Merdeka Raya + Hari Malaysia = Holiday!?.

Source from Digital Community

Well, it's 16th September. Just wondering how many of us realize that this date is an important date in the history. Or it's just a holiday to most of us. And hurray because 16th September this year falls on a Sunday and we have our Monday off too.

Two weeks ago was our Merdeka day and this year we have double celebration too. Merdeka and Hari Raya together. Therefore we have this term "Merdeka Raya". I still remember trying to explain the meaning of merdeka to my 3 year old Halley. Not an easy task at all.

You know what, I ended up telling Halley well Merdeka in short means "Happy Birthday to Malaysia, our country"... It's not easy to tell her that Malaysia, used to be called as Tanah Melayu and was being ruled by others (the Portugese, British,...) then in 1957 Malaya was being announced as an independent country. And in 1963 Malaysia was formed with the joining of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore and then in 1965 Singapore left us.

How do you explain "Merdeka" to your kids? Do share with us your experience. :)