Hari Raya Cards

I love buying and sending Hari Raya cards to friends and relatives . About two weeks before the fasting month of Ramadan , I would be on the prowl at bookshops for these cards . This is the beginning of my raya ritual .

As the Ramadan month progressed , I would be receiving cards from friends too . That makes me feel good . Strange ... after all these years I am still excited over it . Such a sentimental value for each card and I know that I am in someone's thoughts . I must say I am proud to parade my collection of cards .

Some of the Raya cards I received this year .
At top left is the card from Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad .

However my kids are not that enthusiastic and going goo goo ga ga over this buying and sending of Raya cards . Being the Generation Y kids ...... techno savvy is the rule of the day and that means there are faster and cheaper ways of sending messages . I have not seen them buying birthday cards or other festive cards . Not that they never receive any from cousins and aunties on their birthdays or on other certain occasions . Ya ...they do appreciate the thoughts but it ends only there .

Mummy dearest would collect and stick the cards on the fridge wall . Then these would be stored away till mummy finds the time to put in their scrap book . I would remind them to say their thank you which they do . They would either call ( every human being seems to have a cell phone now ) or they would fire away the SMSes on their cell phone .Or emailing or using Facebook to convey their gratefulness......the fastest and most convenient way . The faster alternative for them . No testing of their patience in queuing up when buying stamps at the post office , no sealing up of the envelopes ...in fact signed , sealed , posted and delivered is omitted when sending festive greetings this way .

Card from Prime Minister of M'sia .

Ya ...it can't be denied that this modern way of sending and receiving wishes for festive greetings serve the purpose too . After all this is the era of e cards , the cyber version . Does that make the Raya cards obsolete ?

Hmmmmm.....I am from another generation ... a real old timer if you may say so . Each year I still see cards being sold in stores and bookshops . A good sign that this common tradition is still around .Apart from that dear hubby is given free raya cards which I made used of . This is still the best way of conveying greetings as each card is written with a few words - whch means the world to the recipient . Then it is signed with a real signature ...not some stamped signature . Then sealed .in a real to goodness envelope , complete wth a stamp and posted with the post office stamp of approval . Not many is willing to do this as it is a tiring work .

I do enjoy receiving raya SMSes greetings from friends . Only I can't keep it for long . What a shame as I have to delete it as other SMSes are coming in as my inbox is getting full and it could not receive any new ones.