Selamat Hari Raya Puasa!

First of all, Selamat Hari Raya Puasa to my fellow Muslim friends, and a good day to everyone.

Hmm....I love the Ramadan month especially with all the lovely delicacy available at the markets in the evenings in preparation to 'berbuka Puasa'. It's the only time of the year that it is available at our 'kampung' which I look forward to. I remember the times as a child visiting my grandparents during school holidays and helping out at our provision shop. I'd always look forward to the various stalls opening up in the late afternoon selling all sorts of mouth watering 'kuihs' during the fasting month. It's hard to choose with all the varieties available but then we have a whole month to sample all of them!

The stall owners, young and old, always has a kind face and big smile at our enthusiasm as we rush to buy their wares as soon as they are all set up for business. I'm lucky that my dad grew up in a 'kampung' and foods of diverse culture is a norm. We get to try out all sorts of food and are quite adventurous in trying out food from diverse cultures. My favorites are 'putu piring', 'ondeh-ondeh' and 'kuih koci'.

Breakfast and suppers are made up of 'roti prata', 'lontong', 'mee goreng', 'rojak', 'dhosai' and others. Living in 'kampung' for years, everyone knows everyone. Everyday, there are friendly greetings, a smile and little chats about how life's going, the latest happening in our 'kampung', who is getting married etc. Everyone is a friend and an extended family regardless of race, skin colour and religions. Mutual respect and kindness is the norm.

On the first day of 'Hari Raya Puasa', our kind neighbors brought us 'kuihs', 'ayam masak merah', 'lemang', 'ketupat' and all sorts of delicacy to share with us. It's heartwarming receiving these gifts for we know they spent a lot of time preparing it and we are included in the celebration even though we are non-Muslims. These gifts of sharing from our neighbors would last us for days even though we have it every meal and there were always more than 20 of us in the family around as it is also an opportunity for us to get together during the holidays. Our elders has been practicing love and peace for a long long time. Is this not the kind of camaraderie and peace we look for? It's been here all along and we just need to open our eyes to it, appreciate it and continue to uphold the good values behind it.

Everyone has a story of peace and kindness, of unity and love. Let's share our story and show the people, our friends and family what is it about Malaysia and it's people that we love. And let us contribute in our small ways by practicing the good values we hold dear and aspire our country and people to become.