KUALA LUMPUR: Having lived in Christchurch running her restaurant there circa 2000, veteran singer Datuk Khadijah Ibrahim is not discouraged to return to the city which she has called home for several years.
This is despite the recent shooting incident at two separate mosques there which had claimed the lives of 50 Muslims who were preparing to perform their Friday prayers last week.
“When I heard the news about the shootings, I quickly called some of my friends there. The people of Christchurch are ashamed their city is tainted with such terror attacks even though it was not perpetuated by one of their own.
“The people of Christchurch are friendly and kind. They would gladly extend a helping hand even to outsiders.
“I was really shocked to hear of the shootings... I didn’t expect it would take place in a peaceful and harmonious country like New Zealand,” she said in a news report yesterday.
Khadijah or Khaty as she is more fondly known, used to live in a house behind the Al Noor mosque, one of the two mosques which became the target in the recent terrorist attack.
The 59-year-old artiste who runs a restaurant Khadijah’s Kitchen here said that while the bloodshed had since reigned terror on Muslims in Christchurch, she was not the least afraid.
“I’ve been meaning to return to Christchurch for some time now. Most probably my family and I will do so next year and look at a suitable location to set up a small F&B outlet there,” she said.
“And if all goes well, I’d love to go back and stay at that same house for the sheer convenience of obtaining getting halal food supply,” she said.