The Unseen Mighty Citizens

My husband and I were on our way to Lorong 39 Geylang on the 2nd day of Chinese New Year last Sunday when we stopped by Admiralty Road An-Nur Mosque to have our Maghrib.

The mosque was unusually crowded with Indian nationals or people from that region. Many Indian mothers, with children tagging along, performed their prayer - I asked myself what's so special about this Chinese New Year Day?

The 'maulid' session at Madrasah Al-Ma'arif ended at around 10.30pm. On our way home, we made a stop at Banafe opposite Hotel New York to have our usual take-away 'Nasi Ayam Penyet' (We've tried many places, except for the 1 in Pelita, Batam, no other 'penyet' beat this).

"Kak, ayam, ikan semua haaabiiis... Tinggal daging saja." Unbelievable - It's only past 11pm. Normally we can get chicken and fish even at 2am - I asked myself what's so special about this Chinese New Year Day?               

As we headed home, the sight of many cars being washed along Jalan Abdullah Tahir with their owners and families waiting, caught my attention - Sooo, these Indians are the people that made this Chinese New Year Day so special...

Only during long holiday as this Chinese New Year will then bring the observant foreign Indian Muslims closer to the mosque.
Only during long holiday as this Chinese New Year will then bring the Indian families together venturing out further from home for food.
It's only this long Chinese New Year holiday that the industrious Malaysian Indians working in Singapore managed to shower their car - A break from the madness of the Johore Causeway.