Estelle and her fiance Christian Albert love bringing festive cheer to their loved ones.
DECEMBER was a month of colour, celebration and gatherings, as Christmas and year-end holidays drew family and friends together before the turn of the new year.
Social media reflected the festive mood, filled with posts of gift exchanges, carefully wrapped presents under Christmas trees and heartwarming reunions around dining tables – small moments that captured the spirit of the season.
For cousins and friends Estelle Hillary, Krysanthe Albert, Mellisa Lee, Sunita Rahman and Lorraine Lee, Christmas came early with a casual get-together centred on food and gift exchanges.
The youngest in the group, Krysanthe, had a surprise planned.
After dinner and the main exchange, she asked everyone to pick a random present – which turned out to be playful wigs and cartoon glasses.
Estelle (left) and Krysanthe (right) with their cousins and friends.
“It was so funny seeing how my ‘sisters’ had to shed their embarrassment and just have fun,” said the 21-year-old saleswoman.
Laughter carried through the evening, drawing amused looks – and thumbs-up – from other diners at the restaurant as the group embraced the light-hearted antics.
For Estelle, the festive season included another celebration with her wider family – and an ambitious gifting effort.
She prepared around 100 presents, personally wrapping each one and ensuring they reached their intended recipients.
“It was my way of showing love and appreciation to my family and friends,” she said.
“I didn’t mind sitting for hours wrapping gifts, and then spending days sending them out.”
Estelle said Christmas remains a season of love, giving and forgiveness – a time to close the year with gratitude and look ahead to one filled with renewed hope and better opportunities.
Elsewhere, the holidays also became an occasion for reunion across state lines.
Lee (sixth from right) with her family in Sarawak.
Valentina Irene Lee, a 35-year-old Sabahan living and working in Sarawak with her husband, flew her parents in from Keningau, Sabah, to spend the season together.
Joined by Sarawakian family members and friends, the gathering unfolded over shared meals, conversations and plenty of laughter.
“Being together like this really meant a lot to us,” she said.
“With family in Sabah and Sarawak, we don’t always get many chances to meet, so moments like these felt extra special.
“Sitting together, eating the same food, laughing at old stories and catching up on life made us realise how much we missed each other.”
Distance, she said, had never weakened the bond.
Gatherings like these, she added, were reminders that family remained home, no matter how far apart people lived – and that every reunion only deepened the sense of connection and warmth.
