The Boy in the Baju Melayu

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This ought to be about Eid ul-Fitr and how it is a sea­son of seek­ing for­give­ness and for­giv­ing. ‘Īd mubārak, my friends. Let take this time to rejoice for what we have and what we may offer to those who have not.

This ought to be about the food and the feast­ing and friends. Lemang and lon­tong. Ren­dang tok. Ketu­pat and cucum­ber galore. Satay — sticks of char­grilled beef and chicken and lamb, and if your host is game for it, veni­son and rab­bit and some secret meat. Some pen­gat pisang — or pen­gat durian if you are adven­tur­ous — to leave a lin­ger­ing taste of the sweet life on your lips. (The friends aren’t for con­sump­tion, by the way, unless you’re on rather inti­mate terms.)

This ought to be about the spirit of Muhib­bah, some­thing so uniquely Malaysian it’s hard to describe it to oth­ers unless they too have expe­ri­enced it them­selves. Be it Hari Raya or Chi­nese New Year or Deep­avali, we can bond on any pub­lic hol­i­day on offer; our houses filled to the brim with dif­fer­ent colours, be it dishes or dec­o­ra­tions or dresses or sim­ply the tones of our skin.

This ought to be about all that, and it is, surely.

But look­ing back at the very best Raya open house I have had the priv­i­lege of attend­ing, what I remem­ber is wear­ing an authen­tic baju Melayu for the first time, com­plete with the kain samp­ing and a sharp-looking songkok on my rather big head… and get­ting more than a cou­ple of “friendly” pats and pinches on my well-clad behind along the way.

I may still be fat, but man, do I feel fab­u­lous or what! :D

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Words & design by Kenny Mah. Pho­tographs by Kenny Mah, et al.

October 9, 2009 – 9:42 pm | By Kenny Mah | Posted in Friends, Malaysia | Tagged , , | Comments (50)

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