Just a simple Eid

0Hazrul Azhar Jamari • 30th Oct 2007 • My Notes

I know that this is a bit lambat k (ok. VERY LAMBAT) but I was busy with assignments lah k. Anywayz.

It would be an Eid, nothing too special. But it would be one where I enjoy a more heighten sense of economic power. Especially with my larger salary this Eid. So, I was able to purchase a few nice clothes. (Note: A few only k. I don’t splurge too much and there aren’t that many cheap and nice baju2s for men).

After purchasing my only other baju raya this year, I decided to go for a haircut which I shouldn’t have gone for. My hair was so nice already. But it was a ritual I do before every eid. This time, that abang gemuk wasn’t the one who cut my hair. He’s the only one that has already gotten used to my hair and knows what suits me best. So I had to be entertained by the abang pak lebai kurus tu. And boy… what a mess!

The Mamat look before hair cut

Because of my receding hairline, my mane isn’t as glorious as it once was. So there, the final result was not what I had wanted it to be, and I did regret cutting it off.

The haiyah why did I cut my hair look… bleargh

I shall now have to wait 3 months before everything grows back again, and I’m considering taking medication for revitalising my hair.

Anywayz, Eid came with the final azan to signify the closure of ramadan come Maghrib that day, and it was a hearty buka puasa meal with all the hari raya goodies that we get to taste before the next day. I so love my Ketupats… (more on that in just a bit)

Alright, so what do I do the day before Eid, other than touching up the kemas2 rumah and makan macam pelahab? I iron my baju raya of course. This year, it’s pink. (Shut up! It’s not gay!)

The pink baju kurung for raya 2007

In the morning, I prepare to go for the Eid prayers. For the past few years, I’ve not performed this in a mosque. I’ve been attending Eid prayers at a multi-purpose hall where I live because (a) masjid pack giler and I’ve grown super malas to take bus to and fro and that I’ve grown detached to the mosque I once served (b) I think it’s time to practise “serve thy home”, and that’s what I’ve decided to do and when the mosque in my area is finally built, I shall serve there, until I move somewhere else.

As usual, after the prayers, the constituency leader came over to greet us and wish us a happy Eid. Flanked by other non-Muslim grassroot leaders, for the first time in all the Eid prayers that I’ve attended, our MP decided to give a speech in impeccable Bahasa Melayu. It was clean. No teloh apek2 whatsoever. So good, any chauvinistic Malay grandfather would be proud of. Something those non-BN MPs up north should pick up. Crystal commented how buruk their bahasa is in parliament when we watched videos of their debates online.

After the formalities, the congregration exited the hall, all excited to go home to prepare for the day’s proceedings, to jalan rayaing with their lovely families. I tried to find my sandal, somehow lost in the middle of all that footwear mess. I found it at the corner of the hall, where an elderly chinese grassroot leader was sitting. He gave a pleasant smile, and as I approached him, he wished me rather hesitantly a Selamat Hari Raya. Hesitant, because he was unsure what would be a suitable phrase in English. (Most just say Happy Hari Raya).

Then he ask, rather surprisingly, “Is this your new year?”

I was surprised, because finally, someone bothers to ask.

“No. It isn’t. It’s the 10th month of the Muslim calendar,” I clarified.

“Oh… so when is your new year? What is it called?” he sounded, a little surprised. But honestly, for someone as elderly as him, I was wondering if he had enough Malay uncle friends for him to know what the heck Hari Raya is!

I explained that Muharram is our new year, and that Eid is one of the days that we keenly celebrate. It’s a religious holiday and not a man-made one.

“Don’t you celebrate your new year?” he asked.

“Well, not actually. We commemorate it here. We could if we wanted to, but the government only gazzettes Aidilfitri and Aidiladha as official muslim holidays, unlike the Malaysian, Bruneian and Indonesian governments which gazzette plenty of Muslim festivals like Muharram,” I explained.

Despite the fact that a typical non-Malay/Muslim Singaporean does not know these basic facts about Islam, I find it heartening that we are making some headway for racial and religious understanding. For one, our MP speaking Malay so perfectly, it made my day. Two, instead of just a customary greeting, these people actually bothered to ask what the heck Eid is! Asking is the first step to racial understanding. Because without that curiosity, one can never understand.

Anyway, the first thing I did when I reached home was makan. It’s a ritual. I must makan the ketupat di pagi raya.

Ketupat hanging on a pole

Unlike other households, our ketupat dish is more spicy, and unusual. Very the boyan. We used to boil the ketupat traditionally over a charcoal flame. But for the purpose of a cleaner corridor and conserving the environment, we boil it over our gas stove. Therefore, we cook each dish in turns. See? Ada difference kan?

Yummy new generation ketupat

What is the stuff that gets mixed in the ketupat dish? In my household, it is mandatory to have the satay gravy. But that’s not all. Most people have ketupat with ayam masak merah (Chicken in spicy red sauce). We however have our chicken in soy sauce. Yup. Different kan? Very the boyan. What makes it spicy? Oooo… here’s the secret serving that makes our ketupat the best!

Daging Ketuk. (Literally means Bashed Beef)

Daging Ketuk, special dish only on Eid

It’s a kind of minced meat in large cuts bashed to a pulp with secret spices and fried in a wok. It takes a lot of effort to make this. It’s the only dish that is made traditionally in our household with batu lesung and all. It’s super spicy and it is a MUST HAVE in my household. Or else, rela sey takmu raya. We have it only once a year. There’s no other time that we have it and that’s why it’s a really special dish in my family. Also, it’s hereditary. The recipe was handed down from my grandmother. So, as my future wife will know, boleh mengamuk kalau tak belajar masak Daging Ketuk k.

The ketupat dish complete

After resting for a few hours, the morning cannot be complete without the thing that I like to call “The Apology Ritual”. In this 5 minutes of solemness, and about the only other time my 21 year old sister will wear a scarf, the young ones go up to our parents, seated side-by-side, asking for their forgiveness for our wrongdoings. The parents usually offer their blessings, with a condiment of wisdom, and a brace of calm.

My littlest sister cannot go through this without crying. Cute, the innocence of childhood.

Me and Sis di pagi raya

We then prepared ourselves to go to our elders, whether those that have passed, or those that continue to radiate our lives with random blabbers and zany chats, and silver hair reminiscence of life in black and white.

The different dishes in Eid

It is also the only other time apart from aidiladha or a random family related event that the entire extended family gets together. While I may be fiercely boyan, it’s with my javanese side that I’m more close with. Perhaps it’s because that I grew up closely with my maternal cousins. Perhaps, it’s also because that the maternal side is smaller than my paternal’s. I think the smallness of it helps in the closeness of our family. I’d often spend time with grandma coz grandma rocks! And my cousins do the same. We love grandma to bits and I think when we were kids, we showed our love more coz grandma was the only being that was patient and gentle and gave in to our whims and she cooks a hell of a mee maggi. As adults or teenagers, we live in our own little world, but we know that life isn’t the same without grandma. i sincerely miss grandma’s mee maggi k. i dunno how she does it but when she cooks it, maggi tastes heavenly.

Nenek and son-in-law and grandsons

The first day usually serves as a prelude to the week after. The maternal side, unlike the paternal side practices the jalan raya as a big family thingy. That’s the time which I look forward to. I love the jalan rayaing as a big family thingy (ok I said that twice). It’s fun lah k. But it would be more fun if I was still a kid. Budak2 sekarang kan, collect more money k? Coz abang2 kakak2 semua dah keje kan? haiyoh…

The males of the maternal Jawa/Melayu side and one aunt

So that’s my simple Eid. Meaningful.