Compiled by C.ARUNO , HO JIA WEN and R.ARAVINTHAN
A MALAY “makcik” speaks fluent Tamil and invites her Indian neighbours to celebrate Hari Raya every year.
Housewife Hasimah Saman, 61, said she learned to speak Tamil from her Indian friends when she lived in the TRP Trong estate in Taiping, Perak, reported Sinar Harian.
Even after moving to Petaling Jaya in 1980, she continued speaking Tamil with her friends.
“Only my late husband and I can speak Tamil; our children are not proficient,” she said.
Hasimah and her family also have a close relationship with their neighbour, Kumarasan Sathya, whom she celebrates Raya with every year.
“My late husband and Kumar’s late father... were close friends.
“In the past, my husband ran a stall, and whenever I cooked, I would invite his family to share the meal,” she said.
Despite her husband’s absence, Hasimah maintains a strong bond with her Indian neighbours who regard her as family.
A TikTok video by Hasimah’s daughter, @julianapija, showed her fluently communicating in Tamil with her neighbours while enjoying chicken rendang and ketupat together.
The heartwarming video went viral with over 1.5 million views and received positive comments about Malaysia’s harmony and unity.
> Although Raya celebrations were spent without her husband, actress Bella Astillah said it was still a joyous occasion, reported Kosmo!
Bella, whose real name is Dayang Ara Nabeela Awang Astillah, 30, said her two children, aged seven and four, did not even ask about their father.
“My children are close to me, and they didn’t ask about Aliff.
“Moreover, my friends visited us during the celebration and gave the children Raya money, which made them happy,” she said.
Since filing for divorce last month, Bella and her children have not been in touch with actor Aliff Aziz.
“After the court proceedings, I haven’t seen or communicated with him. It’s not that I don’t want to meet him, but I haven’t had the chance,” said Bella.
● The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.
