KUALA LUMPUR – Another Malaysian student has weighed in on the debate about the Malaysia Society (MSoc) at UK universities holding afterparties at pubs and whether this is acceptable to Muslim students.
Amalina, who goes by the handle @emmelynnamal on X (formerly Twitter), recently said that pubs and bars in the UK are not only venues for partying or drinking alcohol, but places where intellectual discussions are held.
The master’s student at Oxford University said culturally, pubs and bars in the UK are places for students and academics to socialise after attending academic lectures where they further discussions on various topics, be it public policy, epidemiology, or cancer research.
“I’m not going to point fingers and say who is right and who is wrong, but I just want to say that in the UK, the pub and the bar are where people socialise, and personally, as a Muslim, I’ve been to the bar and I’ve met amazing people and amazing lecturers and professors, and here, the bar is not meant only for partying or drinking,” she said in a TikTok video also posted on X.
Amalina added that she believes in the “you do you” principle, whereby everyone should do what they believe in and not judge others who do or believe differently.
“If you choose to go to the bar, you do you; if you don’t go to the bar, it doesn’t mean that you have to police everyone who goes to the bar. In the end, it is between you and God,” she said at the end of her one-minute video.
Amalina also posted in a thread on X that she had never felt pressured to drink alcohol when going out in the UK, adding that she had always been respected and offered halal or kosher items.
To those who choose to disagree with her view and question her faith, she also says, “you do you”.
Amalina’s video has received 1.7 million views, and the posts in her X thread have received up to 56,000 views.
Amalina was sharing her thoughts on a viral video by influencer Aisyah Shofi, who recently ignited a storm of opinions from netizens after she criticised the MSoc in Manchester for hosting an after-party at a nightclub after the Malaysian Games.
Aisyah, who was later outed by social media users as a government scholar, said that holding an afterparty at a nightclub was disrespectful to the Muslims invited and added that she was giving a “friendly reminder” to non-Muslims that alcohol was unhealthy to consume.
“It’s not a very good look and besides, alcohol is chemically a depressant. This is a friendly reminder not just for my fellow Muslims but also for my fellow Malaysians,” she had said.
The video’s reception led to a barrage of disparate reactions, prompting Aisyah to disable comments.
Subsequently, former MSoc president at Nottingham, Goh Cia Yee, took to posting his views on the matter on X, taking a balanced approach with reminders to those on either side of the debate.
He said Malaysian student clubs overseas should be inclusive when organising unofficial gatherings, but at the same time, individuals should not impose their religious beliefs on others. – November 29, 2023