500 here convert to Islam every year
Apart from locals, number includes other
nationalities; they are among 543,000 Muslims here
fasting during Ramadan
By Vivi Zainol

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/singapore/story/0,4386,221055,00.html

HE LOOKS like your typical expatriate engineer who
spends four to five hours every day under the hot sun
drilling, welding and designing systems for an
offshore supply base in Loyang.

Except that Mr Ross William Asyraf Clarke has not
stopped for lunch or tea breaks in the last three
weeks.

He is fasting, along with more than 543,000 Muslims
here during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. They
abstain from food and drink for an average of 13 hours
a day.

Mr Clarke, a 48-year-old New Zealander who has lived
here for 23 years, became a convert in May this year.

About 500 people here convert to Islam each year. That
has been the average since the 1990s, said the Muslim
Converts' Association of Singapore.

They include Chinese and Indian Singaporeans, Koreans,
Japanese, Italians, New Zealanders, Swiss, French and
Americans.

This compares to the average of about 200 a year in
the 1970s and 400 a year in the 1980s. It is the
second year that Mr Clarke has fasted during Ramadan.

'Last year, I fasted even though I wasn't a Muslim yet
because I wanted to know whether I could do it. At
first, it was tough. It was the thirst that got to me,
not the hunger,' he said.

'I find fasting easier this year. Now, I have faith
behind me and more determination. The cooler weather's
also helping.'

A Buddhist for 16 years before his conversion, Mr
Clarke said he had always wanted to learn about Islam
but had difficulty finding an English translation of
the Quran.

Then he was introduced to a Muslim woman who worked
near his workplace in Loyang. She lives in Haig Road,
in Geylang, next to the Muslim Converts' Association
of Singapore, so she took him there.

Ten months later, he became a Muslim. They were
engaged a month later, in June this year.

Islam requires all healthy Muslims to fast during
Ramadan to spiritually cleanse themselves and to
understand the sufferings of those less fortunate.
Pregnant and menstruating women as well as Muslims who
are too old or too ill are exempted.

Madam Siti Nur Falizah Abdullah, 23, a student at
Central Queensland University, has not been able to
fast in recent years because of successive
pregnancies.

Now the mother of two young sons, Madam Falizah, who
is an Australian, had converted when she got married.
Her mother, brother and younger sister have also
converted to Islam.

Since Ramadan began, she has lost between 3kg and 4kg.
She said: 'Fasting teaches Muslims like me to put
ourselves in the shoes of others who are not as
fortunate and do not have food to eat.'


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