In the spirit of Hari Raya, I would like to share some funny moments and my insights on this special day.
My 5 Unforgettable Hari Raya Incidents
1. Merlion
I was 8 years old and was dressed in a new dress that my mum had bought for me for Hari Raya. Every year, our first visit would always be to my mum’s parent’s house in Jurong. It’s a tradition during Hari Raya to pay respects to our elders by visiting them first before visiting any other younger relatives. We were staying in Tampines then and back in those days, they weren’t any MRT. The only way to get there then would be to take a bus. Of cos’ you could take a cab but the fare from east to west would be too costly for my parents. So there were we, all 6 of us (my parents and 4 children) all onboard bus no. 10 for the customary 2 hour journey to their house. When I was younger, I suffered from motion sickness. Sometimes, I would vomit during bus rides, so my mum would always carry extra plastic bags for precaution. This time round I was determined not to puke cos’ I was wearing a nice dress and vomiting would run a risk of spoiling the dress. I managed to hold on all throughout the 2 hours journey to Jurong Interchange. We then boarded the feeder bus from there to go to their home. “So far, so good”, I thought. Then my mum pressed the bell for us to alight. As I was walking towards the door, I could feel a warm feeling surged inside of me. I tried to hold on but the moment the bus door opened, I think you can guess what happened – I puked my guts out! There’s puke on my dress and on the floor! My parents were so pissed with me and I got a terrible scolding for that. Later, my mum had to take me out of my dress so that she can wash it at my grandparents’ house. So much for dressing up for Hari Raya!
All cleaned up and happy again ;-P
2. Shorty
I think I was 21 years old then and just started my first job. In Malay customs, you do not have to wait till you’re married before you can start giving ang pows. Once you start working, you are encouraged to give ang pows as it’s actually an act of charity to give to the younger kids and old people. Of cos’, since I just started work, I couldn’t afford to give a lot then. I decided to only give $2 to kids whom I’m not close to and about $5 or $10 to closer ones like younger cousins and nieces/nephews. That year, we followed my adopted auntie to visit her real sister’s house. I don’t know her family well and it was my first visit to their house. At their home, I saw that she had a young son, perhaps a teenager judging from his short height. Upon leaving, I decided to give him an ang pow since I presumed he’s still a student. To my surprise, he refused my ang pow and said, “Are you sure you want to give me? I’m already 24yrs old and just finished my uni studies. I shouldn’t accept this.” Oh my God! Not only was he nearly working, he’s even older than me! Needless to say, I was super-embarrassed. But come to think of it, you can’t really blame me. He was so short that I thought he’s still a kid. And thank God he didn’t accept my ang pow. If he had and saw that it contained only $2, it would be even more embarrassing for me. My family still laughed about this incident now. Ha Ha!
Imagine if he had opened it and saw the pathetic amount inside
3. Birdie
I was 22 years old and we were visiting my relatives in Sengkang. They didn’t answer the door when we knocked on it, so we proceeded downstairs and waited for them. My mum attempted to get through them by calling them. Suddenly, a beautiful, yellow canary bird appeared out of nowhere. I pointed it out to everyone and my mum asked someone to catch it so that we could keep it as a pet. The canary can’t seem to fly. It was just hopping around (maybe cos’ it’s a kept animal and thus not trained to fly). My then-fiance (now my hubby) wanted to please my mum. So he actually went to chase after the bird to capture it for my mum. The more he chased after it, the more it hopped away until it reached the side of the road. He surged forward to catch it and an oncoming vehicle ran down the bird in front of his eyes. When he came back, my mum asked for the bird. He told her that the bird was run over by the car. I was so shocked to hear that and was so pissed with him for letting this happened. I mean, the bird was so innocent and pretty and cos’ of some people’s greed, it died. I felt so bad even though it wasn’t my fault. And can you believe it? Tears started rolling down my cheeks! I’m not an animal lover but I guess I cried cos’ I think the bird really died unjustly. Just then, that relative answered my mum’s call and we went up to their home. She was shocked to see me crying and asked what happened. When she was told about the incident, she was like, “Aiyah! Such a small thing!” And everyone was laughing at me. I was embarrassed, to say the least. I felt that I had over-reacted. Even up till now I can’t believe I actually cried over a bird. Ha Ha!
The bird was as pretty as this picture
4. Stucked
This happened the year after the bird incident. I was sitting at the back seat of a car with a few family members for the whole entire journey from east to west. By the time we arrived, my legs were all pins and needles. I couldn’t move at all and since I was sitting nearest to the door, I had to exit or the rest wouldn’t be able to alight. My hubby (then-fiance), who was the driver of the car, was already outside the car waiting for us. In order to force myself to alight, I opened the door and put my hands on the outside of the car door to lift myself up. My hubby wanted to re-park the car again cos’ it wasn’t straight. Before he went into the car, he slammed the back door shut without realising my hands were outside. So there was my hand, with the fingers outside and the palm inside. I was screaming in pain and tried to open the door. It couldn’t be opened! In the end, my quick-thinking second brother went out of the car from the other door, opened my door from outside and managed to free my hand. My hand was throbbing and it hurts so much that I couldn’t help but cry. And yes, as you’ve guessed it, we went on to visit my auntie’s house with tears streaming down my face. I think people must be thinking that I’m trying to set a precedent of crying during every Hari Raya visit. Ha Ha!
