got throughout was definitely disturbing. I guess being the only one not in a headscarf, plus with short-cropped hair, multiple piercings and absence of even a semblance of Malay features incited a lot of curiousity.

More than once (about like a bagazillion times), I'd catch them staring and seeing as Islam has this "Senyuman itu adalah sedekah" thing going on, they'd give the politest and nicest smile. It's hard to tell them to "fuck off" following that.

Sneaky, sneaky people.

One thing I liked about the crowd was that they weren't judgmental stares of disdain or disgust, they were just curious stares from those wanting to know the story of how I decided to embrace Islam and my experiences so far.

Yeah, they thought I was a convert. And yeah, I'm still and will always be annoyed by that assumption.

So I just continued sleeping.