How My Family Celebrated Ramadan on Ubin

Hi all!

Photo courtesy of ExpatGo

In the spirit of the holy fasting month, I'd like to share with you how a typical Ramadan was like during my mom's time growing up in Pulau Ubin.

As soon as the alarm clock strikes 4 in the morning, it would give a loud ring in which it would wake my late grandmother up. With eyes still half-opened, she would reach out for her torchlight and make her way out from her hut and into the house to wake my mom and aunt up first.

My mom would always recall her mother's gentle voice as she stood by the hallway into their room to wake them up. The next thing that my mom would hear would be the sounds of crickets chirping and frogs croaking; breaking the silence of the pre-dawn. My mom and aunt would then make their way to the kitchen to join my late grandmother to help her in preparing sahur (pre-dawn meal) for the family.

They did not have any running electricity, neither did they also have any generator to light up their home at night. They did, however, have a kerosene pump light that was nailed onto a pillar in the middle of the rumah dapur which was very bright and could illuminate the whole kitchen. Once that has been lit up, works on preparing sahur together as mother and daughters began.

The kerosene pump light was big! As seen in this picture of my mom holding onto my eldest brother taken back in 1980.

My mom and aunt would be given different tasks from my late grandmother, ranging from cutting the vegetables to boiling the water to cooking the rice; all within the confined spaces of their small but cosy kitchen. Living a simple yet modest life, the dishes prepared would normally be plain white rice, steamed vegetables and if there was sustenance, a few fried fish as well.

Once the dishes were cooked, the meals would then be served on top of a large circular dulang (tray) that is filled with a layer of water; so that the ants could not get a hold on the food. My mom and aunt would then head back up into the ibu rumah to wake the rest of her siblings up to join for sahur. The family would gather around the ambin (raised wooden platform) to get their own serving before sitting around the rumah dapur to have their pre-dawn meal.

Once they have had their meals, some would proceed to go back to sleep for a bit longer while others, like my late grandfather, waited patiently for the azan to be played on the radio so that they could offer their Subuh prayers early.

As soon as the sun started shining to lighten up the kampung, preparations for break-fast already began. My mom and her siblings would each have their individual roles to play to gather food and resources for the breaking of the fast.

My mom would often accompany my late grandmother into the forests north of their home to gather firewood and to forage for edible mushrooms. My mom mentioned that my late grandmother was very gifted in foraging for them; stating that the best places to find them would be on the stems of rubber trees or if it happened to rain the previous night, they could be found underneath the litter of rubber tree leaves. On a good day, my mom recalled bringing back an entire plastic bag filled to the brim with mushrooms.

These mushrooms are also commonly known as cendawan tekukur and are also usually found on decomposing logs. Its scientific name is Schizophyllum commune.

On certain days, the family would head down to the banks of Sungei Awang Minyak and Sungei Durian in search of shellfish. My mom mentioned that all sorts of shellfish could be found in my late grandfather's stream and river and this included: kerang, kijing, ibau, lokan, siput timba, siput mata merah - just to name a few. If they headed further downstream to the river mouth, they would also be able to find gonggong, kilah, kupang and some crabs too if they were lucky. (Finding about all these actually made me feel like writing a new post all about the wildlife that used to flourish in my late grandfather's river!) Sometimes, if the tide was extremely low, they would head further east to forage for these creatures in the vast open mud bounds of Chek Jawa and Pulau Sekudu. The tide would recede so low that if you were to stand on the sandy beaches, the mudflats would stretch beyond the horizon - a sight that you still could enjoy till this very day.

Lokan foraging is often a muddy and back-aching experience but it can also be fun as experienced by these people who participated in a house camp. Photo courtesy of Min House Camp Kelantan.

Likewise, if the tide was coming in, that would be the best window to go fishing. My uncles would often bring a sondong (large triangular-like net) with them and together, they would head knees-deep into the water and would just walk through with the sondong gently brushing across the top of the seabed to scoop up anything that might have got themselves trapped onto it. Their catch often include shrimps, crabs and small fish. This process is also called 'menyondong' and you can find out how it's done by watching this cool clip I found on YouTube!

A man carrying out the 'menyondong' process while walking along the beaches of Tanjung Pinang, Indonesia. Photo courtesy of Antara Foto

And if the tide was its highest, my late grandfather would row his sampan out into the straits and cast his net in the hopes of getting a larger catch. But you could only imagine that being out at the beach and especially out in the open sea is extremely dangerous especially when you are fasting because the heat is extremely unbearable as it gets past noon. You could get dehydrated fast under such conditions but my late grandfather was a very strong and steadfast person; and so were my late grandmother, mom and her siblings. By the evening time, the family would head back home and gather their catch and other foraged food and resources in the rumah dapur while everyone went to get a well-deserved rest.

My late grandfather was a very religious man, and so he knew that he did not want to miss any opportunity in the blessed month of Ramadan to reign in on all the rewards, which Muslims believed were multiplied tenfolds just for this month alone. My mom would recall that even when her late father was fatigued and dehydrated, he would always make sure to catch his prayers on time and that he would often read up on books about Islamic knowledge while waiting for the breaking of the fast. Sometimes he would also gather his children in the serambi to recite the Quran together as a family.

In Islamic beliefs, Ramadan is also the month in which the Quran was revealed to mankind. Photo courtesy of Bogor.net

As the time approaches for the breaking of the fast at Maghrib, my mom and aunt would once again carry out the same duties as they would for sahur. Whatever food that they managed to find for that day, that would be the menu for breakfast. So, if the catch was really a lot, they would always have enough leftovers for the next day's sahur and their tasks would not be too daunting as they only had to reheat them up. Once the dishes were ready, everyone in the house would start to gather around the ambin again and wait patiently for the azan to be called.

Catches of the day would be cooked and served on the dulang for the family to break their fast with together. Photo courtesy of Explorasa

And once the call to prayer has been made, everyone indulged in their meals. And yes, while foraging for food had been a routine even in the other 11 months of the calendar, the breaking of the fast always added a more special, spiritual and significant vibe to be eating together as a family over a nice meal that was a result of their collective effort. After cleaning up, others would proceed to carry out their own religious duties or just to catch up on their rest and get ready for the next day. My late grandfather would start preparing to head down to the surau to join in the congregation for the special Terawih nightly prayers only exclusively available in Ramadan alone.

The surau located in Kampung Surau, Pulau Ubin. Photo courtesy of National Archives of Singapore

Ramadan is a very special time for Muslims all over the world. It reminds us of the hardship that people have to go through just to make it through to the end of the day. I do not shy from the fact that my late grandparents were, in fact, living in constant poverty; but that does not make them poor. Rather, they were rich with values, morals and characteristics. They were a people who always cherished the value of working together as a team, and they were also one who understood the values of being part of a larger community. It was through their hardship and inconveniences that they learnt to be strong and resilient; patient and loving. It was because of the kampung way of life, that these values continue to be embedded in their upbringing and hopefully something that they could continue to instil into their children - even as they grow up in a completely different environment than theirs.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to wish all Muslims reading this a very blessed Ramadan Mubarak! May we strive to be better versions of ourselves, to be better Muslims in the eyes of Allah SWT and to be better human beings in the faces of mankind. Continue to do good in whatever way that is possible and also continue to hold your faith strongly and tightly onto the rope of Allah SWT in this unprecedented and challenging time. This will be a different Ramadan, but it is still a month that is forever filled with blessings, mercy and hope no matter how surreal the world may feel.

May Pulau Ubin thrive again, with its people in its heart.