EID MUBARAK

I'm going to be away from the computer for awhile and be in the kitchen almost full time.

Wishing everyone Eid Mubarak or Selamat Hari Raya.

May this year be the best year yet.

Reflections

I love having a day or two off midweek. It really feels like a breath of fresh air; and then get back into the thick of things. The most recent was last Wednesday: Nuzul Quran.

The day commemorates the fact that the Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (peace unto him) in the month of Ramadhan. I have also read somewhere that it was on the night of 17th Ramadhan that the Quran was read in its entirety to the Prophet after all the revelations (which took about 23 years) were complete.

AHS and I drove down to Melaka, to do the needful to his family members and friends there, since we will celebrate Eid in Ampang as well as Kuantan. We started from home at about 9.45 a.m. It was a cooperative morning: the sun shone quite gently, and the traffic was terrific. I drove part of the way: from the Seremban R&R to the Simpang Ampat toll gates. I cannot find my way around in Melaka, despite the number of times being there; except around the Equatorial Hotel. Once the obligatory visits were made, AHS left me at Merdeka Parade, while he went off for some other errands. I had brought a book with me (a book on Dato' Onn Jaafar! entitled Imbasan Peristiwa-peristiwa Sebelum Kemerdekaan Malaya) as I had planned not to buy anything, but to find a bench and read the book. I ended up buying a blouse and a pair of shoes.

While I was browsing, looking for a suitable place to read my book, a lady who had set up a stall in the foyer called on to me to do reflexology. Now reflexology is my weakness. It ranks the same as facials and spas. Without much persuasion, I sat down on the chair and enjoyed the pain.



Every time I grimaced from the pain when pressure was put on some parts of my feet, the lady explained the 'problem' I had with the part of the body equivalent to the point being massaged on my feet . But it was a good session. It wasn't public holiday in Melaka; so the whole place was quite deserted. She charged me RM30.00 for a 40-minute session. That was a steal!


I then ventured into Parkson, and there I found, in a corner, a whole row of plastic armchairs. I plonked myself into one, which was comfortable enough, and read my book. The author is Mohamed bin Adib. The author's relationship with Dato' on is quite interesting. Adib, his father, was Dato' Onn Jaafar's nephew. Now upon Adib's father's death, Dato' Onn married his mother (Dato' Onn's sister-in-law). Tun Hussein Onn was Dato' Onn's eldest son by his second wife.


Soon, AHS phoned to say that he would pick me up in about 10 minutes. I then walked the short distance to where he had dropped me off earlier, and waited for him in the shade of a palm tree. Across the road in front of me was a massive shopping complex, on Dataran Pahlawan -- a real eyesore, in my opinion. There are just shop after shop and more shops, no different from the last one.

While I was standing there, I saw an elderly man walking briskly to the kerb not three feet away from where I was standing. He turned to wait for a couple of ladies, one around 50 while the other, around 70 years old. The younger of the two ladies arrived first at where he was, the other lady took more effort to shuffle along. He spoke briefly to the 50-ish old lady, and left. The lady stood waiting for the 70-ish old lady to reach there, spoke briefly to her, and crossed the road. The older lady tried to step off the pavement, trying to cross the road, but her judgment told her not to -- those machines are going too fast, my feet are too weary. The 50-ish lady was already across the road, waiting.

Suddenly there came two ladies in their late twenties, who stepped off the kerb, crossing the road. However, one of them noticed the old lady, turned and (I could hear her) said, "Nak jalan? Nak seberang?", grabbed hold of the old lady's hand and brought her across safely. How my heart warmed for one person, and how it broke because of the other.

I hope I would not be treated badly, especially in my old days by my own family. I also prayed that I would be patient with the elderly.

Ramadhans Past II

For the life of me I cannot remember fasting at the university. I remember travelling on the night bus (Utama Ekspres) from Kuantan to Penang island, (I studied at USM) because on the way there, some Muslim passengers would say 'sok, sok, sok'. At first I didn't understand what they were on about, but soon enough I realised that they had said 'sahur'-- northern dialect.

I mean, I don't remember breaking fast with my friends or roommates on campus. Therefore, I must have been doing my practical training and was renting a room with some friends in Kedah when I was in 3rd year, and then in Asam Kumbang (Next blog entry) in my final year.

In Kedah it was quite fun, renting a room with three other friends I only met during the training stint. It was in a wooden , double storey house, typical utara kampung style. The bathroom was separate from the wc, which was situated outside the house. It was not blessed with any kind of lighting facility. So, imagine having to go at night time. We always went in pairs! Behind it was the vast paddy fields.

