Ramadhan Market And Aidilfitri Open House

To me who fast as a Christian, there is no special dish on my dining table when I break fast. We are only urged to give the money that we have saved by skipping meals to the Kingdom of God. So there is no extra money spent on anything.

The Muslims' fasting month began about one week before the end of the NECF 40-day fast & pray this year. I went to Ramadhan markets three times at Kampung Paya Rumput, Cheng and Alor Gajah respectively. I was always impressed by how much food and beverage were communicating through their quantities,

varieties,

and colours.

Today is the first day of Hari Raya. After the church service, I was going to start driving back to Johor when Sarma said to me, "We're going to the Aidilfitri open house organized by the state government. Let's go together!"

Apart from the ones at my working place, I had never been to any official open house either in Batu Pahat or in Melaka. As Sarma told me it was being held nearby at Ayer Keroh, I decided to postpone my return to my hometown to more than one hour later in order to participate in this event. When we were driving into the Melaka International Trade Centre (MITC) parking, I realized it was very close to the Planetarium that I had visited with Vince exactly a week earlier.

According to Kee Ming, the open house was from 10am to 3pm. When we arrived there,

it was around 1pm. Some were entering the hall while others were leaving. By looking at the pots of Christmas tree without noticing the hanging decorative ketupat, one might think that it was a Christmas celebration.

I imagined many people had already rushed to the venue in the morning. My thought was confirmed when I read Vince's blog entry and learned that he was among the first flocks to shake hands with the Melaka Chief Minister, his wife and other VIPs. The Chief Minister was wearing a baju Melayu in fluorescent green which reminded me of a drink sold at the Malay market. He must have been standing for hours and shaking thousands of hands.

The RM5 I received was in a green packet without picture. Besides the greetings and the money, the third attraction of this event was of course the free food. Again, one needed the patience to queue up to be served.

Those who prepared the food and drinks

were as important as those who cleared up the dirty dishes to allow new comers to be seated comfortably.

Local artists sang, danced or played musical instruments on stage

to entertain the public who were enjoying their performance or savouring mee hoon soto, satay, roti canai, chapati, mee goreng, nasi lemak, nasi briyani, rendang chicken, cendol, etc.
Some of our church members were also there, either before or after us. We had a short fellowship for the second time. When it was our turn to leave the hall, fewer people were lining up.

Finally, instead of driving back with an empty stomach, I added more load to my car...