Raya Musings.

Sunday, 19th August 2012 marked the first day of the month of Syawal in the Islamic calendar, namely 'Aidilfitri, or Hari Raya. Here in Malaysia, Malay Muslims take this time to journey to their respective hometowns, in a phenomenon of mass migration that is commonly known as 'balik kampung'.

This, however, does not apply to me. My grandparents on both my parents' sides live right nearby, so visiting them on Raya isn't really as meaningful as it should be. The only difference is, there are more people around. Oh, and more food.

I go on Facebook and I see people posting Raya wishes and Raya photos. Typical, I'd presume, even though I've only been on Facebook for several months. This great deluge of family photos, brightly-colored clothes and cute toddlers only happens once a year, and I think it's a refreshing change from the usual dross. People are spending time and enjoying themselves with the people who matter the most - family.

And now I'd like to take the time to rant, specifically about the Raya wishes. For those unfamiliar with these things, they usually go along the lines of:

"Selamat Hari Raya, maaf zahir batin!"

For the past few days I've received text messages with similar-sounding Raya wishes, all worded in such a way that makes it obvious that the message wasn't really personal, but had simply been one that had (presumably) been forwarded to everyone in the sender's contact list.

The last part of the above message loosely translates as "Forgive me for any wrongdoings I may or may not have committed, physically or mentally." So basically it's an apology, and yet it doesn't really feel like one.

I believe apologies should be personal, and not reduced to mere cliched catchphrases that are kept away in a metaphorical box and only taken out once a year. And in any case, why should one wait until 'Aidilfitri to say they're sorry? If you know you've done something wrong, then why not apologize straightaway? And if you haven't done anything wrong (or at least that's what you think) then why would an apology be necessary?

*****

Hari Raya pretty much overshadowed the fact that the new season of the Premier League started last weekend. Plenty of goals in that time, and I just had to be watching the one and only goalless match. Well, nothing I can do about that.

Anyway, before I end this post I'd just like to share this video, made by some Malaysian students at Vanderbilt University, Tennessee, who couldn't make it home for Raya as it coincided with the first day of classes there. Hopefully I'll be able to make one of these someday.

P.S. Look out for my friend Akmal in the video. He's the guy in the green shirt, and the pink baju Melayu at the end.