Ramadhan is here!

Firstly, wishing all you Muslim readers a blessed Ramadhan this year.

Ramadhan comes and goes, as it has been many years since I was aware of the obligation of us Muslims to fast. As I grew older, and having travelled to various parts of the world, I noticed that here the Malays 'celebrate' Ramadhan differently.

I've been to various Muslim countries during Ramadhan. These countries include United Arab Emirates, Islamic Republic of Iran, Egypt and Turkey (if it's now a Muslim country). I've also been to non-Muslim countries during Ramadhan. These countries include South Korea, United States, Netherlands and Germany.

Now, in the non-Muslim countries, having Iftar is like having a normal dinner. Wait for the time, have some food and drink. For the Muslim countries, apart from Malaysia, the Iftar differs from one country to another.

In Iran, Iftar is carried out by having some dates and sweet cakes. That's it. Dinner is not served until about an hour later. Very simple. Having stayed at the Grand Azadi (formerly Grand Hyatt before the revolution that overthrew the Shah of Iran in 1977) Hotel in Tehran, I was expecting a sumptuous spread of food for its tenants. Iftar was very simple. Even though Iran is a Shiite dominated Muslim country, that's it. Dinner was a different affair though. Beef and Lamb Kebabs, Grilled Lambs and what-naught is served in a very middle-eastern manner.

In Egypt, feeling a bit adventurous, I normally plan of having the breaking of fast doing a walkabout. They sell Grilled Chickens by the road side in portable ovens (ala Kenny Rogers or that Uniten's Arabic Briyani)... very nice...

There's one day when I was in Cairo strolling around the busy city nearing the time of Iftar, I saw a small shop crowded with people. Not understanding much Arabic, I went in and see people queuing up to get a plate of pilaf rice. (Pilaf rice is rice cooked with water with ingredients such as lentils and peas and some thin slices of meats). This shop practically sells the pilaf rice for about 1 (one) Egyptian pound per plate. That's about slightly less than a Ringgit as the exchange rate was 3.6 to a US Dollar as compared to ours which was pegged at 3.8 to a US Dollar then.

I managed to get a plate and waited for 5 minutes to Iftar. Once it was time to break fast, I dig in. It was very delicious indeed. One thing then I noticed, is that the shop sells no drinks. The only liquid that I saw was in the Plastic jugs on some of the table. But neither cups nor glasses were provided either.
So I just finished my plate and waited to see what the locals would do next. To my surprise they drank the water directly from the jug and pass it around to others to have their turn. Then I felt a tap on my shoulder. The guy sitting behind me passed jug and mumbled something in Arabic. I understood it. He wants me to drink as well. I politely said its ok and walked off looking for other shops to buy a can of Coke.

In UAE, breaking of fast is not much different from Tehran, but that depends on where you are….. If in Dubai, the experience is like the hotels in Malaysia.

In Istanbul (Turkey), being an extremely secular Muslim country, most people do not fast. They have lunch as per normal. When it comes to Iftar time, they will join the others who fast and break fast together. One thing that they observe during Ramadhan is they do not consume Rakii in Ramadhan. Rakii is a hard liquor made from aniseed and comes in different categories. The strongest one I’ve seen contains 28% alcohol!
Breaking of fast in Istanbul is simple, typically dishes may include lentil or yoghurt soups with some meats (lamb or kibash) tenderly and deliciously cooked, served with pilaf rice. Nothing fancy.

Nuff said.

My point is that, us Malays, will go on typically buying frenzy of the 'kuih' from the Bazaar Ramadhan every day. Bachelors and Married parties alike, I see this trend gets worse and worse every year, as the Bazaar seems to get more bigger, more grander and more crowded every year. Having personally experienced breaking of fast in many countries, I feel the Malays tend to be a bit crazy on this matter.

Even at locations such as Hotels or tuck shops where Buffet is served, you can see most people will take so much food until there is practically no space on the table for anything else. Is this greed? Or is it the lust to satisfy the hunger of fasting for the whole day? Or is it simply being Malay?

As a person, my approach is different. I prefer to keep it simple. Even when having Buffet meals at hotels, I will only have drinks and a few dates and then off for prayers. It’s less crowded. Once it's done then the waiters will have to wait until the Buffet line closes before I leave... hehehe.

Which category are you in? Food for thought... (pun intended)