KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 – Grandparents’ Day is being celebrated for the first time in Malaysia which held on Sunday is to appreciate the elderly in the country. This event that was first introduced in Poland in 1964 has become an annual celebration around the world.
For grandmother and housewife Maimunah Abdullah, 88, she is happy to celebrate Grandparents’ Day for the first time on Sunday due to it was showed that senior citizens are still given the same respect and attention in the society. Meanwhile, the mother of six also said that it is nice to be honoured on a special day like this.
“I hope we can maintain and remember this day every year so that our younger generation will be aware of how important the role of the elderly is in their lives. I have 11 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren, I remember how my children used to send them to me before they went to work, it was a tiring experience but looking back it was one of those moments that you will remember forever,” she said.
Asked about how she was going to celebrate the occasion, Maimunah whose husband passed away sometime back replied that she was just going to stay at home and enjoy the company of her children, grandchildren and their families on this special day. She said she only get to see them on weekends and public holidays, normally she will cook their favourite food and all of us will eat together and it has been a tradition in the family to eat together on the same table during weekends.
Her granddaughter, Puteri Nur Anisa, 25, said celebrating the sacrifice of grandparents should not only be celebrated on Grandparents’ Day but to be appreciated every day. She said her grandmother played an important role when she was growing up, her grandmother used to take care and cooked for us, so it is our turn to return the favour and start looking after them.
In the same time, she also said that the time will come over us when grandparents will no longer be around with us, so it is an important moment to cherish up every moment with them which also we can and make them feel appreciated and happy every day.
Last month, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim announced the endorsement of Grandparents’ Day that will be celebrated annually on the first Sunday of October marks the first celebration in the country.
The celebration is held to honour and recognise the sacrifice and the important role of the elderly in strengthening the family institutions in the country. Meanwhile, Attia Nursing Care Centre Manager Ehtesham Ahmad said his care centre had planned many activities for its residents and visitors who would be coming to celebrate the event on Sunday.
“We always have activities going on at the centre during celebrations, like during Mothers’ Day we will serve food, we have a book reading session and we watch movies together. A majority of them (elderly) still receive visits from their family regularly, we even have students from local universities coming to visit. The elderly residents enjoyed the company of younger people because all they wanted was somebody to listen to them,” said Ehtesham.
