Fawwaz Baktee
Hari Raya Aidilfitri is a day where Muslims celebrate the end of Ramadan. During this day, inter-generational families and friends come together under across homes in Singapore to renew ties over warm laughter, hearty conversation and delicious flavours spread generously across festive tables.
However, for a few in Singapore, Hari Raya is observed far from their homelands, and if they are fortunate, they will mark the day with families they work for and friends they’ve met here.
That is the reality of many Muslim foreign domestic workers (FDWs), many of whom are from Indonesia.
I met four of them at a recent event where they volunteered to show NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng how to weave a ketupat (a type of dumpling made from rice packed inside a diamond-shaped container of woven palm leaf). They volunteer their time with the Centre for Domestic Employees to reach out to other FDWs like themselves.
Here’s what they had to say about celebrating Hari Raya thousands of miles away from home.
“I came to Singapore to look for a better life for myself and my child. I also became a domestic worker in Singapore to save enough money to open my own bakery in Indonesia. I haven’t been home for Hari Raya for the past 12 years I’ve been working here. I miss my family. Hopefully, after this contract ends, I might request for time off to visit home.”
“I remember working for my first employer. I didn’t have off days and I wasn’t even allowed to keep a handphone. But thankfully, my new employer whom I’ve been working for a year allows me these things. I will be in Singapore while my family back home celebrates Hari Raya. Since I’ve only been working for my current employer for a year, I don’t think I’m allowed to take leave to go home."
“My current employer is Malay-Muslim. I haven’t celebrated Hari Raya at home for the past 15 years. I think it’s a very common thing for workers to not go home during the festive season. But I’m lucky that I’m allowed to go home twice a year for two weeks each, and just not for Hari Raya. It was just last year I remember going back home during Ramadan for two-weeks, but I couldn’t stay for Hari Raya. My employers celebrate Hari Raya, so it will be a busy period for me at work.”
“I’m the eldest child in my family. When my dad passed away, my family needed a source of income for my three younger siblings to go to school. That’s why I came here to work. Before this, I’ve never worked a day in my life, so being a domestic worker is my first job. I first worked in Malaysia. Singapore is better because at least we get to take leave here, although of course not for Hari Raya. But that wasn’t the case while working in Malaysia.”
