Hari Raya 2024: Food for the soul

The Star

Every Ramadan Khadijah Muda cooks bubur lambuk daily which she then distributes to Muslims in her community.   She believes that cooking and distributing the nourishing meal is a powerful way to spread kindness to others during the Muslim holy month.  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00 Every Ramadan, Khadija Mudah's home in Section 3 Petaling Jaya is a hive of activity.

00:14 From slicing onions and carrots to cooking her special signature dish in gigantic pots,

00:20 every afternoon is like a scene from the Malay Kunduri with lots of people completing their

00:24 specified tasks.

00:26 For the past 35 years, Khadija has cooked Bubur Lambok daily throughout the fasting month.

00:32 She then distributes the savoury rice porridge to Muslims in her community.

00:37 I started to cook porridge when I was in the mosque.

00:46 I started cooking porridge in the year 1990.

00:49 I started cooking porridge in the mosque when I was 15 years old.

00:55 After I changed my job, I started to cook porridge.

01:00 After I was unemployed for two years, I started to cook porridge.

01:07 I started to get donations for the activity of Bubur Lambok.

01:12 People in the village know about it now.

01:15 They don't need to ask for donations.

01:19 They can come and collect the donations themselves.

01:22 Khadija says she believes that cooking and distributing the nourishing meal is a powerful

01:27 way to spread kindness to others during the Muslim holy month.

01:32 Born and raised in Dungun Terengganu, her Bubur Lambok was initially cooked with fish.

01:37 I started cooking porridge in the mosque.

01:42 The mosque is in Tengganu, so I cooked it in Tengganu style.

01:45 The dish is fish, we don't use meat.

01:49 But because we are here, maybe people don't like fish, they prefer meat.

01:55 I cook meat, but we only use vegetables.

01:59 People don't like that.

02:02 So I changed the style to what we are doing now.

02:07 In the past, when we left the porridge, it would be burnt.

02:17 So how do we avoid that?

02:23 We don't stir it first, we put the rice, water and then stir-fry it.

02:29 We wait for it to boil for about an hour and a half.

02:33 Then we can see that it has boiled, then we can start stirring it.

02:37 Once it's stirred, we can't stop.

02:39 If we stop, it will be burnt.

02:42 So that's the technique we've been using for 30 years.

02:47 Throughout Ramadan, the community surrounding Section 3 generously donates essentials such

02:52 as rice, beef, spices and vegetables to Khadijah to support her in the preparation of Bubur Lambor.

02:59 During the fasting month, she gives out up to 450 packets a day.

03:04 Apart from the packs she prepares for the community, Khadijah also takes orders from hospitals

03:09 and schools in the neighbourhood who pay her to cook her delicious bubur.

03:14 She also takes orders from the nature, from the place where she used to eat,

03:20 and she looks for places where we can cook.

03:23 She comes here once in a while, not every day.

03:26 She comes from Ampang, and many other places that are far away,

03:31 apart from the locals.

03:34 But during the working days, many people work around here,

03:40 not just sitting here.

03:42 So when she comes back from work, she comes and takes the orders.

03:46 But during the holidays, people just come and sit here.

03:49 The preparation for Bubur Lambor starts around mid-morning each day,

03:53 and it takes about three hours to cook the porridge.

03:56 Khadijah says she's glad her daughters and nieces are also involved in the process.

04:01 Apart from the source of income, people know that people come and take the orders.

04:07 If we don't do it, people will come and say, "What's this? We can't do it."

04:12 So we don't want to see that.

04:14 If people can come, they can enjoy it, because it's there every year.

04:20 I just feel that if we want to stop, we have to remember how to stop,

04:24 because I'm afraid that we won't be able to do it.

04:27 But when the kids say, "Okay, she can cover this and that," we'll do it.

04:31 [music]

04:50 [silence]

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