Woman teaches kids to embrace Chinese and Malay customs

Loving gesture: Noralina feeding her mother ‘yee sang’ as her children Nurul Natasha and Muhammad Zulfiqar look on.

KUCHING: Muslim convert Noralina Abdullah has always made it a point to ensure that her three children understand the culture and customs of both parents.

After embracing Islam upon marrying a Malay entrepreneur 20 years ago, Noralina saw to it that her children had a deep understanding and knowledge of their Chinese ethnicity.

Every Chinese New Year, the 45-year-old would take her children – Nurul Natasha, 20, Nurul Nabila, 16, and Muhammad Zulfiqar, 12 – to visit their grandmother Yeo Eik Lian, now aged 81.

Without fail, Noralina and her family would be present for the reunion dinner, even when they were living in Kuala Lumpur between 1996 and 2009.

“It is important for our children to understand the culture and customs of both races,” she said. “Only my faith has changed but not the culture.”

Noralina, born Song Ai Ling, said her siblings, some who were living overseas, and their families would gather here on the eve of Chinese New Year – a ritual that strengthened the family bond.

“We will go visiting relatives together and watch lion dance performances, which are my children’s favourite, apart from receiving ang pow,” said Noralina, the youngest of seven children.

Her husband, she added, would usually volunteer to buy the yee sang for the reunion dinner each year. Even her in-laws would help out during Chinese New Year, cooking halal food for Muslim guests to the family’s open house.

“There were several times when they brought along halal food to join us for our reunion dinner, too,” she added.

During Hari Raya, Noralina and her husband would take their children to visit their Malay grandparents.

“That’s the beauty of mixed marriages – we get to celebrate different festive occasions.

“We will fast and when the festival comes, we’ll visit our Muslim friends and relatives,” she said.

Her in-laws, said Noralina, insisted that her children knew their roots and maintained their culture and traditions.