A modest Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

This year's Hari Raya Aidilfitri just like the previous years was a modest one . It began on the eve of Hari Raya evening when I and my son Azman paid a visit to my late father's grave in Seksyen 21 ,Shah Alam . We chose to visit the grave on the eve of Hari Raya because we were always caught in traffic jams when we visited the grave on Hari Raya day . This strategy proved to be worth while because it was a super easy passage and there wasn't many people . After reciting the ' Surah Yassin ' we gracefully made our way home .

On Hari Raya day ( 1st Oct.2008 ) I began with a visit to the Mosque nearby our house . I was among the few the early birds . I preferred to be early because I wanted to find solace by reciting the ' Takbir Aidilfitri ' and thus reminiscing my young days and the good old days with both my parents still around . I tried to remember the days when we were so happy to celeberate Hari Raya together although at that time we were living in pathetic condition .We made use of whatever we had and ate whatever our parents could afford . I could still remember we never had new clothes for Hari Raya and the only good clothes that we had were the two pairs of our school uniforms .Thus we never really celeberate Hari Raya like the children of today does like by going from house to house collecting angpows etc. We just stayed at home and played among ourselves ( brothers and sisters ) only . Perhaps that was the reason why most of us had that inferiority complex feeling .Although there were times when I felt miserably sad each time Hari Raya came , I always console myself by telling myself that my real Hari Raya would be when I achieved my ambition and be successful in my life . Most of us had that burning determination to change our lives for the better . All of us have successfully come out of poverty line through hard work and great determination . Thanks also to the government for providing us the opportunity of a good and sound education system which allowed us to be part of the process .

Few of my good old friends came to visit me in the house . In the evening relatives of my wife came in droves to make it a bit livelier .

On 5th.Oct.2008 morning we sent our daughter Fareen to the Klang Bus terminal for her to get back to her campus in UTM Skudai .