One day in September 2009, two men, one wearing a suit and another with a turban, came to my office. After they had sat down, the man in suit introduced himself as a professor in economics from Libya. He said that before he came to our hospital for treatment, he could not eat and speak as he was suffering from tongue cancer. After treatment in our hospital, his condition improved and he could eat and speak now. He came specifically to thank us. The man in a turban said, “This is our first time in China. Before we came here, we were worried that we could not worship here but when we came into our ward and noticed that the arrow sign on the ceiling pointing to the direction of Mecca, the Koran on the side of the bed and a piece of carpet on the floor, our worries were all gone! Our daily meals are taken care of by the staff of the Islamic restaurant. Thanks to your technology and skills that my brother is recovering very quickly. It is also by God’s grace.”
The basic tenet of Islam is that: There is no god but God, and that Muhammad is God's messenger. Only by respecting Muslims’ beliefs are we respecting them; they will in return trust and respect you, and accept your treatment’s arrangement. Malaysia is an Islamic nation. 70% of the population is Muslims. In 2007, a woman about 50 years old came to our hospital; she was wearing a silk dress, burqa, and a big piece of head scarf which is called “tudong” in Malay. Her looks told that she was a faithful Muslim in high position. She was the secretary of the former Prime Minister of Malaysia. She came because she had uterine cancer recurrence. During her hospitalization, nurses in the ward would accompany her to the mosque and bring her to the best Islamic restaurant. After her first phase of treatment and before her discharge, her relative who was with her took the measurements the height and waist of all the doctors (including me) and nurses in the ward; everyone was very much baffled. A month later she came back bringing with her some Malaysian traditional clothes; batik shirts for male doctors and sarong (a type of Malay traditional clothes) and scarves for female staff with names of doctors and nurses sewn on them.
It has never been our practice to receive gifts from our patients. In fact we are forbidden. We cannot have any precedent on this matter. However, when I told her, she said, “Whatever your regulation is, in Islam, once we have decided to give, the decision cannot be reversed.” It reminded me of books that I had read and a TV program I had seen about Islam’s tradition and we made an exception for her.
The best Islamic restaurant is Guangzhou is at Tianhe. That night we booked the best room and invited her and her friends for dinner. All the doctors and nurses gave her a gift each. These gifts comprised of self-made handicrafts, Muslim clothes manufactured in Guangzhou, and calligraphic writing by a famous calligrapher in Guangzhou. The restaurant’s artist from Xinjiang sang her some Malaysian songs. We put on the clothes that she gave us and conveyed our best wishes to her. We took photos together. She was very happy and said, “Islam emphasizes on trust and faith. You have provided me with the best treatment technology and even given me love and confidence which is the driving force behind my recovery. Thanks to all of you. I will always remember the friendship I have with all my Chinese friends here!”