Tuesday 16 September 2008

The spirit...

The spirits are alive and well in Khartoum... What spirit you might ask? Heheh... Well, first the spirit of giving is very much alive in our community. Since the start of Ramadhan, neighbours have been busy exchanging dishes for iftar. Living in a Malaysian community means that the good old tradition of giving continue well through the generations.

When I was young, I used to be the one 'forced' to send dishes to family and neighbours. When my kids were small, I 'forced' my brother to go and now it's my daughter's turn... hehehe. I hope that she'll remember this tradition and continue with her kids in the future.

I am not a good cook. I'll only cook for survival... hehehe... Anyway, I want to share a story... When I was staying in Taman Sri Rawang, I had such good neighbours. During Ramadhan they'll be giving us lots of dishes without fail... Come six o'clock, we'll have a few dishes for iftar ready... supplied by neighbours... My late brother Ayang was my accomplice... hehehe... Then, one day, we waited in vain... by six o'clock, nothing from the neighbours... we panicked and the two of us rushed to the nearest Ramadhan bazaar in Kg. Kenanga... hehehe... 'Padan muka'... I was laughing like crazy and my brother was so mad at me... hehehe... Those were the days...

The second spirit is the spirit of solidarity. I am glad to say that being part of a Malaysian community fosters this spirit of solidarity. Yesterday, we had a 'pot-luck' iftar for the whole complex... Supposedly catering for about 200 people. And the ladies decided that instead of having a normal 'pot-luck' (where everyone bring a little bit of this and that), why don't we have a more 'structured' pot-luck.

It was a brilliant idea because we'll have enough food for everyone. Block A ladies had to prepare fried chicken, mix vegetables and the deserts. We had a meeting and agreed that each house fried two chickens. We assigned 'volunteers' to prepare the mix vegetables and deserts. For deserts we decided to have four, sweet and savoury (santan jelly, doughnuts, pau sambal and currypuffs). Those who do not cook would come and help the others. It was a simple arrangement but fun... Well, it was fun for me... hehehe

It's also an excuse to go round other people houses and get to know each other. I strongly believe that this kind of helping each other (well, in my case... as an innocent by-stander...heheh) is good to foster the spirit of neighbourliness as well. And by reports, it was a success... Yea!!! To those who laboured over the stove yesterday, you deserve a pat on the back!

The spirit of Ramadhan is really alive and well in Khartoum...

3 comments:

RozIlah Kamarudin said...

Nampak best aje berbuka semlm... yelah kat Khartoum ramai Petron@s staff. Kat sini cuma 3 aje.

He he he akak pun akan jadi mcm Ina jadi by stander aje kalau amongst the pro tuh... tp yg teroknye I am older helper...

Ina said...

Memang ramai yang keje Petronas kat sini... meriah la jugak bulan Ramadhan ni...Lagi pulak semua dah duduk kat the new complex, ramai la kenalan baru. At my block aje ada 20 families, the other block tu lagi ramai... all in all ada le around 50 families kot... Anak2 lagi la ramai... Orang2 bujang n single status lagi... Memang tak kenal semua lagi...

Syikeen Pfordten said...

Kak Maz,

Umah A-2-7 lom lagi merasa air tangan makanan berganti ni... Hehehehe