Friday, December 05, 2008

My Observation...Arab, 'Cekodok' Arab, 'Lempeng' Arab dan Wanita Arab Bertopeng

Parents were welcomed to attend the UAE 37th National Day celebration at Raffles International School Last Monday. If only schools in Malaysia also welcome parents to attend their National Day celebration... which as far as I'm concerned, they never.

I could see that the number of parents attending the ceremony is almost as large as the number of nannies. The parents present were mostly the non-Arabs. The Arabs who couldn't attend just sent their nannies. Correct me if I'm wrong but from my observation, bangsa Arab ni merupakan bangsa yang suka menjadi tuan. Sampaikan hantar anak ke kelas dan jemput anak ke kereta pun nanny diorang yang buat. Itu baru nanny, yang maid buat kerja-kerja rumah pula lain. Ada ramai juga the Arab mothers yang datang tapi dalam part menjaga anak-anak tu nanny yang buat. Diorang dok bersembang sesama Arab dengan kaca mata dan beg-beg tangan berjenama yang dipegang secara 'amat ketara' sekali. (he he minta mahap la orang Arab, this is only my observation).

Ini gambar-gambar sekitar sambutan National Day kat sekolah Along dan Ain, Raffles IS. From left clockwise: Pic 1 - tempat duduk disediakan for parents sambil makan-makan, 2- the mascots, 3- the free henna painting, 4- the man is Raffles IS President from Spore, the mat salleh lady is the newly appointed Principal who will start her service in the next term in January and next to her, the present Acting Principal, 5- kids love this magic show, and pic 6- the interesting Youla dance

These are among the very interesting loooking desserts served for students and parents. Nampak cantik tapi rasa biasa-biasa je, tak boleh lawan kuih-muih tradisional Melayu. Tapi syukur Alhamdulillah makanan mewah hari tu, siap dengan the famous nasi mandy and laham (lamb) lagi.

Haa...ni lah dia cekodok Arab (gambar atas kanan tu). Macam jemput-jemput yang kita selalu buat tu tapi ianya dimakan dengan dicurah madu ke atasnya. Rasanya...hmm macam cucur lemak manis Adabi, ok la.

Yang bawah tu pula lempeng Arab (yet to find the exact name). Tepung dia dan cara membuatnya macam buat tepung popia. Lumur tepung yang telah dibancuh tu atas kuali panas menggunakan tangan, kalau siapa pernah tengok orang buat tepung popia mesti tau. Lepas tu, diratakan telur sebiji atasnya dan diikuti dengan cheese (the bite size tu). Angkat dan dilipat empat. Rasanya...rasa telur je dan tawar. Tapi syukur lah dapat gak merasa makanan tradisional Arab ni walaupun tak tau apa ke namanya.

However, what attracted me most is these two makciks Arab. I wonder what they are wearing...it's a face mask tapi takda kain penutup cuma rangka-rangka je. I got to know this kind of Arab women can also be found at Heritage Village (one of the tourist spots in Dubai) also doing the same 'cekodok' and 'lempeng'. Orang kata orang Badwi. So, I googled to fulfil my curiosity. I typed 'badwi' keluar nama Pak Lah, pastu google image 'badwi', keluar lak muka PM kita tu ishh...Then, I typed 'bedouin women' barulah dapat. Not stated whether they are really bedouin or not but this Burka is commonly worn by the Arab women of the older generation. Some article refer to Burka as the black robe they are wearing and some refer to it as the black robe as well as the face mask. So, I'm still not sure. Can someone who knows better enlighten me on this?

4 comments:

me and i said...

yeah...really interested to know the function of benda rangka tu

domestic engineer said...

Will investigate and let you know he he. Tunggu...

Anonymous said...

Maybe some form of restriction imposed on women those days kut. Taula Pak2 Arab ni, suke buat benda2 cam ni.

Yes depa memang the bossy type. Even when teaching them pun, they still think we are there to serve them as they are paying us to teach them. tah apa apa kan.

domestic engineer said...

Oh so I'm not wrong to say they are the bossy type. My SIL who teaches at IIU also says the same from her own observation of her Arab colleagues.

Abot the makciks Arab, probably I'll need to interview them myself. Why not kan.