A Christmas Story

It is Christmas Eve and there is a Church group carolling in front of my neighbour's house a few doors away. That's a rare sight in Temerloh, which is predominantly Muslim. The group even has a van slowly driving around with a loudspeaker playing the traditionally well-known Christmas songs. I am told that after they finish driving around in my neighbourhood, they'll be driving to the other housing estates in Temerloh, wherever there are Christian homes.

I am invited by friends to their Christmas party tomorrow night. I doubt they are Christians but they celebrate Christmas anyway. Well, if I had not fractured my fibula, I would be in KL by now, perhaps at Lini and Franco's celebrating Christmas in their home with friends. We even exchange gifts etc, just to humour the kids. We've been doing this since 10 years ago, even putting a budget of RM10.00 per gift, because it's just for fun.

Here's what I know: people just celebrate Christmas just for fun. They go carolling for the enjoyment of singing in a group, especially if there are candles involved. All this, without even being a Christian. For Muslims, it is not an act to be encouraged because we were to have purpose for every action we do and and we must put thought to those actions, and not just for fun.

A lot of people would say, what is wrong with just getting together and enjoying ourselves during Christmas? Sounds like a good reason to get everyone gathered together. I enjoy every moment of celebrations. Any celebration, for that matter. The only thing is, it need not be Christmas. Why does everyone have to wait till Christmas to give gifts to their loved ones and get together with their families? Perhaps for the Christians, they have a good reason to celebrate it this way but for the rest of us, why wait till Christmas?

The truth is, the Western world has managed to advertise Christmas in a way the forefathers of Christianity never imagined. One of the major reasons why Christmas was created in early Roman times was to divert the attention from a major pagan celebration known as the Winter Solstice which fell on 25 December. It was to avoid the converts from celebrating with the pagans which involved a lot of drunkenness, partying and wild romps. I doubt many people know this. The Western world then decided that the singing of carols, exchanging of gifts, the idea of Christmas tree, Santa Claus etc would make the celebration even merrier. What the rest of the world did not realise is that Christmas had become the one single annual major economic boost to the Western countries since the 20th century.

Christmas was given a facelift in the 1800s by writers like Charles Dickens and Washington Irving because celebrations were dying out after the American Revolution and even Puritans banned such merrymaking celebrations. They succeeded in boosting this event. Christmas is today celebrated by so many people in everywhere in the world with no knowledge of its origins. No wonder the Church is said to be worried about the over-secularisation of Christmas.

Hari Raya Aidil Fitri is also undergoing such secularisation. Aidil Fitri or Eid-ul-Fitri was meant to celebrate the victory of Muslims having succeeded to fast for the whole month of Ramadhan. Eid ul Fitri was meant to be celebrated with prayers, thanking Allah for the victory of having completed the fasting month, forgiving others and giving to the poor (zakat fitrah). But what we find today is a celebration of merrymaking, excessive eating and excessive renovating of homes for the day of Eid.

Celebrations are good for bringing people together in harmony, but many forget why the celebrations were there in the first place. I pray the world will not move in one full circle back towards paganism.

A broken fibula and a porch full of rice

Today my porch was full of food items for the flood victims. Chew had kindly put up 2 canopies in my driveway in case it rains. We received RM27,000.00 worth of food contributions from the Rotary Clubs in Kuala Lumpur today, that helped us feed 626 families today. I am so elated by that, actually. My left foot became so swollen today, maybe I've been moving around too much in my crutches today, trying to ensure the packing of food bags were done according to plan. There were at least 20 -25 people in my driveway packing the goods so disorganisation was best avoided at the rate we were going. These food items must go out today, there was no way we could just store them in my driveway overnight.

It went well, the finale being Ravi, Chew, Chan and Richard going to Mentakab Indah to distribute food bags to 250 families and came home buzzing with what they described to be a moment not to be missed. There were hungry people in line, in all races (Malay,Indian and Chinese) queueing up to receive the bags and thanking profusely as they have not eaten in days. It was a heartfelt situation and I'm glad we all did our part..

Water,water everywhere...

It is the rainy season in East Coast Malaysia again. Temerloh is now flooded to the brim. Mentakab town has never been more like Venice than ever before. I broke my leg 2 weeks ago. It's not right to say that it is such a bad time to have a broken leg but if it had not been so, I would be able to go and see the places affected by the floods by myself without having to rely on others to take me around in their vehicles. Managed to group up with my other Rotary friends and went sending rice, biscuits, instant noodles and mineral water to the victims at the relief centre in the Tamil Primary School and Abu Bakar Primary School in Mentakab. The victims in the Tamil Primary School seemed highly strung and it was not surprising - the government social department forgot about them and we were told that most of the food supplies donated were either from NGOs or individuals. The local member of parliament had not been seen visiting them and that got them really mad.

I heard the next day that the group from the National Front (ruling party) were sent packing when they showed their faces at the relief centre. Lesson learnt: When natural disaster hits, get organised quickly.

Pak Sako

I decided to grab a book from the uppermost shelf of the cabinet in my bedroom last night. I bought it at least a year ago at a very cheap price. The bookshop was getting rid of its old stock, if I remember correctly. I bought it really for the name printed on it - Pak Sako. It was not a book written by him but more of a collection of his writings by a young editor. As I read the foreword by Professor Ungku Aziz, I realised that the earlier generation had a way of not overly commending someone, yet, as you read through their words, it would then be very apparent that they actually thought very highly of the person referred to. Simple and subtle.
It was a book of compilations. I've barely read half of the book as I write this but I thought that before it escapes me, I really must jot down my very few experiences meeting Pak Sako when I was still a child.
I don't remember whether I was already living in this little town called Temerloh or if I was there for a weekend visit with my father, before we actually moved to the town from Kuala Lumpur. All I remember, I was brought by my father to a small park in the middle of town, which is now next to the Syariah Court in Temerloh, and that was where poetry reading took place that day. I was curious, as I had never been to a poetry reading event and even more so, one which was held in the Malay Language.
We were gathered in the park, all tucked in a corner, seated on the grass and Pak Sako started reciting some poetic verses. I doubt I understood much of it then.. I don't really remember. But I remember being introduced to him. He seemed to know my father well and when he was told that I only had my first encounter of the Malay Language after the age of 5 (unlike other Malay girls during that time), he then started asking me a lot of questions about my likes and dislikes. He even asked me whether I could write short stories. I think I told him it wasn't a problem, then I fled, before he could ask me to write one!
A short encounter, but it certainly got me, 30 years later, to buy the book and read again what Pak Sako once penned down to make history..

On Justice

"Not only must justice be done - it must be paid to be done."

This sign is stuck on the wall next to my desk at work. A friendly reminder to all my clients who think that they can get away with making me work for them for peanuts or none at all. If there is some service to be done for the public, let me have the choice. No one should get a freebie these days unless they are eligible for it, or if I wish to give the freebie to them. Otherwise, vamooze.