"Tuk & Nek Set Me Up On Blind Dates" — M'sians Share Unforgettable Balik Kampung Memories

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While malls and radio stations will usually be playing infectious music to get us in the festive mood, nothing gets us more excited for Raya than actually hitting the road to balik kampung, hehe.

From our atuk and neneks to rendang and lemang, there's so many good things we get to remember and cherish for years to come (or at least until next year's Eid). <3

"As a kid celebrating Raya, getting duit Raya is something my friends and I look forward to. We used to go house to house around the neighbourhood, to eat kuih Raya and collect duit Raya. I guess that's the halal version of trick or treat. It was pretty obvious that the kids came for the money only, but the adults were always welcoming and entertained us. It was a somewhat funny but heartwarming experience to remember."

— Nabilah, 27

"We usually travel the night before Eid, departing KL at midnight in the hopes to reach Kota Bharu before subuh. However, that changed last year when Eid was announced a day earlier. We were doing our last minute shopping at 8pm when the announcement came in. We panicked with a long list of to-dos, racing through our minds at bullet train speed.

"I then remembered the reason why we would endure crazy traffic every year, our Tok Mek. It would break her heart if everyone failed to gather around on the first day of Eid. The new colour coordinated baju Raya, Raya goodies we had planned to bring back, and all the other things like our planned nasi dagang feast on the first day of Eid became secondary. So, we decided to leave that night just before midnight. And guess what? We managed to reach Kota Bharu in just five hours.

"At the end of the day, what matters most is the presence of everyone and seeing our Tok Mek happy — the one who glues us all together for every Eid. The reason we travel more than 500km, braving crazy traffic, and who is the source of our happiness."

— Nuratiqah Eti Arifin, 39

"This story also serves as a useful lesson to anyone who reads this: never run from a dog. My siblings and I learnt the hard way when we were visiting our grandma during Raya. We were walking outside, and suddenly a dog appeared. It was following us from behind, and we walked a bit faster. So did the dog. We ended up running full sprint, and it followed suit! My older sister ran so fast and almost left us behind. T.T Luckily we reached my grandma's home in time, and a man (I assume he's the owner) called out to the dog, and laughed at us."

— Raudhah, 32

"Being the youngest grandchild, I'm usually doted on by both my tuk and nek. I have one older brother and four other cousins who are all married or in relationships, so my grandparents are always asking when I'll bring home someone for them to meet too. They're not pushy or anything, it's always just asked playfully, which is why I was so shocked when I visited them in Johor last Eid.

"They set me up on not one, but four blind dates! I was so embarrassed, but also found the whole thing hilarious. I couldn't stop laughing and literally spat out my water when they told me. I didn't go on any dates, but I think one of them visited the house – I was 'conveniently out at the shop', hahahah."

— Lisa, 25

"It was night, and we were all sleeping under the zinc roof (really felt like I was giving them the full kampung experience, haha) when one of my friends woke up. He really had to pee, so he went outside all alone. When he came back and opened the door, he saw a figure hunched over the television, and nearly got a heart attack! Turns out it was just my oyang trying to switch on the television, which played the azan for Subuh loudly so we would wake up for prayer."

— Yusoff, 30

"I remember I was around 10 years old, and it was the night before Raya. All of us cousins and relatives were sleeping in the living room of my grandparent's house.

"In the middle of the night, I woke up in pitch black darkness only to find myself holding on to a white cloth. And my first thought was, HANTU!

"I screamed like no tomorrow until everyone woke up and switched on the lights, only just to realise it was just a white curtain hanging outside the bedroom door, heh."

— Joiy, 32

The balik kampung journey can be taxing despite being fun and exciting.

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