I had always imagined that if ever I were to buka puasa in a university overseas, it would be with other Muslim students or fellow Malaysians.
The reality was, however, far different. Never had I imagined that one of the most memorable buka puasa of my life would be one prepared entirely by non-Muslim friends, some of whom I had barely known for two weeks.
Even a month after my arrival at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge for my press fellowship, I had yet to meet another Muslim, Malaysian or not, from whom I could seek advice for Ramadan preparations. I would later find out that the number of Malaysian Muslims in Cambridge was small and scattered throughout the 31 constituent colleges in the university town.
The first buka puasa event I went to was hosted by the college’s Muslim Student Association. I met Theology students Jess Tan and Christian Ford at the event. They are both of Christian faith but Ford, interestingly, says that he is also a pluralist. He enjoys engaging in the acts of worship of other religions – even joining the maghrib congregational prayers before our buka puasa meal. In fact, from our conversations, it sounded as though he had gone to tarawih prayers at the mosque even more regularly than I have.
Jess is from Hong Kong and we found ourselves clicking from the get-go. Being Asians, we discovered that we liked the same types of food and took pleasure in discussing them. By the end of the night, she insisted on having me over for dinner. She was keen on cooking me a buka puasa meal and as she was a vegetarian, my dietary restrictions would not pose a problem.
As Jess was from another college and lived a distance away from Wolfson, we soon found that it would be rather difficult for me to come over for buka puasa. Buka puasa time is around 9pm here and as I do not have a bicycle and am surviving on limited funds, splurging on a cab ride to and back would not be the best idea. Jess decided she would instead prepare three vegetarian dishes, a dessert and two types of rice and cycle over to my college with the food just in time for buka puasa.
I was blown away by her gesture. To top it off, my friend Serina Joon, who is also another Malaysian press fellow, made a lovely seafood tom yam for my buka puasa that day. Serina, Jess, Ford and I then gathered at the empty dining hall at 9pm for a buka puasa meal that I would unlikely forget.
I was touched that they delayed dinner (which typically takes place between 6-7.30pm here) so that they could join me for buka puasa. This has been a gesture regularly shown to me by the other two (non-Muslim) Malaysian press fellows as well, for which I did not expect but am deeply appreciative of.
Another interesting buka puasa meal I had was with a group of Muslim postgraduates from the Indian sub-continent, Brunei and South Africa. It was held at a house a distance away from my college.
I found myself puzzled when no one seemed to make any plans to leave even as the hour neared midnight. Instead, they were engaged in discussions regarding climate change, world economy, culture and artificial intelligence. While the discussions were no doubt, interesting, I was wondering if anyone was feeling nearly as exhausted as I was. It turned out that everyone was just biding their time, waiting for sahur (the pre-dawn meal). Subuh is around 3am and as such, sahur meals are usually taken from 2am onwards. I ended up going back to my college at 3.30am!
What is it like to fast for nearly 18 hours every day? Thirst is the main challenge but the cool temperature makes it bearable. On some days, it is even possible to squeeze in a 30-minute walk. However, the late buka puasa does wreak a bit of a havoc on my sleep. I find myself fresh and wide-eyed from the surge in blood glucose, even after a modest buka puasa meal. I would still be bright-eyed by Isha’ time – at around 10pm and even for tarawih, which takes place from 10.45pm to 12.30am if prayed at the mosque. Afterwards, it makes little sense to go to sleep as sahur time would only be two hours away. I tend to stay up until 3am to avoid missing my subuh prayers and so that I could have uninterrupted sleep afterwards.
I did eventually meet a few Malaysians for buka puasa at a Thai restaurant nearby, during when I also met former Khazanah Nasional Berhad managing director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar and his lovely wife, Puan Sri Mastura Abdul Rahman, who prefers to be called Kak Mas.
In the UK, the date for the first day of Ramadan is a topic of debate as unlike in Malaysia, there is no single body that determines when the whole country would start fasting. It was thanks to Kak Mas that I received notification of when to start fasting and even when to break fast. It turns out that it was not only the date of the first day of Ramadan or Eid that is disputed in the UK – even prayer times within a county could vary vastly. The times for subuh and maghrib prayers could vary by almost an hour, depending on the app you download or the mosque you referred to. I could very well have broken my fast an hour earlier or later than everyone else, if Kak Mas hadn’t alerted me of the matter.
The University of Cambridge may have landed the top spot in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2019, but it is also one of the three least socially inclusive universities in Britain. Statistics obtained by the Financial Times last year revealed that six of Cambridge’s 31 colleges had admitted fewer than 10 black or mixed-race students during the period between 2012 and 2016. It is therefore also little surprise that the university’s Muslim community is small in size. While this is not too much of a problem to me as I like to venture out and befriend people from vastly different backgrounds, during Ramadan, it is always nice to be with someone else who is also going through the same struggles. People I can chuckle with while preparing for sahur as quietly as possible so as not to disrupt the sleep of others, a friend to slog alongside with as I get through the day without the help of caffeine, a mate to go searching for halal ingredients to cook for buka puasa and to walk the 30 to 45 minutes to the nearest praying space if we wanted to pray tarawih in congregation – because such spaces are few and far in between here.
Despite the absence of such company, however, I do find myself enjoying the Cambridge Ramadan experience. It could have easily been a bleak affair if not for the warmth and generosity of the wonderful individuals I have encountered. It feels almost strange to be invited again and again to buka puasa gatherings hosted by those who do not know me – well or at all – but expect nothing from me but my company.
I do miss the array of flavourful and halal buka puasa dishes back home, the sound of the azan (call to prayer) that indicates that it was time to break the fast and the company of friends and family. But just for this year, I don’t mind trading them for vegetarian meals, counting down to buka puasa time using my smartphone clock and making new, wonderful friends.
- Sakina Mohamed is a Khazanah-Wolfson Press Fellow and is currently undergoing a 10-week press fellowship at the University of Cambridge.
