Aidilfitri

I'd like to wish to all the Muslims out there SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI MAAF ZAHIR DAN BATIN.

This year I'll be spending my raya in Songkhla, Thailand. :)

Cheers!

Melayu

So, a few weeks ago, a few of us, were assigned by the big boss to do an assignment on "What is Melayu/Malay" and who is "Hang Tuah".

Working in a Malay environment, I thought this assignment will be kacang punya kerja. Oh boy, was I wrong. This assignment was a tough cookie. There was no proper guideline to this assignment. It was practically our opinion, on "What is Melayu?"

Being a Malay myself, I really had to dig up history on my own race, which honestly I've little knowledge about. So it was a big opportunity on searching up facts and history about the race I belong to and I lack knowledge of.

All I know is that I have a "Jawa" blood, "Bugis" blood and some "chinese blood" in me. That's all. So I did research (which I've not done for a long long time) on the history and origins of orang melayu. I actually learned alot from this research.

I've learned that there's a whole different groups of Malays that's dispersed around this world. That's why we all look alike. Hahaha....

I've also learned Malays around the world come from different religions, not just islam. And the malay language is one of the most ancient language in the world. *Pat's myself on the back*

So after so much headache and so much research I've decided to send my finalised work. Here it goes:

"After doing so much research I've come to conclude, that Melayu consists of different groups, and there many different types of melayu. There's a small group Melayu ethnic group in Texas, USA, Hawaii, and other pacific islands.

There's also Melayu living in Indonesia, Cambodia, South Thailand, Sumatra, Borneo, the Philippines and Oceania.

The Malay language is a member of the Austronesian language. It's one of the most ancient language in the world. You can read more here,

Around the world, Melayu generally have different religions, ie christian, budhism, hindus, and of course Islam.

Since we're living in Malaysia, I'm going to elaborate, the Malaysian Melayu.

Here in Malaysia, the Malays or Melayu make up the majority of the population. (that's what they say). The Malays here are Muslims. (The majority of them). Malays according to some resources in the world web are, "lemah lembut", "sawo matang", and are medium in height.

They also stick to the "adat strongly" as the saying goes "Biar Mati Anak Jangan Mati Adat". I don't really know what that means as I've not really research the meaning behind the peribahasa.

But as far as I'm concerned us Malays stick strongly to traditions and culture. It's part of our blood. That's what they say.

I.e my grandmother never lets us anak dara sit on the stairs or between doorways, she says nanti kalau beranak susah, anak tak mahu keluar. And us youngsters have to always bend down when passing by elders.

These are just some of the adats that my grandparents have taught me.

Religion also play a major role. We sometimes follow the sunnah and we sometimes follow the adat, for example, the tahlil is actually bid'ah. According to the real islamic teaching, tahlil is not encouraged as we are following other culture. I guess the tahlil is an adat...kot.

In conclusion, the Malays in general are from a big ethnic group that have spread across the world. Malays in Malaysia (which originated from Yunan, china and some of us have jawa blood and in indian blood in us.), have a strong belief in the adat and agama. These two beliefs plays a major role in our lives. And some of these adats are dying as people from the younger generation aren't practicing anymore.

I hope my explanation makes sense. These are just my opinion. "

That was my piece of work. I wrote that in 20 minutes. Hahaha...but again that just my opinion, on what is Malay. To tell you the truth, it was one of the most interesting research I've done. I quite enjoyed it. I learned alot while doing so.

Diberkati

Today marks the 18th Ramadan. It also means that muslims all around the world have been fasting for 18 days.

My oh my how time goes so fast. This year Ramadan is like no other Ramadan in my life. For the first time in years, I actually got to spend the first few days of Ramadan with my Mami and Papi (Alhamdullilah), and I had a chance of breaking my fast with my really close friends, who are more like a family to me. We broke our fasts together almost every week.

Ramadan this year have taught me alot of things.

1. I've learned to be blessed with own life. I mean I'm blessed on everything I have right now.
2. After 6 years of being an early childhood educator, I've finally came to realise to why I have passion towards heaven's angels.
3. I learned the true meaning of friendship and the true meaning of family.
4. Most importantly I've learned not to waste food.

Why I gave out these pointers, as a lesson I learned through out this holy month? Well the Almighty have made me opened my eyes, and realised that my life is far greater than than I thought.

A colleague/friend interviewed a girl in her late teens recently. She applied for a job at my workplace. And apparently her family is going through a rough time, her father lost his job, her mum is a homemaker, she is a high school drop out. Her family is currently depending on her grandma to survive.

Any who's hearing her story has made me realise that my life is blessed. I'm blessed to be living in a warm house. I'm blessed to have a sturdy job. I'm blessed to have a house that is fully furnished. I'm blessed to be eating good food everyday. I'm blessed to be surrounded by great friends. Amin!

This holy month, is month of giving. So my boss has assigned us teachers, to go hunting around K.L and search for a home or an institute that is in dire need of help. So like last year, I chose Rumah Nur Salam, or now the name has changed to Yayasan Salam.

This center basically caters, to "anak-anak lorong","stateless children", "anak-anak yatim"and the list goes on.

My colleagues and I have prepped 50 cleanliness bags and 50 duit raya packets for these innocent souls. I called up the center and they told me, that they're only be expecting less that 5o children. I was disappointed. So I prayed to God many many times, and so that my sincere intentions to make these 50 kids happy to come true. I didn't want less than 50, I didn't want more. I just wanted 50. So I kept praying.

And Alhamdulillah, I was happy. God had answer my prayers. 50 angels turned up at the center, to receive their goody bags. I was happy. I wanted to jump for rejoice. But I retained myself. Seeing these happy children being happy was more than enough for me. I wanted to cry for happiness. But I didn't I held myself back. That very day, I realised why I love children. I love them because I love to see them happy. I love their innocence and their honesty. I just love their presence. I love kids as a whole.

Besides being charitable this year, I've made an effort with my friends, to break our fast together. My colleagues are not just my colleagues. They're my friends. They're also like my family. Hehehe
I felt that this month have brought us closer together as friends and family.

Less than 10 more days, and this holy month will be over. I'm sad to see it leave. I hope and pray I'll get to see it again next year, insyaAllah.