Can't show the right hand cos' it's swollen
5. Wrong Amount
This happened last year. I tend to remember the contents of each ang pow from the colour of the envelope. Something like $10 in green envelopes, $2 in red envelopes etc. For kids whom we’re not close to like my bro’s friends’ children, we’ll just give a token sum of $2. Unfortunately last year, I had it all mixed up and actually gave the wrong envelopes to the wrong group of people. I think I must have given some of the kids $10 instead of $2 unknowingly. They must be thinking that this stranger auntie is so generous! The same thing also happened to my auntie a few yrs ago. She mixed up the envelopes and gave an old auntie, $2 instead of $20. She only realised her mistake after that old auntie’s daughter brought it up to her. Of cos’ she was very embarrassed but she managed to make up for the mistake the year after.
Some things change but some things are regular fixtures in every Hari Raya. Here’s my list of favourite things that never changed :
My 10 Favourite Things About Hari Raya
1. Geylang Bazaar
Only in Geylang can you find all kinds of food that I can never find at other times of the year. And it’s not just food, the vendors sell anything from accessories to clothes to cars! I’ve been to other bazaars in Singapore but Geylang is still the best in terms of variety. Maybe that’s why sometimes you can see other races soak in the spirit and excitement during this period by going to Geylang.
This place really comes alive during fasting month
2. Takbir
On the eve of Hari Raya, after we break our fast, we have this thing called takbir being played on radio. Its purpose is to mark the end of ramadhan and reminds us of those who have left us. The takbir has no significance to me before. That is, until my dad died. Only then did it form an impact on me. So nowadays when it’s being played, we try to make sure that there’s someone around my mum so that she don’t feel too sad.
3. Spring Cleaning
Every year, me and my hubby has a goal – to relax on the eve of Hari Raya and not do any housework at all. Of cos’, every year it’s just wishful thinking on our part. I think the reason must be cos’ we’re such last minute people that we’ll only clean up when it’s nearer to Hari Raya. So in the end we always ended up sleeping in the wee hours and be too tired to get up early.
Yeah rite! She can still look so good and sprightly even after spring cleaning the whole house. I wish!
4. Forgiveness
There’s a tradition in my family to seek forgiveness from the each other during the early Hari Raya morning. Other families practised it too but ours is more formal with the salam and kneeling down etc. My eldest bro would always take the lead to seek forgiveness from our mum cos’ he’s the eldest. But my eldest bro also has this knack for making us cry with his words. He would say something like, “Oh, you’ve been so unfilial. You should seek more forgiveness cos’ mum is so sad that you did this and this. She cried herself to sleep every night.” We would feel so guilty that all our tears would flow, thus ruining our make-up. Ha Ha!
5. Once-a-Year Relatives
Most of the time we’re too busy to keep in touch with other people so it’s only during this festive occasion that you get to meet up with some relatives/friends. It’s good to catch up sometimes cos’ you’ll never know whether you will ever see them again next year. This is especially true for the old ones.
6. Forgettable Relatives
My memory sucks. Sometimes I will forget some details about them like, their occupation, their age and even their names! Especially for those that you see only once a year. Most of the time I’ll be like, “Eh, you are now in primary what ah?” Only to be told, “I’m in Sec 3 already and will be taking my ‘O’ levels next year!” Ha Ha! Of cos’ other people are also guilty of doing these things to me. They’ll be like, “Eh, you’re still working in that XXX place ah?”, even though I’ve quit more than a decade ago.
7. Blossoming Relatives
It’s also nice to see some of your young relatives blossom over the years. While they used to be flat like Changi airport, within a year, they’re sporting some heavy-duty bosoms. Or maybe it’s just the baju kurung or kebaya accentuating their figures? Whatever it is, it’s always great to see their transformation from nerdy to babe.
8. Food Gorging
Malay families are known for their hospitality. Every family you visit will cook for you and every house will insist that you “eat a bit”. I always say that whatever weight I lost during fasting month, I will regain it all and more within a few days of Hari Raya. It’s rude to refuse them when they’ve cooked for you, so I learnt to “eat a bit” in every house that I visit. You need to leave some space in your stomach cos’ chances are, you’ll be eating again at the next house. Usually, at the end of the day, I’ll be too full to move!
Nice but very sinful...
9. Sweet, Sweet Drinks
If you’re diabetic, you can say goodbye to your strict diet cos’ every house will serve really sweet drinks. Towards the end, I would always ask for plain iced water cos’ I don’t wanna get sore throat from the drinks.
10. The Company
Visiting houses can be pretty routine and dull sometimes. But going out with my family is always fun. We all love to joke. Sometimes, out of boredom, we’ll invent stupid games like ‘Completing the Pantun (Poem)’ or ‘Truth or Dare’ just to entertain ourselves. Whenever we get together, there’s usually a lot of laughter among the kids and adults. And that alone, makes all the tiredness and the monotony of Hari Raya visiting worth it.
Selamat Hari Raya to all of my Muslim friends and Maaf Zahir Batin!
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