selamat hari raya aidiladha~!

Today is Hari Raya Haji or Hari Raya Aidiladha. Somehow it has lost some of its significance to Muslim Singaporeans, especially youths, who would only see it as just another holiday. It is like a welcome rest, a short one-day off from the hectic pace of school. But that was not the case a few years ago, when any hari raya, not just hari raya aidilfitri, was celebrated with so much anticipation in the days leading up to it, and with a lot of vigour and excitement. Not anymore these days, have people got tired of celebrating? Is it because for kids, we do not get any green packets like we do during Hari Raya Puasa? Is it because we do not visit as many houses as we do during Hari Raya Puasa? So we do not meet as many relatives and friends as we do during Hari Raya Puasa? What is the reason? I suppose it is inevitable, a result of circumstances. It has got to do with how little time we seem to have nowadays for our family, even though we are merely students who have no other responsibilities, except to get as good an education as we can possibly achieve. It has got to do with us spending more time with friends than our own flesh and blood. It has got to do with us spending more time with the computer than our own flesh and blood. I am typing this because I am feeling like this right now. I do not feel the spirit of celebration. I do not feel the solemnity of the occasion. I do not feel excited by the whole festivity. Why have I become like this? It is completely different when you are in Mecca. It is entirely a different experience when you are performing the Haj. It is truly intoxicating if you are amongst the hundred thousands or so Pilgrims that are now enduring the severity of ordeals beyond comparison on this earth. It is different when you are that much closer to God. My parents have done it once, when I was in Sec 1. There is a unique romance with Mecca, the kind of peacefulness and serenity somewhat engulf you, and your conscience becomes so clear you just love being there. You become even more grateful to your parents for giving birth to you, for bringing you up the way you did, and for always loving you. You love God even more, just for being able to witness the greatness of his creation, that is, life itself. How can you not love it when all these experience surge through your emotions? I personally would like to experience this, sooner rather than later. It is like a getaway, from all the troubles of this planet. You can never understand it, til you experience it yourself. in aceh, at ground zero, the worst hit area during the tsunami disaster, the only recognisable building left standing was the mosque. and so was the case after a ferocious earthquake hit turkey in the late 1990s. so what are you waiting for? choose your religion now.