On Hari Raya morning as usual I and Azman went to the State mosque in Shah Alam for the Idilfitri sunnah prayer . After the prayer we went to the Muslim cemetry in Seksyen 21 Shah Alam to pay our respect to my late father who passed away on 8th.March 2000 .I read the Surah Yassin , recited the doa and poured scented water on my father's grave . I hope my father would rest in peace .My only regret was ,I was unable to be close to him during his life time due to our strict traditional upbringing . I am sad because my late father would not be able to see my daughter Eileen graduate as a doctor , because it was his wish that one of his grandchildren would qualify as a doctor . However , I believe his soul would be happy because his wish is being fulfilled ,insyallah .
It has been my practice as soon as I reach home after the Idilfitri prayer , I would sit on the sofa to enable my wife ,children and grand children to shake my hand to ask for forgiveness . The young and unmarried would get an angpow from me which normally would not be less than RM.50.00 .Of course Alisya ,my grand daughter would get the most because apart from getting one from me ,she would also get from her uncles ,aunties and grand mothers .
This year's Hari Raya /Idilfitri has been the worst for me . I expected to celeberate it at our new house which turned out to be a futile .The house could not be completed in time .As a result of that I did not have the mood to celeberate it . I did not invite any one . As expected only one old friend ( Ah Lam from Klang ) came to the house although I received a number of phone calls from my non Muslim friends hinting me to invite them . I told them that I am not having an open house this year .
On the second day morning of Hari Raya we ( my wife ,Azman ,Farin and I ) went to Sungai Air Tawar,Sabak Bernam to visit my mother . Only my brother Samsun and two sisters were there . As it was a Friday , I went for the Friday prayer at the Sungai Air Tawar mosque .I am stranger to this place because I never stayed there . My family moved here when I had already left to work somewhere else .We did not stay for the night there and went back to Shah Alam in the evening . On our way back we made a short stop over at Batu 38,Sabak Bernam to visit Hj.Abdul Latif who is a close relative . We reached Shah Alam around 9.00 pm.
On the third day of Hari Raya morning, 5th November 2005, we ( my wife , Azman ,Farin and I ) proceeded to Johor Bahru . The main purpose was to send Farin back to her university ( UTM ) at Skudai,Johor and at the same time to visit my mother-in-law in Johor Bahru . When we reached Johor Bahru ,we checked into a hotel -Crystal Crown , while Farin and my wife stayed at my mother-in-law's house at Melodies Garden ,JB .In the evening we went to my brother in-law's (Zainal) house . Incidentally ,Hassan ,another brother in-law and his family from Subang Jaya was already there . As usual since Zainal is a good chatter , we chatted until 2.00 am .
The next day ( 6th.November ) evening we convoyed in 3 cars to visit relatives around Johor Bahru ,till late in the evening .However ,Azman ,Farin and I escaped the last two houses by an excuse to do some shopping at Holiday Plaza . In actual fact ,we did not do much shopping except for Azman who bouight some pirated VCDs .After dinner there we came back to our hotel room .Farin stayed with us for the night .
On 7th.November 2005 we checked out from the hotel at about 11.45 am and came to my mother-in-law's house to pick my wife . We then sent Farin to UTM . Very few students came back because classes would start only on 10th.November 2005 . Her room mate has yet to return .Farin preferred to return early because she wanted to prepare for her semester exams which would start next week . One thing peculiar about her ,unlike her sister Eileen , she is very hardworking and have a strong determination to succeed. I think she is aiming to earn a first class degree to enable her to straight away proceed for her Masters and Phd's degree .
We left UTM at about 1.40 pm . and reached Shah Alam at about 5.30 pm.It was a pleasant journey without any hitches .
