Raya a multi-cultural affair for household of mixed races

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KUALA LUMPUR: Hari Raya has long been a multi-cultural affair for Ellysha Lee Abdullah and her family.

The 43-year-old sales manager, who is of Chinese descent, is married to Mohd Foazi Din, 37, who is of Malay-Chinese parentage.

Initially, her decision to embrace Islam and marry outside her race did not fall easy with her mother.

“She could not accept our decision to marry. She gradually softened as my children grew up,” said Ellysha, who has two children, Adrian, six, and Adrina, nine.

Even strangers would raise eyebrows when her husband took the children out, as they inherited little of his Malay features and olive-skin complexion.

“People still found it perplexing. It is funny considering our country has a long history of diverse cultures and races,” Ellysha said.

The family mirrors a multi-lingual Malaysia as the children communicate in Bahasa Malaysia with their father and English with Ellysha.

The children are picking up Mandarin in school.

The family observed the fasting month diligently.

Ellysha, who embarked on her first full-fasting experience just 10 years ago, credited her success in overcoming food temptations to faith and love of her family.

“The hardest hurdle was my constant thirst because I was taught to drink a lot of water (for health reasons) when I was growing up.

“I experimented with a variety of partial fast techniques, such as relying on liquid food and skipping one meal per day, before launching into the full fast in 2001,” said Ellysha, who has begun preparing her daughter for full-fasting using the same techniques.

And like most Malaysian families, Ellysha and her loved ones are looking forward to the balik kampung experience this Raya.

“We are lucky as we get to enjoy both Chinese New Year and Hari Raya.”