The Council and the Fat Buddha

Via qwghlm – and I’m a bit late so apologies, but I just couldn’t let this one pass without some sort of comment.

Council officials have asked a chef to change the “provocative” name of his new Chinese restaurant after he called it the Fat Buddha.

Durham City Council wrote to co-owner Eddie Fung saying the name was contrary to the city’s reputation as “a place of respect for religious beliefs”.

I know, I know, it’s political correctness gone mad and all that. Sometimes you do wonder whether these people have anything better to do with their time. A rhetorical question perhaps.

Anyway, they have met with a resolute refusal:

But Mr Fung, who is a Buddhist, says the name will stand as no-one has been offended by it.

Quite right too. Note that Mr Fung, being a Buddhist is likely to be well aware that the Fat Buddha is a part of Chinese culture, which is why no one has been offended nor is likely to be. Indeed, the only offence here is caused by the “mustn’t cause offence” brigade of Durham City Council, who, it should be said, really ought to do their homework before diving in with such nonsense.

Mr Fung said: “There are many different kinds of Buddha and everybody who has been to see a fat Buddha will rub the belly to bring them good luck.”

“Fat in Buddhist terms is healthy and smiley and it is absolutely not disrespectful.”

One thing the Buddhists of Durham do not need is some misplaced knight in shining armour riding in to protect them from offence caused by one of their own.

Bob Senior, one of the investors in the Fat Buddha was naively hoping for a rather different response from the council:

He said: “We expected that any communication from the council would have been to say thanks for bringing award winning cuisine, £1.5m investment and 60 jobs to Durham.”

The expression that springs to mind here is; fat chance.

The official in question, one Tracey Ingle, claims that the investors realised that the name could be controversial so she gave her opinion – ill informed though it was:

To use the name of a major religion’s deity in your restaurant brand runs contrary to this city’s reputation as a place of equality and respect for other’s views and religious beliefs.

You see, if Tracey Ingle knew what she was talking about, she would realise that the Fat Buddha is not the same thing as the Buddha and that Buddhism is atheistic, so it doesn’t have any deities…