What's With Festivities Anyway?

For the first time in my 38 years, I didn't hear any Raya songs; seen any Raya decorations; read about some kid blowing off his fingers while attempting to enliven the Raya mood with homemade crackers; or eat any kuih Raya, lemang, ketupat and rendang. Understandably, the last item on the list is the one that I miss most ...

And of course, there is no news on mass exodus from KL to other parts of the country, leaving the capital city a virtual ghost town for a few days. Also, no updates on the death toll due to road accidents during the balik kampung rush. And certainly, there is no info on open houses hosted by VIPs.

To be honest, I didn't even know the past few weeks were Puasa month until my sisters mentioned about fasting in one of our email exchanges. Malaysia might as well have been in Jupiter or something.

I do miss the Raya mood but frankly, Raya the last few years has not been the same as it was when I was a kid. Raya, like other major festivities in Malaysia such as Chinese New Year and Christmas, is a tad too commercialised these days.

I grew up in predominantly rural Malay areas. So there was no shortage of homemade Raya goodies during the festivity. The hospitality, the sense of community (though my family usually seemed like the odd one then), the sparklers and the kids donning their newest baju raya to collect duit raya from door to door, etc. I can still remember these things quite vividly.

I suppose the same can be said of the Chinese New Year in recent years. Well, people still celebrate it. It's just that the mood seems to be disappearing more and more each year, even in small towns like my hometown in Bukit Mertajam. It's not that fun anymore.

However, CNY is still celebrated in a big way in Melbourne, thanks to the big Chinese community here. I'm not sure but it appears that some of the events are held for the benefit of the uninitiated, namely the ang mohs who find this sort of cultural things fascinating.

I guess nothing beats the Raya or CNY moods we had when we were kids all those years ago.