A few weeks ago, my second sister told my Mum that she wished to have a 'kenduri' at my Mum's place since she had retired from her service with the government. Coincidentally, the date selected also fell on my niece's birthday which was December 28. Actually, I intended to have a small gathering with family members and a few close friends to celebrate my Mum's 80th birthday a few months back but the plan had to be postponed since my Mum was still recovering from her fall and fistula surgery. After discussing with my friends, CoCo, Shi and Mira, I planned a small 'kenduri tahlil and doa selamat' to give thanks for all the good things that had happened to us. It would have been easier if I had catered for the whole thing but my Mum wanted to have certain dishes for the 'kenduri'. Finally, I decided to ask Shi's uncle to prepare a few dishes that my Mum wanted. My Mum wanted 'Red Snapper Curry', 'Lemongrass Fried Chicken', 'Pineapple and Salted Fish Gulai', 'Fried French Beans and Prawns' and 'Sambal Goreng Tempe'. Shi's uncle prepared the fish curry, the fried chicken and the fried beans. Kak Minah (I will write about this 'special lady' later in another post) cooked the pineapple dish and my sister cooked the 'fried tempe'. At the same time, there would also be 'bubur gandum' and 'corn pudding' for dessert prepared by Mira. For the children, I had goodies prepared for them. And what did I do? Running the endless errands that I, somehow, kept on forgetting to do. Since I did not want my house to be cluttered, I decided to have the whole affair outside in front of my house. I had extended the invitation to my neighbours, my close friends and also a few of my colleagues. I had also asked Haji Ismail, the 'tok imam' from the mosque to lead the prayers. Everything went well on that day. The sun came out shining brightly after a few days of non-stop rain. All my brothers and sisters came back. My cousins, nephews, nieces and good friends were also there. The food was absolutely delicious. My sister got her wish fulfilled. My Mum was happy. Nothing went wrong at all that day. I definitely could not ask for more and for that, I thank Allah for all HIS blessings, grace and love bestowed upon all of us.
The three 'otais' - Yang (my cousin's husband), Cikgu Karim and Haji Ismail (the imam).
The food buffet.
The earlier guests after the 'tahlil' and 'doa selamat'.
More guests.
My Mum on her wheelchair surrounded by family members and neighbours.
My Mum and behind her from the left : Ungge (my Mum's cousin), my second sister (Norhayati) and my eldest sister (Noraini).
