Singapore’s Haj Pilgrims to Mecca Are Younger
Spending More
by Richard S.
Ehrlich | Bangkok, Thailand
October 15,
2013
Muslims in prosperous Singapore are
spending more money when they travel on a religious haj
pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, compared with previous
years when they scrimped and saved, and they are also now
going when they are younger.
“Decades back, the pilgrims
went in their 50s and 60s. Now, we even have people in their
20s willing to perform the haj,” said geopolitics professor
Cedomir Nestorovic at the Singapore campus of the ESSEC
Business School Paris-Singapore.
“This was unimaginable 50
years ago. They have the money, and when they go, they want
the best,” Nestorovic told Singapore’s Straits Times
newspaper.
“The first thing we have to stress, the haj is
a spiritual journey. So for those lucky enough to go, this
is the journey of their lives,” said the French professor,
who also teaches marketing in Islamic communities.
The
average Singaporean pilgrim pays US $10,400 for a 30-day
package tour to Mecca, Nestorovic said.
Many Singaporeans
pay extra because they can afford upmarket hotels and luxury
package tours.
Singapore’s deals are less expensive
compared with its northern neighbor, Muslim-majority
Malaysia, where similar 30-day package tours to Mecca cost
several thousand dollars more, according to the Straits
Times report published on Oct. 7.
Mohamed Roslan Jaafar,
honorary secretary of the Association of Muslim Travel
Agents of Singapore, agreed with Nestorovic.
“Those who
can afford the trip know that the weather and rites to be
done can be physically demanding, so if they can afford it,
they’re now willing to go earlier,” Roslan told the
paper.
Singapore’s 5.4 million population includes a 15
percent Muslim community, compared to 43 percent who are
Buddhist.
Singapore’s government lists “eligibility
requirements” for Singaporean citizens and permanent
residents who want to go on a haj, which conform to rules
for all foreign pilgrims set by Saudi Arabia.
A “female
applicant below 45 years old must apply together with her
accompanied Mahram,” who is defined as “a male consort” such
as her husband or, for single females, a male related by
blood such as her father, brother or uncle.
According to
the most recent statistics published by Singapore’s
government, 2,180 citizens and permanent residents
pilgrimaged to Mecca in 2010.
That was a decline from
2007′s total of 2,787 people and earlier peaks in 2000 when
4,412 went, and during 1996 which recorded 4,872
pilgrims.
The highest number during the past 30 years
occurred when 5,216 Singaporean Muslim citizens and
permanent residents traveled to Mecca in 1992.
The
pilgrimage “should be performed at least once during one’s
lifetime, provided that one is able financially and
physically,” a statement from Singapore’s Jamae Mosque
said.
“The importance of this final pillar of Islam lies
in the unity it symbolizes with Muslims from all corners of
the world wearing the same white garb, responding to the
call of haj in one voice and
language.”
*************
Richard S. Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based
journalist from San Francisco, California, reporting news
from Asia since 1978, and recipient of Columbia University’s
Foreign Correspondent’s Award. He is a co-author of three
non-fiction books about Thailand, including “Hello My Big
Big Honey!” Love Letters to Bangkok Bar Girls and Their
Revealing Interviews; 60 Stories of Royal
Lineage; and Chronicle of Thailand: Headline News
Since 1946. Mr. Ehrlich also contributed to the final
chapter, Ceremonies and Regalia, in a new book titled
King Bhumibol Adulyadej, A Life’s Work: Thailand’s
Monarchy in Perspective.
His websites are:
http://asia-correspondent.tumblr.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/animists/sets
https://gumroad.com/l/RHwa
Singapore"s Haj Pilgrims to Mecca Are Younger & Spending More
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