Eid Mubarak عيد مبارك

17 Nov 2010 – Selamat Hari Raya Haji/Feast of Sacrifice

Mon: an afternoon with auntie Winnie Olivero LAM from HI who will be returning back to HI on Wed. Aloha and safe journeys to her.

Tue: news from cousin LAM ChengEn in Shanghai that the fire was only a few streets from his place. Sad for the 53 who lost their life and 126 who are injured by this disaster which engulfed the entire building in 15mins. A few days ago Richard posted on Facebook – Chinese Build 15-Story Hotel in Just Six Days… that’s how long it took to build this level 9 Earthquake-resistant, sound-proofed, thermal-insulated 15-story hotel in Shanghai, complete with everything, from the cabling to three-pane windows…

6 days to build, 15mins to destroy! A relationship can take a life-time to build but just one sentence to destroy!!

The La MaMa Experience at The Room Upstairs@ACTION Theatre featured bits and pieces from SIN playwrights CHONG Tze Chien, Jean and Verena TAY. 42 Waterloo Street has been transformed from a two-storey pre-war bungalow to a charming place which now houses an intimate 112-seater studio theatre, two cosy outdoor performance spaces and a Mexican restaurant. ACTION Theatre, a non-profit professional theatre company that focuses on developing and presenting original new works.

Wed: Hari Raya Haji is a festival for the Muslims in SIN to mark the end of their annual holy pilgrimage to Mecca and is celebrated after 70 days of the holy month of Ramandan. The prayers started at 0800hrs in the HDB common areas, in this case the tent is pitched in the common grounds of the basket-ball court. There is also a Chinese wake going on next to it and a few weeks ago a Malay wedding.

The multiculturalism makes life more interesting, provided that one learns to respect the differences! The complexity is a never-ending challenge! Today the prayers seemed to be dampened and shorter compared to the usual loud broadcasting over the microphone! Do I sense that there might be some respect for the departed next door??

عيد مبارك Eid Mubarak=blessed festival or may you enjoy a blessed festival, a traditional Muslim greeting reserved for use on this festival. For me the arabic script and calligraphy is one of the most elegant and beautiful writings, even without understanding a single word of  it! ايمي =Amy 🙂

O unbelievers, I serve not what you serve and you are not serving what I serve, nor am I serving what you have served, neither are you serving what I serve. To you your religion and to me my religion – Qur’an