RELIGION BULLETIN-MALAYSIA: AIDS a Battle Against Religious, Cultural Taboos

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

R. Mageswary

KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 1998 (IPS) - The rites were Muslim. First, a ‘doa’ (prayer) was read, after which the wrapped body of the dead was lowered to the ground. The three persons present then took turns throwing a handful of earth each on the body, as dictated by Muslim custom.

But unlike other Muslim funeral ceremonies carried out in Malaysia, this one was over in minutes. The body was not taken to the mosque for elaborate prayers, and there were no loved ones weeping and publicly mourning their loss.

“This is because a Muslim family will not want to lose face by claiming to be the relative of an AIDS patient, even though he is dead,” says Tuan Haji Yunus, director of the Persatuan Pengasih Malaysia, a halfway house for drug addicts and people with HIV/AIDS.

Likewise, someone who dies from AIDS in this country can expect little sympathy from many mosque authorities, who are unlikely to allow the corpse on mosque grounds.

More than a decade after the first world’s AIDS case was reported, religious leaders and cultural taboos seem to be as big a hindrance as the fatal disease itself in Malaysia.

Not only may the goal of widespread AIDS awareness be undercut, say many non-governmental organisation (NGO) workers, people with HIV and AIDS are also suffering discrimination.

The World Health Organisation estimates there are now at least 55,000 Malaysians between the ages of 15 and 49 who have HIV, which causes AIDS. This estimate represents 0.43 percent of the population.

The government has spent more than 33 million U.S. dollars at present exchange in the fight against AIDS since 1993.

The Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC), which spearheads most of the anti-AIDS campaigns and projects in this country, is headed by no less than the daughter of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Marina.

But AIDS activists say their efforts to curb the spread of the disease and fight the misconceptions that come with it are being frustrated by the apparent intransigent attitude of some religious leaders.

Some prevailing societal taboos also make it near impossible for them to bring up in public subjects like sex, without someone taking offence.

“We cannot go out in public and speak to everyone,” says a MAC worker who declines to be named. “We are still steeped in conservative thoughts. This applies to the society as a whole and not just to Muslims.”

Still, many activists say there is more room for many Muslim religious leaders to take a second look at their personal views about AIDS and the people who live with it, as well as what they are teaching their flock regarding about the pandemic.

Islam is the predominant religion in Malaysia, practised by a little more than half the country’s 21 million people.

Two years ago, MAC president Marina Mahathir had spoken out against remarks made by several ‘ulama’ or ‘imam’, or Muslim religious leaders, that had been prejudicial toward people with AIDS. The disease was divine retribution for the immoral acts of peop le with AIDS, the religious elders had said.

In a press statement, Marina Mahathir said that instead of saying such things, the ulama could well use their influence to create a Muslim community enlightened about AIDS and sensitive to the needs and rights of people living with HIV/AIDS.

The Prime Minister’s Office then announced that henceforth, the government would provide ulama with courses on HIV and AIDS to enable them to “help educate society on these modern-day health threats”.

Yunus says more imam are now willing to talk about safe sex and condoms, but notes that these discussions are held only with legally married couples.

“Islam does not condone pre-marital and promiscuous sex,” he explains. “Therefore, no imam or ulama would come forward to talk to teenagers and others who are not husband and wife.”

Opportunities are thus lost for imam to talk about AIDS and related topics with a wider spectrum of society and given today’s realities, especially among the young.

Meanwhile, Malaysia has been seeing an average of 300 new HIV cases per month since 1996, based on official figures. Health officials say treating a person with HIV costs as much as 14,000 dollars a year.

And while the government is carrying out a four-year AIDS prevention programme that stresses “moral values” — with one message telling men not to have sex with prostitutes — some activists say it is doing little to break down the barrier of ignorance and discrimination against those who have the illness.

“(People) do not want to touch (people with AIDS) or be anywhere near them,” says an NGO worker. “The messages have only sent unwarranted panic.”

For instance, Kate (not her real name) recalls she was not attended to in a general hospital because she has AIDS, even when she was already experiencing severe labour pains. “I was having contractions and knew the baby was coming,” she says. “But no one came to help me.”

It took a cleaning woman to come to her aid and supervise delivery, putting to shame passing nurses. But after the nurses “half- cleaned” her, says Kate, she was pushed to a far corner, and a sign reading ‘Infected Mother’ attached to her bed. Until now , Kate cringes from the memory.

Discrimination follows many people with AIDS to the grave. Yunus says whenever someone with the illness dies in the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital, Pengasih is called in to take care of the burial. The halfway house, he says, now gets four such calls a mo nth.