Malaysia: Selamat Hari Raya

We started the day without much planned. But it seemed a bit of a waste to while a festive holiday away. So on a spur of a moment, we went out in our Malaysian dress to celebrate Hari Raya.

We went to two starkly different venues.

Firstly, we visited some friends in a low-cost housing neighbourhood. The splash of colour with bright Baju Melayus was a contrast to the otherwise dim and dank corridors. The food and merriment in the living rooms was warm and welcoming. We sat on the floor and traded greetings and stories over rendang and sirap, and the kids were each given some duit raya to mark the occasion.

Boys in batik sharing sweets

After returning home from the round of visitation, Mummy suddenly had the bright idea of joining the Hari Raya Open House at the palace. After all ... it is the palace. What more exotic place to celebrate ... with the King, no less?

The line outside the palace was long but moved relatively fast.

Visits: BNM Museum & Art Gallery

A little known treasure in our Central Bank's vault is the Bank Negara Malaysia Museum & Art Gallery at Sasana Kijang.

The Museum gives you fun and interactive lessons on economics, banking and financial planning matters. 

It's air-conditioned with several floors of exhibits, and the kids were kept busy running up and down, looking for special country rubber stamps to mark their "Asean Passport".

Best of all, it's free. Our foreigner friend who was with us kept asking, "Are you sure it's free? This sort of place would be so expensive in my home country!"

There's a special Children's Gallery where you can go through a RM1 million tunnel, be a bank teller of a day and try your hand at special kid-targeted exhibits.

Art: Merdeka

The Girl seems to see opportunity for art in everything.

She took a used packaging sleeve from a box and decided it'd make a good Malaysian flag.

I helped to mark the lines for her and she took it from there, Sharpies and all.

Just in time for National Day.

Malaysia: Cartoon time

We started off the New Year with another exciting initiative by Kill the Bill: Malaysian can draw cartoons for Academic Freedom at KLCC without police permit.

This was really interesting for us as we got to be up close and personal with some of the big names in cartooning in Malaysia, especially the more "controversial" ones like Zunar. It also exposed the Girl to all the different talents and art forms in cartooning.

Malaysia: New Year Wishes

I love my country, and I do whatever I can to instill the same love into my children. Following the Bersih 2.0 rally in July 9, 2011, I've been participating in more citizen movements, such as Kill the Bill, to push for a better Malaysia.

For starters, we've been wearing yellow every Saturday since 709. And while I haven't exposed my kiddos to high-risk events (water cannons, tear gas and all), I do bring them for "safer" outings, just to instill love of country, teach them about standing up for their Constitutional rights, and allow them to join in the camaraderie of fellow countrymen who believe that this country is fighting for.

One such event was the LRT ride on New Year's eve. We were supposed to gather at the main station and head over to KLCC and spread some New Year's wishes to shoppers.

Onboard the train