A surprise Raya.

 1 Syawal 1443 / 2.5.2022.

Right up to the 29th day of Ramadan, I expected to make one last hobble to the Negeri mosque for this year's solat terawih. The kids, except for Banjat and family, had all arrived from KL for the Eid celeberations. That's when Ameng held his smartphone to me "Raya tomorrow, atok". Dekna had followed the news yesterday, and all were prepared for a Tuesday Raya. I skidded my scooter 3 days earlier, on the wet grass, trying to avoid the road bump at 5 a.m., going for Subuh prayers. No cuts or anything broken, but the swelling on the left knee stopped my daily mosque routine for 2 days. I was detrmined to make one last terawih congregation.

Everybody was caught by the last minute announcement on tv. Apparently that very last day the new moon was sighted in Labuan. 

Many greetings immediately burst on the social media on the theme "No raya for 2 years, a surprise raya for  year 22."

Already this year the pasar Ramadan had burst the crowd records of the last 2 years here in Seremban. The Jaekal clothes store in Senawang saw massive crowds queing before the store even opened its doors at 9. Giant and Mydin supermarkets, the Ampangan wet market, all saw large crowds queing for everything. It seemed everyone was trying to make up for the last two Rayas' confinement orders. The release of cash from the government and the EPF withdrawl made sure people had money to splash.

Then there is the long weekend. From Saturday, with Labour Day Sunday and the 2-day Raya holidays means it would be at least 5 days of enjoyment, at least, for government servants. The suspension of toll on PLUS and other highways only encouraged people to take flight from their hitherto confinement, with long, long jams on the roads. And not only that, the banks had also run out of fresh bills people wanted for their gifts allocation to loved ones.

I limped to the neighbourhood surau, lugging my foldable seat and sejadah ahead of the 8.30 schedule of the Raya prayers, to make sure I could comfortably seat myself in an unobtrusive spot. I still can't take the seating posture of the prayer because of my accident. Luckily I did. The hall was soon filled up. And I left without joining the post-prayer tahlil. We could line up close, but the mask is still required.

Everyone made it in our house, with Banjat's family arriving last this very morning from Shah Alam, his travel plan disrupted by the surprise Raya. 

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