We were given a room upstairs. The roof was made of zinc; so you just have to imagine the heat we experienced, especially at midday. 'Hangat lit-lit' was the expression for the unbearable heat. The family we rented from stayed downstairs. When we first went to enquire about staying there, the elderly wife didn't want to take us in. (We later found out the reason.) But we managed to coax her into it. We stayed in a very small room, about 10' by 6', and slept on matresses. During the day, the mattresses were rolled up and arranged neatly against the furthest wall. Thinking about it, it was a frugal kind of life, but not lacking in fun.

The couple had a daughter who stayed at home and helped out with the house work, a son who worked in Alor Setar, a schoolgoing daughter and a son who had just got married and lived separately from them. It was a very jovial family and I was glad I went along with the other girls in renting out the room. We would come back from work and help out with the cooking; and after breaking fast we helped to clean up. Then after prayers, we would come down for some snacks, and after revising a little, we turned in. That was basically the routine.

After a couple of weeks (we were there for about three months) the makcik mentioned that we were far from what she expected. The previous tenants were not helpful (maleh), coming down only at mealtimes and never helping out. She also mentioned that they 'jalan dereh': they banged their feet loudly when walking. So she liked us.

One day, while I was taking a bath (Malaysian style) in the huge bathroom, in the heat of the afternoon, I heard something running, outside. Something big and heavy and in a big number. A while later I heard someone shouting 'Kawak, kawak'; and more running. I was wondering what that was all about, and thus paused from whatever I was doing. Hearing nothing else, not even from my landlady or her family members, I went on bathing.

After I was dressed, I went downstairs to find my friends and the landlady and her daughter as well as some neighbours talking animatedly outside the front door. I asked one of my friends what the matter was. It seemed a neighbour's cows had been taken away. The word 'kawak' came up several times in the conversation among the neighbours. When I found out that 'kawak' meant 'thieves', I was mortified. When I told them that I heard someone shouting 'kawak' while I was taking my bath, but not knowing what it meant and went on bathing, they started laughing. Well, perhaps it was funny, considering. But not for the guy who lost his cows to thieves!

It was a splendid experience, staying with that family: they were a down-to -earth family and we felt very much part of their family. And I made friends with whom I've kept in touch to this day.

Berpesan-pesan

I phoned a friend, K, yesterday and we talked for quite awhile. Although we went to different schools, some of my primary school friends went to the same boarding school as she did, at secondary level, in Kuantan. So I mentioned to K that I had met up with a few friends from primary school on 29th August. S. Anita, whom K knows was there. I had organised the gathering, giving those whose contacts I had a two-week notice, suggesting to those who are working to apply for leave. We didn't have time-- Ramadhan was just around the corner. Since many were not sure of being able to make it, I suggested Nandos, KLCC as the meeting place, 1p.m. Six of us were there, and it was a very delightful meeting, so delightful that we are going to meet up again, this time in Kuantan, on 3rd Raya, inshaAllah.

We chit chatted from one topic to another. And before I hung up, I thought that it would be nice to 'berpesan-pesan', as this is the month of Ramadhan. For among the essence of Islam is for Muslims to remind each other of good/ beneficial things. So I mentioned to K that I was listening to the radio that morning and there was a talk about Ramadhan by an ustaz. In his talk in the wee hours of the morning, he mentioned that Ramadhan is a month for the muslim ummah. I'd heard of that before, but, what does it mean?

What the ustaz said made an impact on me, it made my brain spin on how I have wasted my chances, but at the same time I was glad that I heard the talk now, in the early days of Ramadhan.

Generally, the ustaz mentioned that in Ramadhan, the month for the ummah, all prayers are answered. Amazing. MashaAllah. Allah would ask the malaikats: (among others) who have asked? who have asked for taubat? for He will listen and grant what we ask for. Really, we are such a fortunate ummah, to be so special, as to have a whole month to ask and ask and ask for whatever we want to. And He will give. We just have to believe it and be patient.

Ramadhans Past 1

In many literature about Islam, Ramadhan is a month that should be awaited by Muslims. But as a child, I found that a little difficult to fathom. What, not eating and drinking something to look forward to?

Looking back, I can only imagine how my mother must have toiled to make us not eat at the stipulated time and to eat at other times. I remember having difficulty waking up for the pre-dawn meal; the sahur. And my other siblings were just as difficult. So, imagine my mother having to wake up four or five or even six (as the years passed by) sleepy heads. The boys were worse. One of my brothers, when told of how difficult it was to wake him up the night before, would say: 'Kalau tak bangun juga, cubit; kalau tak juga, sepak; kalau tak juga, simbah air.' Hmm!

