THE first Ramadan that Azhan Abdul Rahim, Anna Makajil and their family spent in Switzerland, was 16 years ago. It was Autumn, the days were shorter and fasting was “relatively easy”.
“Ramadan came a couple of months after we arrived in Switzerland with our baby girl, Lana, who was six months old at the time. It reminded me a bit of my Ramadans in Britain during my university years in the 1990s,” says Azhan. “The days were shorter and it was quite easy to manage. Ever since then, however, it has gotten increasingly tougher due to the shift of the months (of Ramadan) moving towards summer. Around 2011 and 2012, Ramadan was right in the middle of summer, and it wasn’t until close to 10pm that we could break our fast – it was tough.
“This year, Ramadan is in spring, so things will be back to ‘normal’,” he says.
Apart from the shorter or longer days, “it is life as usual” for the family of five, during the holy month of Ramadan, they say.
The couple live in a village around 35 km west of Zurich, at the intersection of three main Swiss rivers namely Reuss, Aare and Limmat, with their three children: Lara, who is now 16, Aryan, 13 and Lyris who is just 11.
Azhan is an IT programme manager with a Japanese/Swiss company in Zurich and during his free time he draw cartoons (www.instagram.com/artoontastic.cartoon) and runs marathons. He plans to run two marathons this year with some fellow Malaysians.
Anna was a research analyst with a property firm in Kuala Lumpur prior to moving to Switzerland and has been a full-time mum since their move.
“Childcare is very expensive here. In 2009 and 2010, we were blessed with a boy and a girl to complete our family of five. A few years ago, I started working part time, managing and moderating content for a travel website. I work remotely as the job is flexible. Most of the time I am quite busy juggling housework and the kids’ intense school and training schedules,” says Anna, adding that Aryan and Lyris are both competitive athletes and train daily.
As their children have grown up abroad, their challenges are slightly different.
“Ramadan is manageable now,” says Lana. “When I was younger, it wasn’t something easily done as I did a lot of gymnastics, and the training was very demanding,” she explains.
“I was born in KL and moved to Switzerland when I was six months old. Outside of school, I give private tutoring in German and Mathematics for elementary and lower secondary students. Once or twice a week I also coach young gymnasts at my local club. I used to compete as a gymnast but quit last year to focus on my studies,” says the teenager who is attending Kantonschule (upper secondary school).
Younger brother Aryan is in his first year of Bezirkschule or lower secondary school and plays badminton, competing regularly in the Swiss Junior league. Young Lyris is in her fifth year of school and is also a keen artistic gymnast who competes in the Swiss Artistic Gymnastic junior championships.
Like most Malaysians living abroad, they miss the food back home a lot.
“I miss the Pasar Ramadan. I miss being able to buy food directly from stalls and of course all of us miss breaking fast with our extended family members and friends. Most of the time, breaking fast is just the five of us,” says Anna.
“We miss roti canai and also seeing our grandparents!” pipe in Aryan and Lyris.
A time for family
One thing they make it a point to do during Ramadan is to break fast together as a family.
“On weekends we usually gather with some of our fellow Malaysians here to break fast together. It’s usually a potluck so everybody brings something to the table – Malaysian style. When the kids were a lot younger, they used to like playing with sparklers on Raya Eve. But now they just do tik toks,” says Azhan.
Adds Anna, “I used to make a Ramadan calendar for the kids. Everyday they get to open a little box of surprise, to motivate them to fast in Ramadan, and just to make the occasion a little more special.”
“In Ramadhan 2021, as I was in between jobs, I had a lot of free time, so we made some kuih raya,” says Azhan.
“The night before raya, we would normally be busy cooking rendang and ‘aluminium foil’ lemang,” says Anna.
Apart from abstaining from food, Ramadan is also a month where they all try to practise a bit more patience in their daily lives, the couple share.
“It is also a time that we spend more time together. In short, it’s a month of patience and togetherness,” shares Azhan.
For Sahur, the family would usually have something simple: Bread and butter or cereal, with a glass of water.
“For buka puasa, we would normally just have the usual dishes we have for dinner which is mainly Asian, of course, and sometimes pasta, pizza or fries to reward the kids,” says Azhan.
Chicken curry, he adds, is among the more regular items on the menu. “Three times out of five, it’s chicken curry.”
“We usually alternate between rice and pastas. Our Asian staples are: kari ayam, kari daging, mihun goreng, sayur campur, nasi lemak, sambal udang and fried chicken,” adds Anna.
The past few years, she shares, Sahur was at 3am and they’d find themselves still full from their buka pausa meal the night before.
“But I make sure I drink at least a full glass of water and eat a biscuit for Sahur even if I don’t feel like eating at all.
“This year, fasting hours are fairly reasonable (5am for sahur and 8pm for iftar) so we might occasionally have rice for sahur, I think.
“I’m usually quite excited to plan my menus at the beginning of Ramadan. I try to cook different dishes every day. But it’s not any different from my usual days – I cook every day! Sometimes Azhan cooks on the weekends,” she says.
Malaysian connections
There is a relatively small Malaysian community where they live, the couple share, but they don’t always get to meet.
“We have a Facebook group so although we don’t meet that often, we do stay in touch on a regular basis,” they say.
Each year the Persatuan Anak-anak Melayu Switzerland which is a loose cultural coalition of the Malay communities in Switzerland organises a cultural gathering, gotong-royong style, to celebrate Hari Raya together.
“Everyone chips in with the cooking, cleaning, decorating, performing traditional dances or skits, etc. It is an event that is looked forward to by many regardless of race, background and nationalities. And it’s a great way to expose our children to our beautiful culture and teach them about their heritage.
“Due to Covid-19, this has not been possible in the last two years. Hopefully we get to do this event again this year in June,” says Anna.
Missing home
The pandemic has probably brought the five of them closer than ever, they say.
During the first lockdown in March 2020, everyone had to stay home. Schools were shut and the children’s training sessions were cancelled and so all of them had to adapt to the new normal like everyone else, the couple share.
“We miss our families in Malaysia and can’t wait to be able to go back to visit them again,” says Azhan
Since moving abroad, they have not been able to come back to Malaysia to visit family as often as they would like, he says. And, although they hope to make it back some time this year, it will not be for Hari Raya.
“I am from Kedah and Anna is from Sabah. For Raya, we usually spend time in Kedah. But for 2022, Raya will certainly be spent here as it does not coincide with school holidays. Unfortunately that hasn’t happened so often,” he says.
They are hoping to come home during the summer holidays this year, “subject to the situation and restrictions” of course.
“I was lucky that just before the pandemic, in early 2020, I got a chance to go back to see my parents for a couple of weeks,” says Azhan.
“As a family we have not been back since 2018. Since we moved here, I think we’ve only been back to celebrate Raya with family twice. We definitely miss celebrating with our parents,” says Azhan.
“But I guess we are kind of used to it. Besides, with video calls these days, it’s better than before,” he concludes.
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