Businessman

Khon Kaen

Celebrating Ramadan this year has been a mixed bag of emotions for Pathan.

Born into an ethnic Rohingya family that have made Thailand their home for close to half-a-century, he remembers past Ramadan months to encapsulate times of joy, spent in social gatherings and feasts he always looked forward to experiencing after a day of abstention from food and water.

“Ramadan has been a sociable time for me when, after breaking fast, my family and friends enjoyed sumptuous meals and gatherings at dusk. But this global pandemic has cast a long and depressing shadow over these practices,” remarked Pathan, a commerce graduate.

“Any type of gatherings and the feasting we once enjoyed with friends and family has now become a more intimate affair. While I do understand the need for these precautionary moves, it is all very unfortunate. Having no one to break the fast with feels like suffering, it just feels flat.”

Pathan added it was difficult to not get emotional over the fact that the people who are most impacted by this virus are the poor.

“Apart from our Rohingya brothers there are scores of individuals at our mosque who have lost their jobs during this period. They need food for their families and the opportunity to earn some money. In normal circumstances we would have had charity meals for them.”

Pathan said that due to Covid-19, his business was in a bad state of affairs. Nevertheless, his family regularly donated dates for the less fortunate Rohingya families to break their fast. While it is customary during Ramadan to be charitable by offering food, cash and donations to those with few means to afford it, he said donations in general were low this year because many donor families had been impacted by the virus.

In the past, he recalled how Muslim communities in the province set up long tables on the streets, dishing up free hot meals for the poor at sunset to help break their fast.

“At the centre of Ramadan is the sunrise to sunset fast, which is meant to instil contemplation of Allah. But alongside the hardship of abstaining from food and drink for long periods every day, the holy month sweeps everyone up into the communal spirit.

“Of course, I miss that dearly. This year I find myself cut off from much of what makes the month special. It is always difficult to balance restrictions with traditions. When I feel disheartened thinking about this, I remind myself that it is for the good of everyone.”

While Pathan has never been to Myanmar, he said his father often shares his fondest memories of celebrating Ramadan in their native Rakhine state, where their extended family once lived happily, which was of course decades prior to the ethnic cleansing by the state which drove thousands out of Myanmar on foot only to die.

“I am told that my grandmother prepared many delicious home cooked delicacies, which she shared with our neighbours and friends. All year my dad as a young boy waited for Ramadan because the family used to have a get-together with relatives from near and far.

“His face brightens up whenever he shares these stories.”

Business has been really slow, so this year we have toned down the Ramadan celebrations