Saturday, October 20, 2007

Our Islandwide Storm

The Selamat Hari Raya "gila" cheers!

I guess this is the highlight of all visits for every Hari Raya we celebrate every year...

The families homes are scattered throughout the island, so to be able to visit everyone's homes all in one day is really quite a challenge.

To be able to keep the total time spent to about 12 hours for the whole day is important, considering the chartered bus fee of S$35.00 per hour shared by the number of family clusters is still quite significant, though very much cheaper than taking cab rides... if one can actually get a cab during this festive period.

For this year, Saturday 20th October was expectedly the best day for such a plan where everyone was available. Just an ideal timing.

The weather forecast was not that promising though... partly cloudy with chances of thunderous storms the whole day all over the island actually sucked. That however, did not intimidate this family spirit from enjoying the visit and get together.

Prediction to weather the weather storms

In fact, the weather was kind to us instead. It stayed cloudy with short intermittent drizzles now and then, which kept the whole day cool and comfortable for this large hot-on-our heels group... and God knows how many other clusters of Malay families going visiting today.

Happy to report, every year our family gets bigger with little new and cute additions joining the pack, storming the houses for thunderous merry-making and yes, lighting feasts!

This visit is the best time to treat each other's families when everyone makes time to be present at one place at the same time. It can get quite chaotic at times, but my sisters and brothers go into auto-mode to manage the situation.

The ladies would automatically go to the kitchen to help the hosts prepare the drinks and food cooked earlier to the table, while the men would watch-over the little children from "rioting" and breaking stuff as they can become hyperactive once the children band together into a large, no-holds-barred group.

Family homes across Singapore Island

This "gotong-royong" or helping one another ensured us to be efficient with our time at each of the houses we visit, limiting to about 40 minutes to an hour. Then off we went, attacking the next home and then the next one with equal Hari Raya zest!

This year, we have something new to include in our annual tradition!

The family photo above tells it all. Instead of just posing for the photos, we have added the "gila" pose or crazy photo for the Great Family Video our brother-in-law is making.

That was great fun, wonder why we did not do it earlier...

Last year's Raya video was hilarious! This year should be even more interesting with this added poses, but we will just have to wait for next year's Hari Raya to watch it. Something extra to look forward to.

I observed how bright the smiles of Mom and Dad whenever they entered each of our homes. I believe they both are happy that all their children are living well and happy. The family bond is very strong. They have done a terrific job on us.

Yes, family life has is quirks, but they should never be worried about us anymore. Instead, they should enjoy their golden years with us in this great happy family... their children, their grandchildren and great-grandchildren together.

Below are the homes we stormed in with thunderous clasps of enjoyment together... amid the showers of beautiful colors each family brightly brought together.

Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir Batin!

7 comments:

  1. what a truly fantastic post. You all look so very happy and comfortable with each other. I wish I could have been there for a fraction of a moment to saviour the joy

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  2. Wow. What a wonderful time obviously had by all. It warms my heart to see families behaving as such.

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  3. What a wonderful looking family!
    By the way, what is a S$ compared to a US$

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  4. I cant get over the fact - you are mashallah blessed with such a lovely family bro. Wish you all the love & hapiness.

    but what is Hari Raya? Is it like post eid celebration?

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  5. Hello All,

    Thank you for stopping by and leaving your messages.

    Tanie | It has always been fun every year. In fact we look forward to doing it every festive season. We love to be together. The more the merrier.

    It would be great to let you experince how we celebrate our big day here like you celebrate your Christmas there.

    DeeJay | We love to get together. We somehow find reasons to meet-up and enjoy each other's company and at the same time find it hard to part later.

    There is always the picnic and camping-out at the beach that have always been our yearly non-festive season activity.

    Andrew | Thanks. I love this large family. The exchange rate is currently at SDG1.55 to USD1.00.

    Crashy | Yes, I feel that we are truly blessed to be this large and this cohesive and strongly bonded together.

    We have been through thick and thin and it has been very reassusring that we all band together to help each other out emotionally, some elbow grease here and there, in finances and also in spirit.

    Love this family, will not trade for any other in any life. All thanks to our parents who have done a good job on us.

    "Hari" means day, "Raya" means celebration. We celebrate Hari Raya Eidulfitri for the whole month of Syawal.

    Lots of visiting and featings at siblings', relatives' and friends' homes for this whole month. Terrific time of the year for us.

    Thanks again everyone. There will be more festive occasions like this happening when relatives and friends start to visit each other these few weeks as the month is still not over yet.

    Hope you guys don't get tired of these kinds of posts until the month is over. Indulge me.

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  6. Wonderful. Am so glad you all had a great time. They say that ''every picture tells a story'' and these pics certainly do.
    The homes are beautiful, so nicely furnished too, as are the clothes you all wear.
    I am amazed at how tidy the homes are with all the children about, playing and celebrating.I sometimes have friends round with their children and when they have gone, it looks like a tornado has swept through my house!!!
    Thank you for sharing your celebrations with us.

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Hello Everyone,

Thank you for stopping by and leaving me your messages. I will also try to answer any questions you may have for me.

Thanks again and have a good day.

Regards,
Muhd Imran
PAL Blogger