The Hypocrite
3rd August 2005
So i'm seriously supremely offended. i hope i do not offend anyone by saying this. this is my space. this is my say.
so the 2nd yrs in med have to do a year long Health Promotion and Knowledge Management project where we research on a particular health issue we feel is relevant. we carry out surveys, focus groups, interventions and collate statistics and write up a long report abt it akin to like a medical journal but in a more simplistic fashion.
lotsa of groups have opted to do surveys and yes if you have been in monash uni, its likely you will be approached by meddies to fill out surveys abt smoking, acne, food, alcohol etc etc.
imagine my shock when i was asked to fill out a survey in lecture today. it was titled " Understanding vitamin D deficiency among Muslim women living in Melbourne".
i shall give you a few seconds to contain yourselves and finish your what the?!!s. (god knows i wasn't given the opportunity to do so during lecture)
however i did tell the fellow researcher i was very offended.
whatever their reasons for feeling that it was an important health issue, i felt really singled out.
the content of the survey was even more affronting. questions about how many hours of sunlight we had each day, which parts of our body were exposed to sunlight, whether we felt that underexposure to sunlight resulted in Vit D deficiency and it being a risk factor for bone diseases. whether we were ever concerned abt Vit D problem and felt constrained to ask our GPs because of religious issues and whether we were open to talks, forums regarding Vit D deficiency.
i like to think i am an open-minded Muslim. i'm open to questions abt my religion, ready to accept that there are radical muslims who have used the name of Islam to further their cause, ready to admit that there are Muslims in our midst who deliberately incite hatred amongst society. I'm not afraid to say I'm Muslim. I'm not a good Muslim but I do try. I'm not afraid to stand up to my tutors if i feel they have been presumptous about certain issues and will try to correct their misconceptions as much as possible. i have friends from all types of religion and i cherish their friendships and i do not believe that muslims and non-muslims cannot live together in harmony.
But when i did this survey, I felt that they were trying to single out Muslims. I do not believe they had a genuine interest in improving our health. I do not believe they chose to do this topic over heart disease, drugs, mental illness, alcohol abuse, HIV/AIDS because they felt it was just as important as these problems and they felt their Muslim friends needed help. the fact that the fellow researchers have never made a sincere and genuine attempt to befriend their muslim colleagues brings suspect to their true motives.
did they choose this topic because they have never approved of the hejab and have this need to "liberate us" from our oppression? do they use medical reasons to hide their desire to prove us wrong?
If they are so concerned about our "underexposure to sun", why not survey nuns too? I'm sure they too are suffering the same Vit D problems as us.
What exactly is the difference between me and the next person? The researcher actually did not want to give a survey to a Muslim friend who did not wear the scarf. Whats the difference between me and her? Everything is covered too except her hair. last i checked, hair did not synthesize vit D.
Alas, some facts cannot be refuted. Yes UV rays convert 7- dehydrocholesterol to previtamin D3 which then isomerizes to form vit D3.
but Vit D can also be found in salmon, tuna, milk and in addition it is fat soluble and can be stored by the body unlike some vitamins. while sun rays are an easy source for Vit D, lets face it, to solely contribute vit D deficiencies to underexposure to sun due to the hejab is ridiculous.
i was so churned up by the survey. i barely concentrated during the lecture.ok if i give them the benefit of the doubt and relent and say that they really wanted to find out abt this health issue and make a difference, then by all means do so in an appropriate fashion with the ethical conduct that they had promised to do so.
the phrasing of items were offensive. the title more so. the approach to participants even more. and the subtle implications behind the questions were not appreciated nor justified.
~ they say its a burden our faith has put on ourselves,
yet they do not realise that it is them who have created the burden.~
Comments
i just did the survey!!~ I thought they would be like Australians but apparently they are Malaysians?! What the HECK?! I told them i heard the discrimination @ Berwick campus!! Hahaha...
Posted by: NoN August 8, 2005 10:27 PM
mmm...not to worry all is fine now. they have spoken to me abt it actually and we cleared some stuff abt it.
