the year of the pig

just wondering how the retailers in town will decorate their outlets this year for the upcoming lunar new year. when even the use of the word 'jesus' is censored on tv, how in hell's name are they going to put up a giant cutout of a pig in their window displays? for those who do not know the pig is considered 'haraam' in Islam.

while driving around Kuala Lumpur a few weeks ago i happened to be in a well known residential area. when i turned into a narrow road i saw a makeshift tent jutting out from a house with total disregard for traffic. as my car pulled up in front of the house i saw the carcass of a headless pig roasting over a pit fire. a thick pall of smoke wafted skywards. no prizes for guessing the ethnicity of the guilty party. i have to wonder what the Muslims in the neighborhood were thinking about at that point.

so how to skirt the sensitivities of the local censorship board? would dressing the pigs up in cartoonish and cutesy costumes appease the powers that be?

i hereby throw down the gauntlet and challenge the retailers' ingenuity. oink oink!