Sunday 5 October 2008

Of seeking forgiveness and renewing ties

The beauty of Eid-ul Fitri celebrations is that it allows you to visit elder relatives during a specific period. Otherwise, for whatever reason, most of us would find it difficult or even awkward to visit our grandparents, aunts or uncles if we do not have any specific reason to do so.

Aidilfitri gives us the opportunity to meet up, catch up on the latest stories and renew ties. The food, cookies and refreshments are just an aside from the main objective of the occasion. At the end of the visit, we salam and kiss the hands of our elders while asking them to forgive us for any transgressions that we may have done. The seeking of forgiveness from your senior relatives can be very poignant moments, accompanied almost always by hugs and tears... especially when your elder says, `Entah jumpa lagi tak kita ni tahun depan, ya?'.

My Aidilfitri for this year was spent with my parents in Singapore but the celebrations were held at my sister's house in Bukit Panjang. My sister had actually moved into her house some time back but she only managed to furnish it recently. She had asked our parents and my family to spend the Hari Raya at her home for the first time and we duly obliged. Sort of a house-warming and hari raya two-in-one deal.

The morning feast for Hari Raya consisted of our traditional lontong accompanied by sambal goreng, sambal kacang, ayam masak merah, daging goreng chili and serunding kelapa. We had to make do with the instant nasi himpit because my sister didn't have time to get the real coconut leaves to make ketupat.

The day was filled with visits by my cousins from both sides of the Causeway. Some of the cousins I have not met for a number of years. I got to meet some new nephews and nieces for the first time too.

Many of the visiting relatives complimented my sister and her husband on their beautiful home. They had spent a lot of time getting their house nicely decorated so the compliments were very encouraging. It was a joyous day indeed.

The following days of hari raya were spent back at my wife's kampong in Mersing. I'll post about it next, I hope. Need to take some rest now and prepare to get back to work tomorrow.

Update 08.11.2021 : A few of the those in the pictures are no longer here. My brother Azhar Bin Isma Yatim, my father Isma Yatim Bin Hj Ramli and my cousin Noraini Bt Rohani, have all departed. My sister and her first husband have divorced many years ago. She has since remarried. So the house mentioned in this post is all but a memory.

10 comments:

HLiza said...

Wow..you guys really 'posing' there..I love all the smiling faces! My Raya quite havoc this year..baju raya tak siap huhu..but it's joyous nevertheless. The last time I've been to Singapore was 4 years ago..

Nurie said...

Salam Syawal to you & family. Sedapnya tengok gambar lontong tu! Lovely pic of your family,I assume you have may siblings? You r rite, Raya would not be complete without family gathering, it does makes our aidilfitri more meaningful to be able to hug and salam with each and every member of our family :-)

Lee said...

Hi Oldstock, wow! Beautiful photographs. Berapa generations sini? Ha ha.
That is a big gang of relatives...I can imagine the laughter, the asking of forgiveness, the noise....and of course the food.
Wow....love this posting and pics....at least even though I am here, by seeing pics like this, boleh la dapat rasa Raya, ha ha.

You have fun and keep well, Oldstock, best regards, Lee.
Ps, which ones your kids? And which of the loely ladies your Mrs?

Anonymous said...

selamat hari raya bro, parents di spore ek.. i plak raya di sepang je with my mum n wak wedok ehehehe.. raya is always fun n makan2 time...dh naik dh berat badan huhuhu... kena pose semula :))
p/s baju raya byk kaler tp first raya kaler purple

Fauziah Ismail said...

Salam Oldstock
Selamat Hari Raya Maaf Zahir Batin.
It had been our tradition to go out on the first day of Syawal, visiting graves and houses of relatives.
On the second day, we received friends and relatives to our house.
Tiring but worth the effort of cooking and entertaining as we get to see some of them once a year.

Fadhil said...

Hliza,

They were all posing at a few cameras taking shots at the same time. Two cameras were on tripods and set on self-timers, but this pic I took myself, so you don't see me in there :-)

Baju raya you tak siap? Salah tukang jahit ke atau you lambat hantar... *wink, wink* Takpe la... boleh pakai time raya haji, heheheh.

Four years since your last visit to Singapore is not too long ago. Lebih kurang gitu jugak la.

Fadhil said...

Nurie,

Family I tak besar... adik beradik cuma lima orang je. And not all were present on the first day of raya. Cuma I ada cousins yang ramai, both on father's and mother's side. Since both my parents are the few surviving seniors, it's the anak-anak saudara that come and visit them. I pun lebih kurang jadi macam tuanrumah pada hari tu.

The family on my wife's side is larger.

Fadhil said...

Hi there Lee,

There are only three generations in this pic, although my parents have `indirect' great-grandchildren, if you know what I mean. Dalam bahasa Melayu, kita panggil cicit saudara, the children of grandnephews / grandnieces. My mrs is the one on the left in the white tudung.

You take care now, over there in Canada. Hope you are already feeling better.

Fadhil said...

Hanitha,

Wah... baju raya kaler purple? Sama lah kita!

Don't worry about gaining weight lah. Raya kan memang time makan-makan. just don't forget to work it off by exercising.

Fadhil said...

Salam Fauziah,

If we raya at my parent's place, the first day usually tak berjalan ke mana, because all the cousins would be visiting our house.

Kalau first day raya at my in-laws, then it would be a bit different.