IT WAS the first day of Eid and we had a small mission.
After performing prayers with the family and a zoom call later with relatives from Malaysia and abroad, we set off to meet a friend as part of our little Ramadhan-Eid initiative.
On the way, we watched the sun rays peeking between clouds, casting shadows on the ground below. Highways, traffic, people staring out of their vehicles. The juxtaposition of green and concrete. The uneasy dance between festivity and lock-down.
It was not long before we arrived.
The Government advisory was clear, so we stayed within city limits.
Yet what a different environment it was.
We gave our salam and waited to be invited in. Across the living room on a petite balcony, chillies, lemon balm and assorted herbs grew. My host had green fingers, a beautiful smile and kind eyes. She was house proud. Why shouldn’t she be? It was after all a family home. Later, a spread of tea and local sweets was served, made with love by mothers in the community.
We watched the children play. Blowing soap bubbles on the balcony. Spoke of fond memories and family traditions. It could have been any other Raya visit, except it wasn’t.
My host, a Syrian refugee mother. Her daughter and son-in-law unable to leave Syria due to the pandemic. Her son at 14, was arrested and taken to a detention centre for washing dishes and working without a permit. A family that had to uproot and build a new in a foreign land after bombs descended on their city of Aleppo. Now stoically hoping to be accepted for a shared future.
Her story, along with countless others, represent >179,500 registered refugees and asylum-seekers in Malaysia. There are more than 3,300 Syrian refugees according to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), representing one out of more than 10 different countries of origin.
32% are women and some 46,740 are children.
CoVID-19 does not discriminate. Unfortunately, healthcare and government systems under stress mean that many like her and those from other vulnerable groups will not be made priority.
I do not wish to elaborate in detail the difficulty of her life, or to paint a despairing picture of refugees in Malaysia. Suffice to say, we have the capacity within us to do more.
This Eid, I pray for greater kindness and compassion. We are not…not by a long shot, in the same boat. But we are however, in the same storm. How we overcome this struggle will perhaps show the many generations to come, if we are able to find ways and means to keep greed and violence in check, and let hope and humanity prevail.
Keep safe everyone. Let’s not forget to be kind.
#OpisReflections
