Fairy Mahdzan: Lighting Up Pelita for Lebaran

This is me at a McDonald's in Thamrin-Jakarta which had a screening contraption installed right at the entrance. Authorities were taking precautions against idiots who have nothing else better to do but bomb American franchises in the city (as occured in Makassar just after Hari Raya 2002)

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*Lighting Up Pelita* for Lebaran**
by Farah 'Fairy' Mahdzan (22-Nov-2003) \| Readers Say

I have always been a true believer in the setting up of pelitas outside and all around the house come Hari Raya season. This was an activity that my dad and I would do together when he felt I was old enough to handle kerosene and a lighter. Pelitas add warmth to the season and are subtle reminders of the old kampung days when electricity access was limited and people relied solely on kerosene lamps for light in the dark.

Nowadays people install strings of colored light bulbs in the vicinity of their house compound for that bright festivity look, and although our house too has them, I have always been fond of pelitas in illuminating our home. This year, after so many years of abandoning the tradition, I decided to set out to look for my pelita lamps and relive the excitement.

I came across these plastic pelitas but they were in what I thought were inappropriate colors for the season: blue and red! When I was growing up, pelitas were mainly made of tin and I was so keen on getting some original tin pelitas. Not happening. Every shop I went to claimed that tin pelitas were no longer available, at least not in this part of town. That adds yet another childhood item in my list of rare finds.

In the end I settled for some green and yellow pelitas, colors which I thought represented Hari Raya well. I also bought some other things in order to get started with hanging up pelitas.

1. Minyak tanah, or kerosene oil. A 1.5 litre bottle of minyak tanah was RM3.

2. I paid RM4 for a pack of 10 pelitas. I've seen them being sold for anywhere between RM4 and RM5.50. Shop around if you plan to buy loads.

3. A trusty lighter.

4. Some galvanized wire to hang the pelitas.

To get started, I had to worm the sumbu or wick into its metal holders. This was the part of pelita hanging that I think is the toughest. I used a long wire to push the sumbu up.

My mom and dad decided to help out on this mission, which saved me a lot of time. Doing this together with your family can prove to be very fun indeed.

Once I got my wicks ready, I capped my lamps. We had twenty to work with, a number that worked well with the size of our house compound.

Dad helped out with the wires by cutting them into shorter parts. He also said he wanted his hands to taste a bit of fame on Mahdzan.com. :)

Our pelitas were ready to be hung, and hang them we did. With some twisting and turning of the wires, I managed to secure the pelita onto our fence.

Unfortunately, the sky growled with thunder, indicating that it was going to rain any minute. Ramadan this year has been a very wet one in Malaysia, a very rare occurrence since Ramadan has always been notorious for its timely hot weather. To protect my wick from being soaked, I covered my pelitas in plastic and decided to wait for another night to light them up.

A few nights later, the weather looked promising. I filled up all twenty pelitas with minyak tanah and by the time I was done, I had used up almost 3/4 of the 1.5 litre bottle of minyak tanah. I filled one pelita about halfway to the brim with the kerosene oil.

I waited for a minute for the wicks to seep up some of the oil before lighting them up with my lighter. They will lick up your lighter flame much faster if you do it this way.

And here we go a-blazin'! Stand back! If the wicks have soaked up enough kerosene, it's normal to see them flare up like this. Don't get your face or hair too close when you're firing the lamps.

Here are about 10 of our lovely pelitas, all lit up with their little long flames dancing lazily away in the night. I've always loved lit-up pelitas; they make the most beautiful sight.

Of course, with the oil lamps all around the house, what better time to engage in some sparkler activity! It's bunga api time! My niece and nephew have never played with bunga api, and the great aunt that I am will show them what being a kid is all about come Hari Raya!

Since the kids were too young to light up their own sparklers, I gave them a helping hand with torching it.

Oooo...! Aaaa...! It's been eons since I've played with bunga api and my, what a welcoming scene this is! I'm not particularly fond of this type of sparkler since it's made out of paper and tends to give out more smoke than the ones that come with metal handles. But I couldn't get my favorite "Black Cat" brand bunga api, so this cheap stuff will have to do.

The kids were excited with their first bunga api experience but also displayed a little bit of fear in holding the sparklers. Adani looks real rigid holding one!

