COMMENT | Six-year-old Alethea teaches me about diversity

COMMENT | Yesterday, my six-year-old daughter Alethea Azlee decided to fast for a complete day for the very first time. Before this, she had only been fasting for half a day. Basically, she just skipped breakfast because she would buka puasa at lunchtime. She decided this totally on her own the day before.

“Mum and Pops, I want to fast the whole day tomorrow,” she said out of the blue.

“Okay. But if you feel too hungry or thirsty, just eat and drink, okay?” my wife and I said to her.

“I’ll be okay!” she smiled.

Alethea did it with full excitement and even had enough energy to go cycling on her bike in the evening. We were very proud of her. So that evening, we told her she could pick anything she wanted to eat for buka puasa. Of course, we already knew what she wanted - her favourite Japanese food.

While we were eating, I asked her about...