Ritual Circumcision In Singapore
I am a Muslim, as are many of my countrymen. Thus it is normal to be ritually circumcised. Naturally knowing every other boy is circumcised, it was just a matter of time to decide when to have my circumcision performed. 12 years old is the normal age to be circumcised in Singapore. It's either the parents who would impose it or the child himself who voluntarily requests to have it done. I requested circumcision at the age of 12 years and thus was psychologically prepared to face the fear of pain.
The circumcision was done at a village by someone experienced and fairly well-known in this line of work. I am not sure whether that person was medically trained. As a child, I simply obeyed my father, who had selected this man. We took a cab very early in the morning to the village in order to be among the first to be circumcised.
On arrival, I was made to put on a sarong (cloth wrap around the body at the waist) and lie on a floor mattress. A pillow was then given to cover my face to avoid the fear of seeing the procedure. I was given few tablets and then while lying down, my penis was injected at several locations.
After some time, it became numb and the procedure began. I was awake but dare not remove the pillow. Thus, I could not see what actually being done but only felt my penis was being pulled here and there. It was not painful at all. It was a fairly short procedure and the next thing I knew, my penis was horribly bandaged with opening at the glans for urination.
The pain did not come until several hours later. The pain was quite bearable. I lied down most of the remainder of the day as my father had cautioned, to avoid bleeding. I had to observe quite a strict diet. Less water but more beef liver to speed up healing. Avoid black soy sauce or anything that is black lest my penis will be black, my father said. Curious?
I could not bathe for couple of days until about a week later after the bandage was removed. By then the wound was about to heal. The stitches were still there and finally came off by themselves a few days later. It was a routine after each bath to apply antiseptic powder and exposed my penis to the sun to dry. All in all, my penis healed fully after about two weeks.
Unfortunately, my son was circumcised at the age of one week after birth before I came to know about the real aspects of circumcision. Otherwise, I would have discussed his circumcision with the doctor and satisfying myself that my son would receive a good circumcision.
This circumcision really adds life to it and the thrill and joy being a male. Surely, it is a great loss for someone who refused to experience it.
Muslims constitute no more than 20% of the population in Singapore. Three-quarters of the population is ethnic Chinese (of whom, below 1% are Muslim) - amongst whom circumcision is not routinely practiced. I am aware of a few cases of men and boys circumcised because of their tight foreskin. Pediatricians check that male infants can urinate easily, and if they do, the issue of circumcision is not raised. While I don't know the total circumcision rate for my country, I would estimate that no more than 25%-40% are circumcised (which would include the Muslims).
Peter (Singapore)
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