Posted by: Munirah August 9, 2005 12:24 AM
So i'm seriously supremely offended. i hope i do not offend anyone by saying this. this is my space. this is my say.
so the 2nd yrs in med have to do a year long Health Promotion and Knowledge Management project where we research on a particular health issue we feel is relevant. we carry out surveys, focus groups, interventions and collate statistics and write up a long report abt it akin to like a medical journal but in a more simplistic fashion.
lotsa of groups have opted to do surveys and yes if you have been in monash uni, its likely you will be approached by meddies to fill out surveys abt smoking, acne, food, alcohol etc etc.
imagine my shock when i was asked to fill out a survey in lecture today. it was titled " Understanding vitamin D deficiency among Muslim women living in Melbourne".
i shall give you a few seconds to contain yourselves and finish your what the?!!s. (god knows i wasn't given the opportunity to do so during lecture)
however i did tell the fellow researcher i was very offended.
whatever their reasons for feeling that it was an important health issue, i felt really singled out.
the content of the survey was even more affronting. questions about how many hours of sunlight we had each day, which parts of our body were exposed to sunlight, whether we felt that underexposure to sunlight resulted in Vit D deficiency and it being a risk factor for bone diseases. whether we were ever concerned abt Vit D problem and felt constrained to ask our GPs because of religious issues and whether we were open to talks, forums regarding Vit D deficiency.
i like to think i am an open-minded Muslim. i'm open to questions abt my religion, ready to accept that there are radical muslims who have used the name of Islam to further their cause, ready to admit that there are Muslims in our midst who deliberately incite hatred amongst society. I'm not afraid to say I'm Muslim. I'm not a good Muslim but I do try. I'm not afraid to stand up to my tutors if i feel they have been presumptous about certain issues and will try to correct their misconceptions as much as possible. i have friends from all types of religion and i cherish their friendships and i do not believe that muslims and non-muslims cannot live together in harmony.
But when i did this survey, I felt that they were trying to single out Muslims. I do not believe they had a genuine interest in improving our health. I do not believe they chose to do this topic over heart disease, drugs, mental illness, alcohol abuse, HIV/AIDS because they felt it was just as important as these problems and they felt their Muslim friends needed help. the fact that the fellow researchers have never made a sincere and genuine attempt to befriend their muslim colleagues brings suspect to their true motives.
did they choose this topic because they have never approved of the hejab and have this need to "liberate us" from our oppression? do they use medical reasons to hide their desire to prove us wrong?
If they are so concerned about our "underexposure to sun", why not survey nuns too? I'm sure they too are suffering the same Vit D problems as us.
What exactly is the difference between me and the next person? The researcher actually did not want to give a survey to a Muslim friend who did not wear the scarf. Whats the difference between me and her? Everything is covered too except her hair. last i checked, hair did not synthesize vit D.
Alas, some facts cannot be refuted. Yes UV rays convert 7- dehydrocholesterol to previtamin D3 which then isomerizes to form vit D3.
but Vit D can also be found in salmon, tuna, milk and in addition it is fat soluble and can be stored by the body unlike some vitamins. while sun rays are an easy source for Vit D, lets face it, to solely contribute vit D deficiencies to underexposure to sun due to the hejab is ridiculous.
i was so churned up by the survey. i barely concentrated during the lecture.ok if i give them the benefit of the doubt and relent and say that they really wanted to find out abt this health issue and make a difference, then by all means do so in an appropriate fashion with the ethical conduct that they had promised to do so.
the phrasing of items were offensive. the title more so. the approach to participants even more. and the subtle implications behind the questions were not appreciated nor justified.
~ they say its a burden our faith has put on ourselves,
yet they do not realise that it is them who have created the burden.~
Comments
i just did the survey!!~ I thought they would be like Australians but apparently they are Malaysians?! What the HECK?! I told them i heard the discrimination @ Berwick campus!! Hahaha...
Posted by: NoN August 8, 2005 10:27 PM
mmm...not to worry all is fine now. they have spoken to me abt it actually and we cleared some stuff abt it.
Posted by: Munirah August 9, 2005 12:24 AM
Comments