Mimicking Raya

I am celebrating my raya here but there are enough Malaysians here to make a small kampung. So it's a different kind of merry but merry enough.

Our pelita are being substitute by solar garden lamps. We needed to find something to light up our garden that exudes the kind of ambience that a pelita would have. That’s the only thing we can use without risking getting a fine from the city council.

All the kuih raya are home made. No more rushing to Subang Parade to queue for the addictive and kindda of pretty blueberry tarts. Or ordering them way before ramadhan starts from enterprising colleagues who make their annual side income selling kuih raya.
Raya shopping has been reduced to venturing to K-Mart instead of to Metrojaya or any other malls even the iconic PKNS.

Raya songs can’t be heard anyway. We have resorted to downloading a bunch of raya songs to ignite the raya mood as channels here only play current and trendy kiwi songs. We have them all..you name it. From P.Ramlee, M.Nasir, Sanisah Huri, DJ Dave, Rafeah Buang, Sudirman right to a 4U2C’s version of raya song. Nothing beats the feeling of listening to raya songs in the car on the way back to our kampongs or in the mall while doing your shopping.

Our berbuka spread will be home made and consist of one main dish and one desert dish every day. Not the plethora of dishes and sweet things you can find at any pasar ramadhan back home.
Our prayers will be called by recorded azan, again downloaded from the net. Our terawih will be among friends and not neighbours or friends from the mosque.

There is no rush to plan to drive back home because this is home and our kampung. Our modern, foreign and new kampung. Which we have called it our own since ten months ago.
When syawal arrives, we’ll be cooking our very own nasi impit instead of the store bought Nona ones. Our traditional costumes will be completed with coats and jackets on top of the normal selendang and songkok. No chapal will be worn as it’s still a bit nippy for us-the foreigners.
Despite of all the efforts to mimic raya here, our hearts are still mourning...
For families in Pondok Upeh Balik Pulau and Ulu Kinta Perak and friends every where.


Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri. Maaf Zahir Batin.