Selamat Hari Raya

Yesterday was Hari Raya Puasa, a festival celebrated by our muslim community to mark the end of Ramadan, their fasting month.

Hari Raya Puasa (or Hari Raya Aidilfitri)
Muslims mark the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan with a month of feasting. It is a particularly joyous occasion for all Muslims, as it signifies a personal triumph, a victory of self-restraint and abstinence, which symbolises purification and renewal. (Got this info from a Citibank email today…hehehe…so timely!)


Hari Raya Puasa is also an annual gathering for me and my RGS classmates. For more than 20 years, we’ll meet up at Nora, our Muslim friend’s place on this occasion to savour her mum’s wonderful spicy food and delectable kueh kuehs while we update each other on our lives and happenings. It is normally a girls-only affair because the men would get very very bored listening to us yak away for hours on end.

This friend’s family have been cat lovers for as long as I can remember. During our school days, I recall seeing cats everywhere in the house, from the kitchen to the bedroom to the living room and front porch. Their love for cats have never ceased through all these years. This year, they had a new cat by the name of TV Wonder. Quite strange to see a cat lying quietly in a basket placed on top of a cabinet. Apparently, this stray cat was adopted by my friend’s sister after it got ran over by a car in March this year. When the cat was brought to the vet, it was in pretty bad shape. As some of its organs like the kidneys and liver were damaged, the vet suggested putting it down but my friend’s sister would not hear of it. She brought the cat home and nursed it back to health.

This cat is no longer able to walk because it’s hind leg was crushed but it is still able to drag it's body around using it’s front paws. Because of its damaged organs and nerves, it is also not able to pee and excrete by itself. My friend’s sister would stroke it's lower body to help it discharge, then wash it, clean it, dry it’s body. Isn’t this cat-lover amazing? I can only say Orz…She definitely deserves an award for her efforts in caring for this animal. Ummm……this is a little embarrassing, but does anyone know what is Nora’s sister’s name?

A round of applause for this animal-lover…clap…clap…clap…clap…clap…clap…clap…clap…clap…clap…clap…clap…clap…clap…clap…clap…clap!