Sakura season: (From left) Khoo, Iman Adelia and Nur Sabrina in Sakuragicho in Japan to catch cherry blossoms in full bloom.
IPOH: With Friday being the sole working day sandwiched between the first two days of Hari Raya and the weekend, most would have taken leave to make it a long weekend. But for some civil servants here, they are more than willing to return to work amid the ongoing celebrations.
Perak Public Library Corporation assistant librarian Hafiz Habibi said he does not mind working while his colleagues take the day off.
“We were asked who wants to take leave. After a discussion, I told my colleagues that I would gladly work since I am still single and most of my colleagues are married,” said the 26-year-old when met at the Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) here yesterday.
“Anyway, I am off over the weekend and will meet up with my girlfriend,” he said, adding that he spent the first two days of Hari Raya with his family in his hometown, Batu Gajah.
Hafiz said the library usually has two staff members manning the place.
“Currently, we have four staff members with two more being seconded here from the public library in Jalan Raja Dihilir where renovation works are being carried out, so we take turns to take off. The peak period where most people come to visit is on Wednesday and Thursday,” he said.
District information officer Norma Tahir, 54, who also works at the UTC, said she has no problem working while allowing her colleagues to take the day off.
“I spent the first and second day of Hari Raya back in Petaling Jaya and had a wonderful celebration. I came back straight to work today (yesterday),” said the mother of two.
“Since I am the most senior, it’s better for me to work.”
Meanwhile, Universiti Malaya’s Department of East Asian Studies students Iman Adelia Sugiman, Nur Sabrina Anuar and Carwey Khoo visited Sakuragicho near Yokohama to observe flowers blooming during the ongoing cherry blossom season.
It was the first time that Iman Adelia and Nur Sabrina were celebrating Hari Raya away from their family and also their first visit to Japan.
All three coursemates from the Faculty of Arts and Social Science were accepted as foreign exchange students to study from six months to a year at the Aoyama Gakuin University’s Sagamihara campus.
The students went to the Malaysian embassy in Shibuya too, where they joined other Malaysians to celebrate Hari Raya and were treated to sumptuous dishes like satay, rendang and ketupat.
