Korean woman fasts for the first time during Ramadhan
A Korean woman fasts for Ramadhan for the first time after marrying a Malaysian husband
Image adapted from: @maryamyunrrr
Our Muslim friends had their first day of Ramadhan on Thursday, 23rd April 2020. As per tradition, they’ll have to observe a month-long fast before kickstarting the Raya festivities. Although Malaysians won’t be able to enjoy any Hari Raya open houses or Raya bazaars this time around due to the Movement Control Order (MCO), it doesn’t make this year’s celebrations any less significant.
For this Korean woman especially, this year’s Ramadhan marks her first-ever fasting experience after tying the knot with her Malaysian husband late last year. Over the weekend, her husband uploaded a short clip of her reaction waiting for buka puasa and it went viral on Twitter.
“Lapar nak mampus”, as husband diligently cooks in the kitchen
Maryam Younarae and Ryzal Ibrahim had their nuptials back in August last year, and since then, they’ve been documenting their journey as a married couple for their large following on social media.
Image credit: @maryamyunrrr
On 25th April 2020, Ibrahim posted a short 23-second clip on Twitter of his wife filming herself while he was cooking and it didn’t take long before the video blew up in the Twittersphere. With over 50,000 retweets and 58,000 likes and counting, the video has caught the attention of Malaysians everywhere who were both amused and impressed at Younarae’s Bahasa Melayu skills. They also showered her with praises after finding out that she was joining in on this year’s Ramadhan practices.
Image adapted from: @MIJAAREP
In the video, we see Younarae facing the camera while Ibrahim can be spotted behind her. He appeared to be busy cooking in the kitchen. Looking at the camera vlog-style, Younarae slowly recites the line “lapar nak mampus” which can be understood as “I’m so hungry till I want to die”.
Image adapted from: @MIJAAREP
Fellow Malaysians found it hilarious that she said those words in such a gentle tone, a stark contrast from her use of bahasa pasar. That, when paired with her innocent expression, only made the video that much more amusing to watch.
Image adapted from: @MIJAAREP
Immediately after saying that, Ryzal who was focused on cooking turned to look at Younarae with a shocked expression while yelling out, “Yah!” After a brief pause, he told her in Korean to not say things like that while Younarae retorted in English that he was the one who taught her the phrase.
Younarae jokingly said it once more and was met with Ryzal’s laughter as he continued to talk to her in Korean.
Netizens want an adorable Korean partner too
After taking a short peek at the happy couple’s married life, Malaysians began to fantasise about their own happy endings with a Korean partner who would hopefully be as cute and sweet as Maryam.
Twitter user @zaimulhumam was one of them. He was amused by Maryam’s fluent BM and expressed his interest in finding himself a Korean partner to marry too.
Image adapted from: @zaimulhumam
Another Twitter user @Vagabond9891 unabashedly asked Ryzal for dating tips on how to woo a Korean girl.
Image adapted from: @Vagabond9891
Korean wife happily participates in Raya festivities
Malaysians were happy to see Maryam so eager to participate in local traditions and even speaking bahasa pasar. Although the world is battling with a pandemic at this moment, it doesn’t mean that cultural traditions should also be put on halt. While this year’s Raya celebrations will be slightly different from previous years, it just means that we have to be a little more innovative and creative to find ways to make it work.
As for Maryam, we hope that her first Ramadhan with her husband will be a memorable one.
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