It's almost 3.30am, yet I still can't sleep.
Decided to write this instead.
I am staying the night here because my grandmother asked me to spend more time with her.
We had steamboat dinner here last night.
Grandma and grandpa have been at my parents' place since last week.
They are here for the Chinese Winter Solstice celebrations on Monday.
This year they took the trouble to be with my mother for it.
Normally, they celebrated the occassion with my aunts in Singapore.
I think grandma and grandpa miss my mother a lot these days.
Lately, they come to KL quite regularly to see her.
My father, as usual is not around when my grandparents are here.
He is currently somewhere in the east coast.
I wish he could be here with us for all the celebrations.
The only celebration that my parents and I actually spent time together is on Hari Raya.
My mother and I spent time during all the Chinese festivities with her family.
As for my father, his parents passed away before I was born.
His family is rather scattered and hardly see each other even during festivities.
Well, today is Christmas.
I don't celebrate Christmas.
I only celebrate Islamic and Chinese festivals.
I don't even celebrate Malay festivals....I don't think there is any such thing being practiced.
Hari Raya is an Islamic festival, not Malay festival.
As far as I know, all of my mother's family members are officially Taoist.
I don't know any of them being Christian.
So, I believe they don't celebrate Christmas too.
My father once said that my mother used to celebrate Christmas just for fun.
That was before they were married.
That's just the way it is with my family and me when it comes to celebrating festivals.
We only celebrate festivals which we could relate to such as Hari Raya and Chinese New Year.
But we all always wish our Christian friends Merry Christmas for the occasion.
It's the same when we don't celebrate Deepavali but wish Happy Deepavali to our Hindu friends.
Nothing wrong with that.
So, to Christian readers of this blog,
MERRY CHRISTMAS
May it be a joyous occasion for you all.
Have fun, okay.
As salam Annie,
ReplyDeleteI salute you for being clear about your beliefs. Some bloggers are falling all over themselves to show that they're modern and open-minded when they're actually defending their conspicuous consumption habits and surrendering to strong pressures from evangelistas.
Happy holidays to you & your family!
We are Family
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDSSGyPurmE
Annie: For your grandparents and good old Nature
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnh_jKMzR1c
Yasir Qadhi
ReplyDeleteAs Muslims our faith teaches us to respect all individuals no matter what their faith and beliefs be. We are commanded to treat every individual with kindness and compassion, and never to belittle the beliefs of another nor the deities that they worship.
At the same time, as Muslims we are dedicated and sincere towards our theology & creed and we do not associate or mix our beliefs & celebrations with that of other religions. Hence, as Muslims we do not celebrate the Christian celebration of Christmas.
What if our children or non-Muslim neighbours ask us why we don't celebrate Christmas? Or what our beliefs are about Jesus Christ?
In this talk, delivered as the second half of a khutbah during the school holidays of the Christmas season, Shaykh Dr. Yasir Qadhi explains the Islamic beliefs regarding Isa b. Maryam (Jesus Christ the son of Mary), and why Muslims should not celebrate the holy days of other faiths.
Link to video >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cJvbI7BzY8
happy holidays to you and best wishes for a peaceful and propsperous New Year for you and your family. Thanks for sharing all your thoughts and experiences during the year.
ReplyDeleteHappy Holiday and a happy New Year to all Christian friends.
ReplyDeleteHave 1 Corinthians 13, 4 (Bible) be preserved in hearts for peace, harmony in mankind.
Annie's family is an audience with the teachings and understandings of love and righteousness. Let it be dedicated to all bigotries.
To all Christian friends, have a peaceful holiday, love, tolerance and acceptance be your essentials of judgement.