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Alter Ego |
The
Vegans’ World
There are many significant
days in the Hindu calendar where Hindus abstain from eating meat. As a young
boy growing up in a devout Hindu household, I followed my parents in eating
vegetarian meals on Fridays, during the whole Indian calendar month of Purathasi
and other religious days throughout the year. As I grew older, I started to
question the necessity and the reasoning behind the practice of meat abstinence.
Hinduism did not give me any answers. The fact that I was not the religious
sort did not help. Slowly, I started giving up the vegetarian practice. I
do not hate vegetables but I just love meat too much. I am one of those who
feel that eating a little chicken a day would keep the doctor away!
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These days, however, I maintain a strict vegetarian diet on
Fridays (yes, goodbye to alcohol) and follow many of the Hindu meat abstinence
days to fulfill a personal vow that I made. I am also continuously exposed
to vegetarianism through lawyer friends like William Ong and another,
whom I shall call Siva. William, a practising Buddhist, has been a vegetarian since the age of 12. Like Hinduism, he feels that Buddhism is in sync with vegetarianism. ‘Buddhism, which respects the individual’s autonomy does not prescribe vegetarianism. However, it encourages devotees to eat vegetarian meals on special days to exercise compassion.’ Although it was difficult to find vegetarian food in the 1980s and early 1990s in Singapore, things have changed, and William now finds it more convenient. ‘There is one vegetarian stall in every food court and vegetarian options are easily available in restaurants,’ he added happily. With Singaporeans becoming more health conscious and adopting holistic lifestyles, organic vegetarian restaurants such as Yogi Hub have become a hit in Singapore. ‘A vegetarian lunch has an immediate positive effect. It digests quickly and does not make you feel tired or sleepy in the middle of the day,’ explained William. He went on to elaborate on its health benefits – higher immunity against flu and the common cold. Overall, for him it gives a good sense of well-being. In 1994, Siva at the age of 23, started getting uncomfortable about killing animals for food. He became a vegetarian on ethical grounds. ‘But don’t plants have life too?’ I asked him over the telephone. He replied, ‘Yes, they do. But I think the degree of violence inflicted on plants is lesser than on animals. As I have to eat something to survive, I reconcile this by taking the view that the pain that plants feel is lesser.’ An egg lover, Siva adds it to his diet as well. I like the vegetarian food served in Ananda Bhavan in Little India; in Chinese restautants such as Lingzhi, Lao Di Fang and the various vegetarian stalls in food courts. I am grateful to the monks who invented mock meat. It gives me great emotional satisfaction to eat mock char siew. Both William and Siva do not object to mock meat in vegetarian cuisine. ‘Except for the fact that it is unhealthy, as it is made of gluten, it adds variety to the food we eat,’ said Siva. William added, ‘I choose to see it in a positive light. Mock meat entices non-vegetarians to eat it. In a way, it encourages vegetarianism.’ When my wife and I invited a friend to dinner recently, she expressed a desire for vegetarian food. Through William’s strong recommendation and because our dinner guest liked the name, we ended up at The Whole Earth Vegetarian Restaurant sited along Geylang’s vegetarian food belt. This is the only restaurant I know that serves Peranakan and Thai gluten-free vegetarian food. At the end of the dinner, our guest declared that she was returning to the restaurant with her friends. Subsequently, I visited the restaurant again with my Peranakan client for a weekday lunch. A meat lover, he gave the restaurant his seal of approval. The restaurant is mid-sized with a décor that exudes a sense of cheerfulness. It is a cosy, quiet and ideal place for a weekend dinner. The simple menu is filled with wholesome vegetarian dishes which are not only delicious but healthy. The Nonya Curry, Bibik’s Buah Keluak, Sambal Petai, Shitake Mushrooms and Ngoh Hiang are some customer favourites. William swears by the Baba Sambal Oyster Mushrooms and Oatmeal Toufu for ‘the natural flavour of their ingredients.’ I generally like Peranakan food and found the simple dishes refreshing. And no prizes for guessing that one of the four owners of the restaurant is a tall and stocky 39-year-old former lawyer. I met with him to find out how he entered the world of vegetarianism. |
Gavin Ooi was once a litigation partner in Shook Lin &
Bok. He was working very hard and enjoying the high life. However, a gym session
in 2000 changed his whole perspective towards life. While running on the treadmill,
he started to feel pain in his lower back. Medical treatment did not solve
his problem, which worsened. He was in constant chronic pain and could hardly
sit, walk or work. He consulted a chiropractor and even 14 sessions of spine
manipulation and treatments failed to bring any relief. He sought other treatments
like massage, acupuncture and heat therapy. These brought only temporary relief.
The severe pain always came back. Later, an x-ray revealed a fracture of his
fourth lumbar vertebrae and a prolapsed disc. At only 33 years of age, Gavin
faced bleak news from his specialist surgeon – he needed to have a major operation
on his lower back, hospital rest for six weeks, followed by six months of
rehabilitation and no sporting or physical activities for two years thereafter.
A meeting with a friend led him to vegetarianism. He
also cut out smoking and drinking. The nagging pain disappeared with time
and Gavin felt healthier.
Not only that, he started on a journey of self-awareness. He began to dabble
in vegetarian cooking. Finally in August 2002, he quit law and opened The
Whole Earth.
‘I started examining my whole life – my identity, my values and the purpose
of my life. I started to question myself. What does it mean to be a human
and a Peranakan? What are my roots? How do my actions determine my person?’
He felt that understanding his Peranakan roots would help him to understand
himself better. ‘This whole experience gave me a great sense of happiness,
which brought along peace and good health. We spend a lot of time getting
to know others, making friends. But very few of us take time to understand
ourselves or take the path to self-examination,’ Gavin continued. Though he
was brought up by a Buddhist father and a Catholic mother, Gavin does not
practise any religion. He feels that there is a higher purpose in life beyond
the hustle and bustle and materialism, which prevails in modern living. ‘The
actual process involved in achieving a certain result has become important
to me,’ he said over lunch. According to him, there is much to learn from
the process itself - the lessons of failure, mistakes and change. ‘I have
discovered that I have become more open and humble now,’ he added.
Gavin keeps himself even busier running a second business selling fruit juices.
‘My legal training is actually a bane to my career now. As a lawyer, I was
trained to think procedurally and in a certain way. This is not suitable in
the business world where dynamism, creativity and alertness are crucial,’
he explained. When he meets his former colleagues and
friends, he is reminded of the big bucks, the modern expensive possessions
and frills that a lucrative law partnership fetches. ‘For me, I am grateful
for the fulfillment I get out of my current life,’ he says simply.
Gavin offers an alternative perspective to life. What he shares is philosophical,
profound and even surprising, since he is not religious. But there is truth
in what he says. And this truth is sometimes only discovered at the crossroads
of one’s life. These crossroads help us to unravel the mystery of our existence
on this good earth.
Some Vegetarian Facts