KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 (Bernama) -- Her Majesty Raja Zarith Sofiah, Queen of Malaysia today reminisced fond memories of the special Ramadan nights when she was a schoolgirl living with her parents and siblings in her hometown of Kuala Kangsar, Perak.

In her heartfelt Hari Raya message, Her Majesty said living in a sleepy little town, what she found exciting and fun during Ramadan was always the last 10 nights when the town welcomed and celebrated 'Malam 27' (considered to be one of the ten blessed nights of Lailatul Qadar) with a competition for the best lighted-up house. 

“My older sister would drive us to see all the houses adorned with colourful twinkling lights. We each would try and guess which house we thought looked the best and would win! 

“We loved to go out into our garden at night too, to play with our 'bunga api' or sparklers. We'd stare at the sparks of the little firework stick in our hands and felt as if we had become magicians.

“We would move our arms up and down and around, and made the 'bunga api' dance against the night sky!” Her Majesty said in a post shared on His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim's official Facebook page today.

Raja Zarith Sofiah also noted that spending time in the garden was preferable to watching television then, as there were only two channels available during the 1960s and 1970s.

“There was no Astro, no Netflix, no Youtube, no Apple TV.

“Life was simpler; perhaps because we did not have the entertainment choices which we have today, but we were truly happy and content with what we did have.

“However exciting our lives may be now, I would never trade the simple joys of my childhood's Ramadan nights in my little hometown of Kuala Kangsar with more spectacular ones,” Her Majesty said. 

Raja Zarith Sofiah also wished Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir dan Batin to those celebrating Raya soon.

-- BERNAMA