Sarawak family braces for Hari Raya without mum

For two years, 21-year-old Nurul Fariha Abdullah has been doing everything she can to take care of her three siblings, all of whom are younger than she is.

Every morning, she gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for them and their father.

After that, she sweeps and mops the floor and cleans the small house in Kampung Penan Islam, Bintulu, putting things in order and making sure everything is tidy and in its place.

Every so often, she takes a break to give her youngest sister who is four a bottle of milk. Once the child is finished, she continues with her chores.

This has been Fariha’s routine ever since her mother died from a severe fever just two weeks after celebrating Hari Raya – the last occasion that the family would spend together.

Two years later, the thought of celebrating Hari Raya without her mother still brings tears to her eyes.

“Of course, I am not happy about celebrating Hari Raya Aidilfitri this year,” she said in a recent interview with MalaysiaNow.

“Although I still have my father, we are still grieving over the death of my mother.”

For Fariha, it is doubly difficult as she has had to take on the role of being a mother to her three siblings.

“It’s hard,” she said. “When my mother passed away, it felt like because I am the oldest, I had to take on more responsibilities.”

Before her mother died, they would celebrate Hari Raya and other festive occasions together as a family at home. Without her mother, nothing has been the same.

As Hari Raya approaches this year, Fariha’s longing for her mother has grown. It is especially painful when she sees other children preparing to celebrate Hari Raya with their parents.

“Although our previous celebrations were not so grand, my siblings and I were really happy,” she said.

“We would play together and eat our favourite dishes, like the delicious chicken curry that my mother used to make.”

This year, the celebration is likely to be even smaller as the family has less money to spare.

Fariha’s mother had worked as a tailor to supplement the household income. Without the extra money she brought in, the family must rely on what Fariha’s father can earn selling bakso, an Indonesian dish of noodles and meatballs in soup.

These days, he earns about RM2,000 a month. This is barely enough to cover the family’s expenses, which is why Fariha has had to give up her dream of continuing her studies to stay home and look after her siblings.

“I have to take care of my sister and help my father sell bakso in front of our house,” she said.

Her brother, meanwhile, is doing what he can to help finance the family’s cost of living and school fees for their two younger siblings.

Still, Fariha is not giving up on her dream of becoming an immigration officer one day although for now she can only hope for a better future for her and her siblings.

“My father doesn’t earn much these days, just enough to pay the bills and school fees.

“But I’m hoping for an opportunity to work, so that I can help my father,” she said.