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Raya Ramblings

There were a whole sea of people at the mosque when my family and I went to there for Hari Raya mass prayers in the morning.

I wanted to take the lines of cars parked by the entire stretch of roads, to and forth as well as the mountain of footwear outside of the mosque but I really didnt have the time with everyone rushing and squeezing in.

It got to the extent of the majority of us having to prostrate in an extremely cramped fashion.


Listening to the preaching after mass prayers

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My dad has a very large family. He has 12 siblings. For several years so far, every raya, a relative will host the clan meetup according to their age-rank. My dad was the eldest, so we played host some years back. This year is my aunts’ turn. She’s the youngest in the family.


Me, mum and sis all have the same noses!

Hari Raya is a day for forgiveness and past misdeeds are forgotten. It can be a rather emotional moment for family members.

I could hear the conversations from around.

“I planned alot of things with mum in law for this coming raya but its just not fated to be … we should treasure the people while they are still around”

“Lets just hope that we dont end up meeting only once a year”

—

There were loads of lovely food to be eaten, including my raya favourites, Ayam Masak Merah (Chicken in savory chilli) and Ketupat! (Rice dumplings wrapped in coconut leaves)

I got to meet up with a few of my relatives.

Like this really adorable boy! He’s the son of another aunt. He’s so small and so cute I just wanted to eat him up.

And this is another relative which I find amazingly romantic after all these years. From the start when they courted till many many years after, they still have a most loving relationship. I’ve never seen them being ill tempered with each other before.

People like these are quite a rarity.

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Selamat Hari Raya!

I’m such a sap. My eyes were wet after watching the petronas advertisment.

We’re almost at the end of the fasting month, and on this raya eve, I’d like to wish everyone Selamat Hari Raya!

Maaf Zahir Batin 🙂

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A Hindu Temple at Jurong East

I was riding to work today and stopped by the road to take some shots of the school building.

The school building was next to the hindu temple. I pass by this temple almost everyday and yet this was the first time that I ever saw it up close.

It was rather magnificent in its golden glory. And I paused to see each statue decorating the façade. The caretaker was right next to me.

me : Hi! Can I take a picture?

caretaker : Hallo! You want to take a picture? Take the entry, its nice.

me : Thank you!

caretaker : This area where you are at, is the common hall, this is where we do functions and mass prayers.

me : Oh! Can I go in? I’m not Hindu though.

caretaker : Sure! Our temple is open to any races any religion and any beliefs. You should have come here last month. We had a fire walking ceremony.

There are so many beautiful and interesting things around us. But in this mad rush, Sometimes we miss them on our rush to our destination. We’re going so fast that we hardly have the time to appreciate them.

Maybe its time to slow down.

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Winning on the radio!

I was listening to 938live, the radio channel that I usually tune to in the mornings. Every hour, they had this segment called the mindbreaker, where they ask several general questions like:

What are 90 percent of motorist’s pet peeve? (Answer: tailgating)

What is the thing that you can do in 1 second that will instantly make you feel refreshed? (Answer : yawn)

What is the answer to life, the universe and everything? (Answer: 42)

Listeners can call in to make their guesses. If they got it right, they will win something nice. One of the memorable prizes was a basket full of premium chocolate.

After hearing the question from the previous hour,

Who was the person being tributed by the song “I’ll be missing you” sung by Puff Daddy.

And then hearing people answering, “Elvis Presly, Princess Diana, John Lennon” I just knew I had to make the call. The answer isnt that difficult.

So I quickly dialled the number and after a while I managed to get through! It was strange hearing the radio on the phone, it sounded softer than your usual phone calls. Plus I could hear the other callers on the phone too, making it a little confusing.

I heard the host, Michelle Martin, directing the question again. I paused for a second as I wasnt sure who she was asking to then I thought, what the heck, I’d just blurt out the answer.

“Notorious B.I.G!”

And then I heard the congratulatory sound effects complete with all the cheering! I won!

Oh my! I’m so excited!

I’m not too sure what I won. Something about a pair of tickets costing $300 dollars each, to a seminar about parenting. Hehe … I’ll be passing those to my folks! 🙂

How fun! I even tried to record the radio conversation but when I played back the recording, there was only static. Turns out I recorded the the wrong channel in my haste to call the radio.

Doh!

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Only imflowing you don’t flowing!

Jean, one of the students from school was selling some cookies to raise funds for the girl brigade and I chose the packaging with the kitten print.

