Friday, November 04, 2005

for as long as ever, i have been receiving the same comments when it comes to hari raya. ranging from the school cleaning lady, the security guard at my block (who i found one day, to be seating in the lift, pressing buttons for residents. [??!!??] with whom i started a conversation involving singing, sleeping, banglas) to elf- the i qoute 'corporate whore'. theyd good naturedly come up to me, shake my hands and start wishing me happy new year.

for the unintiated and confused, hari raya aidilfitri is not a new year for muslims. its a celebration to mark the end of the month of ramadhan, considered to be a holy and blessed month in the muslim calendar, but not without its trials and tribulations. personally, fasting is not just about abstaining from food and drinks in the daytime and gorging our faces afterwards, but involves a lot of self-control and willpower in terms of curbing our many desires, be it physically, emotionally or otherwise. abstaining from food and drinks help us to relate to those who are poverty-stricken, those who are not as fortunate as (us: whose idea of being irrevocably unfortunate involves being told a day too late bout some mango end-of-season-70%-off sale). at the same time, when we are constantly hungry n thirsty, we cant help but be reminded of how blessed and fortunate we really are. while we might normally sprout out vulgarities and think evil-like thoughts by the minute on other days, during the fasting month, we might also be unpleasantly surprised by the sheer number of times we have to repress some evil-like thoughts we conjure (at least i was).

now this does not mean that we muslims try to do good only during this month out of the whole year. for me, personally, it jus makes me more aware and conscious of my actions, both good and bad, the past yr. and it makes me strive to be a better person in the coming months.

and i can only say: more power to that.

wrt the muslim new year, it falls on 1 muharram on the muslim calendar. it is not a public holiday in singapore. muslims would normally usher in the new year with lotsa thanks and prayers, rather than celebrate it with so much festivities and the shrinking-pockets,-bulging-stomachs syndrome as during hari rayas.

i know for many of my chinese friends, i m really the only malay friend they have. so really, i m quite the only source they might have to refer to (and sadly i dun think i m much of a help) but i hope that this clears their doubts, more or less... come to think of it, being in a multi-racial society, i only have one indian friend. and he's only one quarter indian, as it is...

anyways....

my washrooms would be up n running tomorrow!! yippee! that means no more trips downstairs at 530 in the morning to shower for work! woohoo... and my stove would be fired up again. which means i can take out the cream cheese from my fridge and try out some cooking experiments at long last...!! yanas kitchen, .... i m back!!!

yanas elated..

r.z 8:36 PM  0 comments