Ramadan
It's a time of year and a way of life that impacts everyone living in Malaysia, whether they are Muslim (and most Muslims here fast, there's tremendous social pressure) or not.
For me, it means:
- Avoiding eating or drinking as I walk along the street
- Not eating too obviously in the office, or making loud comments about food or being starving (you feel pretty stupid when you realise someone that hasn't eaten or drunk anything since before dawn is around!)
- Colleagues changing their work habits to arrive and leave the office earlier each day
- Buying food from the aunty & uncle that have started setting up a stall behind our building each night
- Restaurants, the gym and just the streets in general are a lot quieter during the day
I might head up to Bangsar one evening for the Pasar Ramandan (Ramandan market) as well, it's a great atmosphere and there's awesome food, even though everything is fried so you leave a good deal heavier than you arrived! Luckily there's a bit longer walk home now :)
Last year I fasted for one day, but I didn't really do it properly... so this year I joined Tya & Amilia (AIESEC interns from Indonesia) to fast one day last week.
This is what my day looked like:
4:10 Alarm went off - and I fell asleep again immediately
4:40 Woke up (again) and went around to their place for Suhoor (breakfast). I followed Tya's advice and had heaps of fried rice and egg to keep me feeling full. Amilia reminded me to control my anger during the day (am I really an angry person?) and before the first call to prayer we had stopped eating and drinking and I headed home feeling uncomfortably full, and thristy already. (Fasting is not just about not eating...)
8:15 Arrived at the office hot & thirsty. Thought of all the people in the world without clean drinking water...
12:30 Half hour lunch break - read the paper. A few colleagues were surprised I was fasting, but all were supportive :)
2:30 STARVING... again, followed the girls' advice and thought of all of the starving people around the world
3:30 No longer hungry, just thirsty and tired
4:30 Left the office - hometime for those who are fasting.
4:50 At home, started the countdown until I could go across to Tya & Amilia's for Buka Puasa (breaking the fast)
7:00 Headed over there with Aaron, no-one was home yet, was dying of thirst... Tya came soon, that first swallow of water was great, and we started cooking!
8:00 Buka Puasa with Tya, Amilia, Janne & Aaron. Discussed how the day was,
how great Amilia's vegges were, and how not-angry I was during the day! :)
It was a really great experience, and I have a lot of respect for people who do it every day for a month, especially in this heat and with the long daylight hours. Even though fasting is tough, it seems that Ramadan is indeed a celebrated month. Fasting makes you appreciate what you have a lot more, and it's a time to control not only your physical desires but also your emotions and to make a special effort to do good by others.
Corporations and civil society also get into the spirit of things with lots of orphans and underprivileged children given new clothes & shoes and treated to a Buka Puasa at a restaurant. I guess it's like Christmas in Australia - a time to celebrate, spend time with family & friends, be thankful for what you have, and be generous to those who have less :)Check out the nomadlife Ramadan blog to read about others' Ramadan experiences around the world, and the New Straits Times Ramadan blog to read about Ramadan celebrations and news stories in Malaysia.
