It was an event so immense that it took place over an area as big as two huge residential compounds. From the outside, it looked like a huge carnival was going on. About 10 huge, white tents were used. There was no way any normal caterers could provide food for so many people so the organisers set up food stalls in different corners of the area. There was a pizza stall, a sate stall, some noodle stalls and even an ice kacang (shaved ice with corn, jellies and kidney beans mixed with syrup and sweetened milk) stall.

The VIPs had tables set up with flowers decorations and covered chairs. All these were right in front of the makeshift stage. Everyone else sat in plastic chairs placed in any available area or next to any friends or relatives. Then again, everyone was either a relative or a very close friend of the organising family. It was easy to tell who were the relatives and who were the friends, though. One thing about this clan is that most of them still retain a very strong hint of their Arabic features. Anyone who knew them as descendants of the Arabic clan knew how to differentiate them easily. Maybe it was the facial features or their height or even their body size. A lot of them still had very strong Arabic features on them.

The whole area was lit up, exactly as if a huge festival was going on. They were even giving away prizes as lucky draws and as a token of high achievement during the recent public exam.

They came from near and far. Some from next door, others from as far as Kuala Lumpur or Miri.

This was the first time such a thing had been attempted. It was an exciting yet confusing event. Everyone who had not seen their relatives in years, saw them tonight. They caught up on each others' lives. The need to make contact created a confusion. Everyone was talking at once and everyone wanted to be heard. Everyone had someone they just needed to talk to tonight.

The best thing about tonight was that, despite the minor screw-ups, despite the insane rush for food, despite the differences, everyone was family. And everyone was happy to be there.