Balik Kampung for Hari Raya Celebration

My noisy relatives catching up with the latest happenings and of the family at the Rumah Ibu (Main House).
The Gamin, Kuala Pilah open house has a strong support and good participation. Sad to say I only recognised 90% of my distant relatives.
A surprise reunion with my second cousin who made a fortune in Australia and lost for more than 10 years, with a twist of emotional story. Every guest be it male or female shed tears. I remember him as a cute boy. Hari Raya is for bridging the lost gap & extend our forgiveness.

A cute and chubby baby with a relative.

My adorable nephew & nieces resting at the stairways decorated with old glazed tiles.

My son wearing a Baju Melayu with a songket sampin at my mum-in law's house

It has been 2 weeks into festival of Aidilfitri, popularly known as Hari Raya in Malaysia. The joyous month falls on Syawal month of the Islamic calendar. I guess it's not too late to post on this occassion as it is celebrated for a month in Malaysia, no doubt it's not being celebrated full swing each day as life is getting more mundane. It is a meaningful occassion for the Muslims as it signifies a personal triumph and a victory of self-restraint and abstinence symbolising purification and renewal after a month of fasting in Ramadhan. Urbanites make their pilgrimage to their hometowns, popularly known as balik kampung. My family and I spent our moment in my ancestors home and mum's weekend home in Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan. Celebrating in a kampung (village) environment is more magical and my family has been sharing the joyous moment in the kampung the past 6 years instead of at my parents house in Seremban, a city in Negeri Sembilan. Prior to that we were in Muar, Johor at my in-laws home.

My family members started the day by congregating in the mosque early in the morning for the Hari Raya Puasa prayers. Everyone put on the traditional Malay clothes and for the ladies the garb could either be baju kurung or baju kebaya with each family having their own theme.... we were into yellow this year. Asking for forgiveness from the elderly is a touchy moment through salam (handshake) with us recalling the full year's misdeeds and wrongdoings to be wiped out. Kids too have their field day in collecting duit raya (money gifts in small envelops). My mum-in-law is good in feasting us with tasty Malay delicacies which are mainly found during Hari Raya such as authentic ketupat (rice wrapped in coconut leaves weaved casings), rendang (beef/chicken spicy dishes), peanuts sauce, lodeh (mixed vegetables cooked in coconut milk), chicken curry, etc. I missed the aromatic lemang cooking event at the Kuala Pilah home as I was only there on second Hari Raya. Lemang is a Minangkabau delicacy that is glutinous rice cooked in bamboo. It takes at least 8 hours to cook lemang via burning in firewoods. Most houses are decorated with oil lamps illuminating the gardens and lighting up the dark skys. They are normally lacing up the garden after the third week of fasting month of Ramadhan.

For this Hari Raya what amaze me is the lighting up of Meriam Buluh (home made cannon by using Calcium Carbide stuff in a hollow pipe). The sound is so loud and perhaps that's why the city videographer who was me displayed a spontaneous reaction. Those guys in the video are from technical background namely engineer, engineering students, technical teacher, technicians.... Hmmm they seem to have the applicative fun. The Meriam Buluh, fireworks, fire crackers and sparklers added the aura of Hari Raya and there seems a competitive battle ground in between the sub-kampung.

My kampung has a scenic beauty and the famous Petronas Hari Raya "Burung Murai" commercial and other movies were shot there. I will make a special posting of my (grandma's) kampung in the future. The traditional house on stilts stand regally on a hill and surrounded by lush trees. My family in Kuala Pilah had an open house to our extended family. We slaughtered 2 goats which are reared at the backyard of the traditional kampung home. I am dumbfounded by the linkages of my own extended family tree. My family network are the kind who loves to bridge the gap between the many generations of the family tree branches..... horizontally and vertically. With the intricate connection, a long lost relative's son whose mum is about my age called me Uwan (Grandma). Ouch!. It's the rank and file. Overall, 2 days in the kampung but felt like a lifetime.

Please view the Meriam Buluh video below with the volume on as you could hear the sound effect :-)