Waking us up was one thing, getting us to eat in the wee hours of the morning, with our senses hardly in place was another. So, went the coaxing, which would lead to threats: "Makan cepat, nanti imsak." Or "Baik makan sikit, nanti tak sakit perut." Or simply, "Makan." One of my sisters, Y, had always wanted to fast, but since she was so young still, my mother discouraged her from fasting. But Y would be unhappy if not woken up for sahur. What she did was, if she missed sahur, she would have her own, at anytime she woke up, at 6 or 7, and start fasting from that moment on. Such was her dedication. I on the other hand, would have been too happy to be prohibited from fasting.

At school, we would feel proud in fasting. We wouldn't , of course admit to friends how difficult it was to get up for sahur, that we 'almost' broke our fast, or that we cheated. We were strong, full of iman and not grumpy. But oh, yes, we were grumpy. Or was it just me? For me, it was most difficult about a couple of hours to berbuka time. So, my parents would suggest chores or revision to do to while away the time. My mother never tolerated us taking long afternoon naps. I'm thankful to her for that now.

We were expected to lend a hand in preparing for the berbuka, even when we had a helper. It could be anything -- laying the table, preparing the drinks, taking care of the younger brothers and sisters (which is specially dedicated to those who broke their fast). It was a most detested kind of chore, for me. Another sister, I, would always prepare the drinks. The usual was cincau, lychee, sirap selasih, bandung and leng chi kang. She somehow would manage to forget that she was fasting and 'absentmindedly' taste the drink that she was preparing. Every Ramadhan. That would of course spark an all-important argument among us of whether I did it deliberately, or out of amnesia.

Berbuka... feast time. We would have the radio on several minutes before breaking fast time, as a guide of sorts. There would be Quranic recitation, for more or less five minutes, which would signal all food should be ready to be brought to the table. And before the azan there would be a paticular music played, for a couple of minutes or so, which indicated all should be present at the table. For us children, that indicated the time to pile up food on our plates. I don't remember being reprimanded severely for doing that, but my mother would just say "Boleh habis ke?" Or "Jangan ambil banyak sangat lah". True enough, after the fist few mouthfuls, we would try to secretly put back the kuih in the serving plate. Then, my mother would say, "Tengok? Kan tak habis?"

When the azan came on, it was glorious time. Everything tasted so good. But sometimes we children would go overboard and became too full and that spoiled it.

How noisy we were; and in retrospect, how much fun. There must have been spills and squabbles, though. I cannot really remember.

These days, it is so difficult for us to meet and break fast together anymore. How I cherish those memories of Ramadhan on Tapioca Hill, Kuantan.

Marhaban Ya Ramadhan

Ramadhan is one of the holy months in Islam, in which Muslims young and old have been ordained to fast. Muslim children are encouraged to start fasting as young as six, or even five, starting with a few hours a day. They may 'cheat'; many of us did, when we were little, I'm sure, but parents should not make too much of it, but to encourage them on. I remember it being difficult when I started, but my parents would hear nothing of it. The most common cheat was to have something to drink and then continue fasting. But as you get older, you feel there is a sense of wastefulness in cheating that way.

The sick and the infirm can skip fasting, but the sick need to replace the days missed outside of Ramadhan. Ladies who are menstruating should also not fast, and days missed need also be replaced. The musafir, or people travelling long distances can break fast, but of course they need to replace the days missed.

Why do we fast in Ramadhan? A simplistic answer is because it has been ordained on us, by Allah's command, through Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him (PBUH). However, as with all actions in Islam, it is to attain 'Allah consciousness', to get closer to Him, to reach taqwa (to me taqwa means strong belief). Fasting is also to train the self to be more resilient, patient, considerate, to understand the hardship of the poor. It is a training ground to be giving, to avoid wastefulness-- basically to be a better person.

I remember feeling really awful: tired and hungry and irritable during Ramadhan, when I was about 10 or so . I would look at pictures in my mother's recipe books and much to my dismay, instead of letting me be, my mother made me read a book or help her cook, or help my father polish our wooden floor. The best is to make oneself useful. As I got older, Ramadhan has been a time to catch up on lost time, so to speak. One of the aspects I like is not having to think about lunch.

Fasting in Ramadhan (the 9th month in the Islamic calendar) is the third pillar of Islam, after

(1) Shahadah: proclamation that Allah is God and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) His Messenger, and

(2) Solat: the five daily prayers of subuh, dhuhur, 'asr, maghrib and isha'.

After fasting in Ramadhan come

(4) Zakat: payment of a stipulated amount for the development of Muslims, and finally,

(5) Hajj: performing the pilgrimage to Makkah, only once in a lifetime for those who can afford.

Happy fasting. May this ramadhan be a blessed and memorable one.