Raya Treat 2022

 

During this year’s Hari Raya celebrations, my family and I had the opportunity to attend to a Raya invitation by our roti canai seller, En.Nordin ( we fondly call him Pak Din ) and his family. We were delighted and eager as usual as we wanted to sample some nice Raya fares after some time of break. We have come to respect and truly enjoy nor just the roti canai but also the family as a whole. So, to get an invitation for a Raya treat was a most welcomed invitation after a 2 years Covid-19 break. We knew that it was just a simple celebration but I do miss the nice fellowship and also the food fare indeed. We were invited for his son’s wedding not too long ago but due to the crowd and also the raging Covid-19 spread , we were cautious over it and did not join in the meals and fellowship but we did attend the wedding makan by showing up and giving support where it is due. But we did miss the wedding makan of nasi minyak, beef rendang, acar sayur and all the lovely Malay food fare associated with a Malay wedding.

Coming back to the makan , we arrived at about 8.15pm that night and there was a small crowd at the long dining table. There to greet us was Pak Din himself together with his wife, Pn.Zaleha and their grown up children. It was indeed a very joyous occasion as they were in their simple clothes and all smiles. That's the best, actually. I guess, I was just happy to be able to see all of them after the Covid-19 lockdown and then the very strict SOPs regarding eating shops and so on. Usually, during the puasa month, Pak Din would close his roti canai stall for a month in lieu of the puasa month and this year 2022 was no exception. So, it is times like this that we could get together and have some great fellowship together.

That night, I also met up with Jaafar, an old employee of Pak Din’s stall together with his family too. It was good to see Jaafar again. He is a jovial fella and during the times when he was working at Pak Din’s stall, I had come to enjoy his presence and also his jovial ways. I had enquired on what he was doing these days and his short answer was “ Enjoy hari tua! “ We laughed on many occasions and also he made sure that I had good helping of food and drinks too. That night, Pak Din’s food spread was rather good. We had rendang chicken, curry chicken, mutton curry, acar nenas, mixed vegetables, fruits, sausages, chicken nuggets, fried chili bee hoon, plain rice, roti canai, curry dhall and sambal squid. It was already a luxurious spread and the crowd really do enjoyed it very much. I also met up with Pak Din brother’s daughter, who often helped out at the stall whenever there is a lack of workers at the stall. It was nice to see her and she greeted me enthusiastically as she had seen us many times at the stall.

 

I started off with my roti canai, mutton curry and curry chicken combo first and it was really good. The grape cordial made it so much easier to down my gluttony fanfare! Dirtied all over the mouth, I couldn’t care less as I have had not these food fares for quite some time now and it was refreshingly good. Ah! Nothing better than having the reddish pink colored tissue paper to wipe off the excess food and gravy off my fat lips, yunno! Then I continued my slobbering gob of food again. This time , it was the fried chili bee hoon with the toppings of mutton curry and chicken rendang – not too much but just enough to get the right “feel” of the silky smooth mixture of meat - mutton and chicken gliding through the mouth then through the esofargus and dumped lovingly in the cohesive stomach of mine joined together with the harmonious dance of the grape cordial drink! Ahhhhhhhhhh! Satisfaction achieved!

I believe, our family satisfied our food cravings for the year by having our food that night. SLing & SYuen seemed to be concussed by the whole food experience that evening. As more people started to come by to attend to the Raya makan, we felt it was time to leave and left it for the others to enjoy their meals. I am very thankful to Pak Din who insisted that I take an extra scoop of food or made sure that we were well fed on this occasion. Pn Leha made sure that we were properly fed and ensured we had enough to eat – very thankful to them indeed. As we bade farewell that night, I could not help but felt very thankful that the spirit of rumah terbuka especially from this wonderful couple is still strong and alive. It had been ages since I had attended one, to be honest. I really really do miss such celebrations and I often wondered why have we fallen so far behind with one another. To be honest, I wouldn’t know if my family and I would be invited for a rumah terbuka when Pak Din and Pn Leha are no more around. It really feel very sad that we have become so distant with one another. Where have we , as a nation, had gone so wrong and so divided? I miss the days whereby Malay friends in our kampong would just open their house and welcome us not just with the kenduri of food but just simple cookies and kuih raya. It is all well and good without the fanfare. It was that semangat kekitaan and that perpaduan that had eluded us all as we all grow older and as we see how the nation got even more divided. Those days, Raya cookies and goodies would be flying over the fences between neighbours so that we can feel the spirit of the celebrations. Nowadays, only the selipar jepuns will fly over or even the leaves from the decaying trees which will fall over! Hahahahahhaaaaa....sad but true, isn't it? I remembered the years when my neighbour's house was rented by a group of Malay students. Sure, they were loud and noisy but when it came to Raya, they would give us some Raya cookies from their home towns while we would occasionally get some goreng pisang, kuih muih or even some sort of goodies for them. It was done tastefully, with much respect and with great love for one another. Even, my late dad's friends, who are outstation, would somehow get some Raya cookies/ketupats to our place in those years and dad would do the same during CNY in those days; the fellowship, sharing a cup of coffee and the salam were all we needed and that’s the only things that mattered. There was no worry nor question about halal or haram matters because we really have mutual respect and known way of life with one another. That mutual respect and honor had been ingrained in us in those days and are still very much respected in each others culture, customs and way of life. Nowadays, we have become very silent and I often wondered how further divided we are.

So, I am really thankful to Pak Din and Pn Leha for inviting us for their rumah terbuka. It gave me hope that there are still others who will try to bridge that gap nearer and re-live the times of what our celebrations are all about and used to be. Thank you, Pak Din & Pn.Leha , from the bottom of our hearts!