The Word 'Pig'

I received a WhatsApp group message on Bloated Belly Pig (Uduk) Rice yesterday morning with attached photo of a stall located in Lippomall Puri, West Jakarta. As Muslims make up a majority of the members of the group, that message rang the alarm.

My first reaction was remembering all the hiccups during Imel’s wedding reception. My whole family follow dietary restrictions observed by Muslim of only eating halal food. And the choice of food during the reception was also from certified halal catering. However, as a bizarre choice, Imel and Oli have chicken-based food in shape of frog. And the catering staff cleverly placed a ‘Chicken Frog’ card for indication. It received a strange reaction for Oli is a German and our guests actually believe that it was swikee. That food was not a hit at that party.

The other thing was Papa Hans’ birthday cake, as the birthday fell at the same day of the reception, that made it first appearance at the beginning of reception. The theme of the cake was … *drum rolling* three little pig. The ‘three little pig’ was Oli’s mom’s nick name given to three boys (Papa Hans, Oli, and Andreas) for they travel the world mostly together. And as my mom was standing next to Imel during the reception, she asked her ‘Why the pig?’, and Imel had to explain the reason with a guarantee that the cake was halal.

Back to the Bloated Belly Pig (Uduk) Rice, the message also mentioned that even though the serving lady wearing a headscarf for her hijab, she was not a Muslim.  By the end of the day, there was a clarification on WhatsApp message stated that the serving lady is actually a Muslim and she has been working for the couple/the owner for quite some time before the owner open the stall that operates every Friday to Sunday form 10AM to 10PM. She was agreeing on working at the stall as long as she is not in direct contact with pork dishes and utensils. The owner are Oey Cecilia and Tommy (Charismatic Christian). A Good Samaritan (Muslim lady in this case) offered the serving lady other double paid job and I guess that’s the best part about this message for the serving lady not confusing the Muslim who didn’t spot the stall’s sign.