A little story about the Eid

The Eid is always described as one of the grandest celebration for the Muslims all over the world. This celebration is always associated to the Eastern culture practices for those who are not so familiar with the celebration. In my opinion, this perception is no longer valid in Malaysia compared to a generation ago, which is what people usually interpret. I will illustrate my point of view of the change for the fasting month, clothing and the culture and behavior during the Eid.

Let’s start from the beginning, the fasting month. The common perception is Muslims will usually restrain themselves from eating, control themselves from anger and emotion, smoking, and also sexual lust. After they open fast, they will go to the mosque to do prayers for about 2 hours in total. However, what is seen today is totally different from this. It is true that Muslims will still restrain themselves from eating, but not from emotion and sex. They still vent their anger whenever they feel they would do. Of course they don’t do sex during the day, but they will do something else that is ‘less’ obvious such as watching pornography, peeping into the girls’ dormitory, or wearing sexier clothes. During the night, most of them will party at bars or organize one. These parties will often include alcoholic drinks and loud discoid music. In short, Muslims in this case becomes an angel during the day but a devil during the night and it is simply all right to do so.

Secondly, note the difference between the dress code for the Eid between the two times. Usually men wear ‘baju melayu’ for men, a long shirt with pockets at the thigh with bottom and women wear ‘baju kurung’, a loose shirt until the knees with their bottoms from their belly until their legs, all these with various colors. This costume, which looked fine once upon a time ago, is now outdated. Conversely, men wears tuxedo and girls would usually wear a ‘baju kebaya’, a tighter and more fashionable dressing, with a cut at their bottoms like a cheongsam, except for the cut only reaches a maximum of the knee. If it is not the kebaya, then usually something else which is not casual will be their choice. Cheongsam, sari or a simple blouse will be a good alternative. The girls’ clothes will be usually tight and sheer, and revealing. My theory for the change is that both the former clothing are out fashion and no longer presentable, probably because they are loose. Girls, realizing that they will become fat and gaining weight due to birth, want to show off their beautiful and sexy body figures to the guys before they lose their youth. In fact, kurung literally means confine, or constrain, to show that their body shape is constrained or closed for others to see. I, as a guy, am sexually attracted to that kind of clothing as well! In brief, this fashion change is of course for the better.

Thirdly, the culture and ethics have also dramatically changed. We are used to the thought of girls at a corner chatting amongst themselves, and guys at the other corner doing the same thing. Somehow, none of them dare to meet each other with the presence of other people. This traditional practice is completely abolished. Guys will usually greet girls with a handshake and then a kiss at the cheeks. For those who haven’t seen each other for a long time, they will usually hug each other. There is no such thing as shyness or sexism today which formerly exists in the Malay culture. If there is an open house which only relatives attend, the practice of open kissing exists, just like Valentine’s Day. Therefore, this culture should be maintained, and possibly improved.

To come to a conclusion, these are the three major changes noticeable in my country, or my culture at least. This change has been for the better to me. I hope that the change becomes more drastic during the next generation.