An Iftar to Remember

The condo played host to four busloads of special guests last night and yours truly took a few hours off translating to partake in the excitement.

They were orphans from Rumah Anak Yatim Bestari, Rumah Anak Yatim Harmoni and Rumah Anak Yatim Baitul Izzah in Ijok, Paya Jaras and Pinggiran TTDI respectively, as well as underprivileged single mothers from Yayasan Nur Jannah.  

As the norm, every year the condo's welfare committee would organise an iftar session, followed by Maghrib, Isya' and Tarawikh prayers, and then moreh, for the less fortunate. And this year was no different.

It rained cats and dogs just hours before iftar; the ground was sodden, as were the marquees erected at the visitors' parking lot in front of the highrise. But the downpour did little to dampen the spirit of the young ones.

In they trooped, in their identical baju melayu and kurung, to sit primly and expectantly whilst rice and lauk and kuih muih were being served.

Kuih lapis, bubur kacang, bubur lambuk, karipap, dates, apples and grapes, tubs of ice cream and slices of chocolate cake, satay, rice and a host of lauk pauk - fried chicken, sweet & sour fish, masak lemak udang, sambal & ulam...

Thankfully, the rain eased off 30 minutes before the breaking of fast.  The bus from Ijok, however, got lost enroute and arrived after azan. A welcoming committee was sent out to meet them halfway and lead them to the condo.

I sat down with a group of tudung-clad girls in yellow kurung from nearby Baitul Izzah, a home for orphaned teenage girls just down the road from our own residence.

The inmates there were the condo's regular guests for iftar and Hari Raya open house. They came from all over the country and went to school in nearby SMK Taman Tun Dr Ismail.

All have lost at least a parent each. The Form Three girl from Kelantan who sat quietly next to me, with a faraway look in her big sad eyes, has lost both.

I was told she was a smart girl at school, an achiever. I advised her to study hard; she gave me a wan smile. There was a lump in my throat when she kissed my hand before they left.

In all, there were some 300 people in attendance; residents and their family members, donors and other guests including qariahs from nearby mosques.

Apart from makan-makan, each child was also presented with a goodie bag of foodstuff, school items and personal essentials, and 'duit raya.'

Bless the kind dermawan (Pakcik Adam he's called) who donated that piece of land (a bungalow lot worth millions in this neck of the woods) where the orphanage Baitul Izzah now stands. May Allah swt bless him dunia dan akhirat.


PS: My thought wanders to Al-Manar as I wrote this. Bless you too Pakcik; sesungguhnya masih ramai yang berhati mulia di antara kita.


Syukur Alhamdulillah...