Addin, my nephew, was a bit takut as well and ran away a few times when I tried handing him a sparkler! It'll be my utmost pleasure to tell him when he's all grown up about how he screamed like a girl in the face of his first bunga api! :) In the end he decided to show me how brave he was and confidently held on to a sparkler, with me nearby of course.

Because I didn't cover the oil lamps with plastic after putting them out, they were exposed to the rain during the night and the metal parts rusted out. :( Dad then suggested that the next time I put up pelitas, I should smear some grease onto the metal pieces so that they won't rust in damp conditions.

However you decide to decorate your house this Raya season, nothing can quite beat the beauty of this timeless classic: the good ol' pelita Hari Raya.

The Spirit of Ramadan at the Pasar Malam!

WHAT READERS SAY ABOUT Lighting Up Pelita for Lebaran:

#30. selamat berbuka puase.. jgn lupe owg yg tsyang ok.. pandu kete or van or moto or lori or komuter or kapal terbang or kapal laut or kapal selam..

hahahahaha

Posted by ain on 8-Sep-2009, 11:12 MYT

#29. memang dulu orng semue wat sndiri sumbu pelite dri tali guni aje
Posted by zack - Website on 28-Aug-2009, 08:47 MYT

#28. ske tengok pelita banyak2...
menjadikan suasana lagi meriah..
bagi yabg bersedih...
bersabarlah ye...

Posted by nora ainaa - Website on 31-Oct-2007, 10:39 MYT

#27. nice pelita..
Posted by marB - Website on 1-Oct-2007, 12:01 MYT

#26. assamualikum,
seronok tgk lampu pelita ni.tapi kat mesia sekarang ni ada tak syarikat ke orang persendirian ke yg jual lampu pelita .
kalau ada ingat nak mintak tolong sbb nak alamat email atau pon webpage yg ada jual lampu pelita atau yg seangkatan dgn nye.saya sekarang blaja kat oversea ,so sekarang ni ada projek kena jual lampu kat orng kat sini ingat nak mintak tolong lah kalau ada.
Posted by nur hafizzah on 6-Nov-2006, 20:07 MYT

#25. PAKDIN: Tak susah lah, I bought mine from the kedai mamak where I also bought the pelitas.
Posted by Fairy on 19-Oct-2006, 13:33 MYT

#24. ishh nak cari minyak tanah pun susah sekarang. kena beli Diesel lah kot....
Posted by PakDin on 19-Oct-2006, 11:05 MYT

#23. waah. cantiknya.

maaf lambat sunggoh, selamat hari raya fairy, maaf zahir batin ya.
Posted by lissa on 10-Dec-2003, 21:23 MYT

#22. saya membesar di kawasan desa, pelita dibuat sendiri dari botol minuman tin dan plastik, semuanya boleh dijadikan pelita, cuma perlu modal keringat dan kreativiti saja. sumbu? biasanya kain perca digunakan. minyak tanah biasa diambil daripada dapur minyak tanah. begitulah zaman anak-anak, semuanya DIY : )
Posted by hisham on 3-Dec-2003, 09:41 MYT

#21. Wah.. Cun abis.. memang tradisi yang tidak pernah dilupakan dan dibawa dari kenangan anak-anak.. Until now, I kept thinking of being one of the most happiest children in the world.. Happy Raye untuk semua.. Mohon maaf lahir dan batin.. Salamzz..
Posted by Daniah on 3-Dec-2003, 08:26 MYT

#20. Sure I pernah nampak pelita atas buluh. Not a common sight in the urban areas, mostly in the kampung. Very pretty.
Posted by Fairy on 2-Dec-2003, 10:06 MYT

#19. Pelita...or Panjut..(bahasa org perak) Nak lagi klasik, guna buluh. (Jangan buat meriam dahle) Pernah nampak tak, Fairy?

Posted by elle on 1-Dec-2003, 08:21 MYT

#18. Fairy memang auntie yang baik! I should have pasang pelita at my house, for my kids.. but nooo.. tahun depan I'll do it.

But, tahun ni, for the first time ever, my ajk kampung pasang pelita sepanjang jalan!! Dekat nak waktu Maghrib, ada lah mat-mat belia yang akan pasang pelita tu. Nice! Tapi tak ambik gambar pulak.. in fact we all tak ada ambik gambar langsung masa raya ni.. Sigh..
Posted by Suria on 28-Nov-2003, 10:35 MYT

#17. wow
bagus sekali deh
eh kamu sabar banget sih bikin artikel ini
udah gitu beserta cara pembuatannya
lengkap dengan foto
ckckck
salute !

