A Hairy Raya

The idea of this entry came after watching all those Hari Raya greetings from those Malaysian people living overseas. Alaa.. Those greetings on television... Not those greetings in newspapers. Okay, got it? Let's start.

But before that, I'd like to wish all of you;

"Sellamet Hairy Rayya"

(You have to pronounce it just like the spelling above, okay.)

Well... I noticed that most of them (I said, most. Not ALL.) have this British accent, okay, whatever, British or American, whatever. The point is, they have this some sort of accent or slang. The result of staying too long overseas... Well, I think so. Erm... And some of my friends think so too...

Okay, okay, okay... The thing is, I was born in the USA. Oookay, no big deal. No big deal. But eh, you have to know this fact before continuing reading. Because, this post is related to it. Heh. So you see, I'm not boasting about my birthplace. It's just that, you know, because it's related to the story I'm about to tell you. Really.

Yes, yes, yes... You have to know because this story is about my very first Raya in Malaysia when I was 4 years old. Honestly, I don't remember a single thing about it. My mum did. So she told me. And here I am, telling you.

I asked mum if I speak like that too when we came back from US and she said no, I was even worse. I couldn't speak in Malay at all. So, if you think speaking in Malay with a slang is bimbotic and bitchy, what am I then? Anyhow, I'm only 4. You don't call a Malay kid who couldn't speak Malay a "bitch". You call her "cute". Well, at least I did. Heh.

You see, old people in the old days were usually very, very proud if their grandchildren can speak English. I'm not sure nowadays, but my late grandparents used to be VERY PROUD of my brother and I. My late grandmother, nenek, show-off my brother to the whole village during that Hari Raya. She took him for a walk. Keliling kampung, okay. She didn't brought me along as I was too small.

But my mum did said I asked her,

"What is hari raya mum?"

Cute, heh. But now I wonder, what should the correct answer be?

On the other hand....

My brother came home with his pockets full with duit raya...

"Look mum, they gave me a lot of money!"

He came home looking VERY excited. Well, who wouldn't? Even a small kid as young as 7 knows the value of money. Heh.

To those who didn't know what is "duit raya", it's basically raya money. It is money. Yes, real money. The money is usually placed inside an envelope called "sampul duit raya".

So, imagine all of these... All these money...

Inside an envelope.

(Okay, okay... Not ALL of these. Hah.)

Then, give it out during Eid ul-Fitr. And there you got it- DUIT RAYA!

21 years celebrating Hari Raya, I've came to one conclusion;

The older you get, the less duit raya you'll receive.

(Or does this apply to me alone?)

Anyway, anyhow... Happy Eid ul-Fitr!