Approaching the end of year 1995, the painter produced a painting about a "durian", a famous exotic fruit in South East Asia that tastes sweet and hot like a sunshiny day on the sea shore. Then on January 13, 1996, a picture of Lady Diana during her end of year vacation at the sea shore appeared in the Gatra magazine. The photo was from Reuters.

Unopened Durian fruit.		Partly opened Durian fruit.

 

 

 

 

 

The above painting on the left is about Durian fruit, I made it in 1995, with a bottle of beverage and a glass at the background. It was to depict my experience with the controversy about Durian food and the alcoholic drink. 

Actually in my religion, it is prohibited to drink alcoholic beverages. Yet a few teacher of religion say that it is only prohibited if it was to get drunk.

In 1982, I happened to get the chance to prove it, when my Jew friend Theo often invited me to get along with him to a restaurant and drink some beers. By holding to the words of a few teacher of religion that say alcoholic drink is allowed as long as it is not until drunk, I joined Theo several times to drink beer, not so much, just one or two glasses. And I also kept my self to drink not until drunk.

Yet the problem is that the line between getting drunk and not getting drunk is too thin. On the average,  people would tend to drink until getting drunk, and only a few could stop before getting drunk. So my conclusion is, I prefer to join those who say that drinking alcoholic beverages is not allowed.

Among the reasons by those who say that it is allowed as long as it is not to get drunk, is that because some other food also contains alcoholic ingredients after digested in the stomach, like  the Durian fruit. But I think there is a clear differences between food that would later on produces alcohol after digested in the stomach, and the beverages that contain alcohol. The food could usually make anyone who eat it become satiated before getting drunk by the food, while regarding the beverages, only a bottle of it could not make someone satiated but could easily make someone get drunk.

In 1989, when I worked at the American Express, there was a tradition among the employees to drink alcoholic beverages together every Friday night, for free, in the event called 'Thank God It's Friday' or 'TGIF'. My supervisor, Muhammad Wardy Bafagih, an Indonesian with Arab blood and strong Arab looks in his face, often invited me to join my friends in such occasion, but I never attended such 'TGIF'. Because I do not like to get dizzy by the alcoholic beverages. 

Recently at the E! channel I also learned that Paris Hilton also does not drink. In an occasion when she was attending a promo event of a Vodka product, she mentioned that she was there not for drink, because she does not drink, she was only attending the invitation of promotion event. 

 

     

 

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