'Aidilfitri And Parents' Dilemma

I went to only one house yesterday. I reached Bukit Tiram at 8.30pm but Nor, who stays in Pasir Gudang, insisted on waiting for me.

She used to be at my house on the first day of 'Aidilfitri anually after her family's visit to her father's graveyard in Kebun Teh.
To her, it seemed a very long time that she last saw me, last year's Syawal.

I could understand that her 17-year old daughter put on her long face as the next day is a schooling day and she will be sitting her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) in a few weeks' (when? not sure) time.  

"Dia 'birah' Ummie, macam makcik dia. Kalau dia nak duduk rumah, sekarang jugak Nor balik." The parents thought she wanted to prepare for the coming examinations, so she was excluded from 'Aidilfitri visits, not knowing that she will leave the house the moment her parents and siblings were out, and once, not coming back until after 12 midnight.
From then on, she was to tag along wherever the family goes to.

It reminded me of a neighbour's 18-year old daughter who attended 'Aidilfitri open house every night that worries the mother as she will only be home past midnight.

******

I was at Tun Aminah last week knowing Iffa and her family was halfway to my house on 9 Syawal when her husband had high blood pressure of 190.
He was immediately warded for observations.

"What causes?" I asked her.

"Children." She said.

Their eldest son who obtained 6'A's for his SPM last year, refused to further his study.
He prefers working life and her 16-year old daughter could not wait for next year to end, so that upon sitting her SPM examinations, she too, can work.

When I reached her house that day, at around 7pm, she wasn't at home.
Together with her husband, they were fetching their 13-year old son from school.

"He's so big. Why must both of you go together? He will be ashamed if his friends happened to see you." I said.

"He will be more ashamed to be seen sitting in his father's old car. That's why I have to look for him as his father will park his car far from the school." She said as tears welled up.

I could understand both parents were terribly hurt as the youngest boy, only 13, had been absent from class many times.
Warning letters, and termination letter had been issued too, to them.
For now, the boy only wanted to stop school, to earn money.

Almost every night, she said, the three of them will attend their respective friends' open house.
To ensure them to be home at 10pm, the parents wait for their children nightly, with bated breath...