Posted by hiddenhate - Website on 28-Nov-2003, 10:11 MYT

#16. bestnyer citer hari raya kat mesia. your stories bout pasar ramadhan brought me happy memories. isk bila la nak balik mesia ni???
Posted by huneydew on 27-Nov-2003, 05:37 MYT

#15. Nice pelitas; maaf zahir batin from me
Posted by Sigit on 26-Nov-2003, 22:19 MYT

#14. Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, mohon maaf zahir batin mbak Fai. Bile nak datang umah ?
Posted by im on 26-Nov-2003, 09:42 MYT

#13. SELAMAT HARI RAYA!!!!
Posted by ikram - Website on 25-Nov-2003, 07:49 MYT

#12. Ma'ci' Raf, don't lah be so mean and put hundreds of flat residents out on the street because of your gatalness to pasang pelita pulak! I don't have a problem with you being out on the streets in Singapore, maybe that'll actually get you to move your behind to Malaysia permanently but the others? Kesian lah.

Kita balik 'kampung' bulan depan. Selamat hari raya to you as well.
Posted by Fairy on 24-Nov-2003, 13:20 MYT

#11. Ma'ci, x balik kg kah? Neways, I've always wanted to TRY to put pelitas up at our flats hahaha saja nak bakar satu bangunan but that will never happen I guess but this article at least satisfy parts of my curiosity on how all the setting up goes about . Selamat Hari Raya as well!
Posted by Rafthah on 24-Nov-2003, 13:16 MYT

#10. Yeah, my mom tells me when she was a little girl she'd make pelitas out of glass bottles too. I think that's pretty neat.
Posted by Fairy on 24-Nov-2003, 10:08 MYT

#9. I still can get handmade tin pelitas in my kampung, kalo di kampungku semua pelitanya DIY. Ada yang pake aluminium cans and bottles.But usually they'll use sprite or 7up cans to match hari raya mood.
Anyway, malam ni pengumuman raya...

Posted by Ana on 24-Nov-2003, 09:55 MYT

#8. i wish i was a kid again... life was so carefree
Posted by intan - Website on 24-Nov-2003, 09:12 MYT

#7. Selamat Hari Raya.. .from your neighbour .... take care and have a wonderful holiday!
Posted by Yit Weng - Website on 24-Nov-2003, 03:21 MYT

#6. Panjangnya sumbu.

There's another type of pelita that we seldom see nowadays. It's made from bamboo (as the kerosene tank) and it'll have several wicks in a row.
Posted by MK84 on 24-Nov-2003, 02:48 MYT

#5. Bagas, insyaallah kalau waktu terluang, akan saya coba tulis artikel ttg makanan Lebaran, especially ttg ketupat.

ikram: alah kalau sumbu habis apa susah? Just stick in new sumbu la.
Posted by Fairy on 23-Nov-2003, 21:40 MYT

#4. keje paling leceh pasal pelita nih, kalau tali dia dah habis..aiyo..masa tuh tak skill lagi nak buatkan.
Posted by ikram - Website on 23-Nov-2003, 19:14 MYT

#3. Ahhh..we don't have any pelitas macam tu di bandung. tapi kalo colored bulbs sih rasanya banyak. eh fai, sempet bikin kue-kue dan makanan lebaran article tak? ketupat, opor ayam,...I rasa nak balik indo saje for this lebaran hiks..hiks.. but EID MUBARRAK Everyone!
Posted by Bagas on 23-Nov-2003, 18:13 MYT

#2. Iya tuh Mbak Syl, pelita sekarang sudah 'kalerful'. Tapi masih tetap menghangatkan suasana lebaran selayaknya pelita!
Posted by Fairy on 23-Nov-2003, 14:06 MYT

#1. Cantik sekali Pelita nya sekarang ya, Far. Warna-warni, as you said : Jaman dahulu, container nya terbuat dari tin. Mmmh, suasana Lebaran nya dengan Pelita dipasang di pagar jadi makin meriah ya.
Posted by SyL - Website on 23-Nov-2003, 13:55 MYT

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