I love cat. Aww … isn’t this cute?

But take a look closer …

Pure poetry I tell you.

In fact, its so inspiring that I’ve done a little cartoon

Classic!

Apparently there are others who had the fortune of seeing this wonderful packaging too, cartcart found this link.

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I love getting cards

Back in school, we’d always exchange cards when hari raya was approaching. Inside the card, there would usually be little messages of invitation and friendship.

Reading them would always bring about a good feeling about the moments and experiences that were shared.


Such beautiful handwriting

I enjoy receiving these cards. And I keep each and every one of them. There are some in my pile which are about 10 years old even.

Not too sure if the kids in school now even exchange cards anymore.

I know that there are sites like e-cards and ‘friendster’ where you could send your messages. But I feel that it’s still nice to have a physical item in your hands that you can hold and read without having the need to switch on a computer.


A card from someone I looked up to back in school

Some of my cards are already yellowing with age already. But it just gives them more character.

And I was hypothesizing, since this humble bloggariffic is read all over the world, would you like a card? I think its would be fun. Just email me your mailing address 🙂

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Lady, who are you?

The lady in the picture used to be a Malaysian. She’s married, a convert and currently staying in the United States.

Looking at her for the first time, I could not guess that she is malay, with her brown hair and the brown eyes, the pointy chin and the sharp nose.

Is she so ashamed of her heritage that she had to change so much features about her?

No doubt, there is nothing wrong with enhancing the face but to reconstruct the entire face is extreme.

And secondly, I’m not all that concerned about her converting but to condemn a religion is another thing altogether.

She blames it on her alcoholic father.

But doesnt God teaches us patience and resilience? We do not blame God for the bad situation that we are in. We rise up and be stronger to face the adversities.

She just … makes me feel sad inside.

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Catastrophe!

For about a week in the office, we could hear the sound of a kitten mewing. It sounded like it came from the false ceiling.

Everyone was puzzled. How could the animal climb all the way up there? And how was it able to survive all the while without any food?

Yesterday, Ah Soon, one of the caretakers of the school took a ladder and climbed up to investigate. After a length of time, he didnt find anything and had to stop.

Ah Soon tried again today and he finally caught the little minx.

Isnt it adorable?

Of course it being unaccustomed to humans, it was a little wild. It bit Ah Soon’s hand while he tried to hold it, and it wont stop hissing, so he had to put it in a little cage for a while.


We didnt mistreat it, we swear!

Poor little fluffball. It was shivering and looked most miserable. I asked Ah Soon if I could have it for a little while.

I took the kitten outside of the office where there is no air conditioning. And I had a good look. It was a fuzzy tri coloured cat with lovely grey eyes.

As a kid, I’ve kept alot of cats as pets. Through experience, one of the ways to comfort them is to hold it and stroke it.

I decided risk having my hands clawed and gently held the kitten by the back of the neck then cradled and stroked it.

Amazingly she quietened down. She seemed a little puzzled at her surroundings but she didnt make a fuss.

Ah Soon noticed

Ah Soon : Want to keep it? I’ll get a box

Me : I cant! All my siblings has athma

Ah Soon : Aiyah, I’ll get a box and poke holes in it, you keep it ah!

Me : Cannot! (frowns as I do want the kitten)

Ah Soon : Keep lah! If not I’ll have to release it somewhere else.

Me : (panics and sees a student) Eh boy! Do you want this kitten?

Student : Oh yes! I love cats!

Me : Do you promise to take good care of it?

Student : I do! I do!

Lucky boy. Now he has a lovely kitten. I do hope that she’s in good hands.

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I do believe that pets are good for the human soul. Caring for another living thing brings about compassion, love, care, responsibility and many other good qualities.

Its even possible to rehabilitate a person with a pet.

And why not? If a delinquent wont hear another persons advice, maybe an animal could allow them to open up.

I’ve always observed at how in general, people shy and rambuctious both alike, would turn into mush when encountering animals. Thats the healing power that these creatures have.

Its one of the rare connections that we have left, in a vastly disconnected world that we live in.

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Hazy days are here again

You can smell the distinct smell of burning in the air.

There was a thick haze over the skyline. The large green fields, the lakeside was covered in a grey mist.

Roads that I used to be able to see from a distance is now enshrouded in grey clouds.

Today is the worst that I’ve seen so far.

Pity those who had to work in the outdoors.