Article:Cat club president opens his home to guests from all over

Tuesday September 22, 2009

By OH ING YEEN

THE Muhibbah spirit was evident at a kampung house in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.

Every Hari Raya, Malaysia Cat Club president Khalid Rashid invites his friends from Austria, Germany, Iran, the United States, Britain, South Africa and Poland to his open house.

Khalid has been inviting friends over to his place since six years ago and some are members of the Malaysia Cat Club while others are friends he made via cat shows.

Welcome: Khalid (right) introducing one of his cats to (from left) Dr Kosta and the Kuschers.

"They (the guests) are more like family. For us, we must not only open the doors to guests but we must also open our hearts and spend more time with them to make them feel at home," said the owner of six Persian and Bengal cats.

No doubt, the cats were the centre of attraction.

Malaysia Cat Club secretary Habbil Hussain had everyone gushing over his white Birman cat that clung to him as he introduced it to guests.

Club members Leo and Elisabeth Kuscher from Austria are proud owners of Persian cats.

Elisabeth considers herself two-thirds Malaysian as that is the amount of time she had spent in Malaysia.

"I love the idea of open houses. There's delicious food and company. The festive spirit is in the air and it makes everyone happy and relaxed," she said, adding that she made it a point to visit Tun Mahathir Mohamad's open house every year.

For Iranian Reza Saeedi, the concept of open houses is somewhat similar to what they have in Iran where they visit relatives and friends during the festivity.

"Instead of Hari Raya Aidilfitri, we call it Eid-e-fetr.

"The dishes are different, too, as we serve traditional Iranian cuisine during the festival," he said.

While Fee Lin Chew is not a member of the club, she is a friend of Khalid. She visited him last Raya.

"I try to visit my friends during the festive season but since many have gone back to their hometowns, I would have to wait until they get back to KL," the 49-year-old government servant of Thai parentage said.

The fact that there was a dog-lover among the cat-lovers reinforced the spirit of Muhibbah.

Although Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) professor Dr Joan C. Kosta, who is from New York, prefers dogs to cats, she feels that the open house concept is wonderful.

"We could spend time in a home environment and learn about different cultures," she said, adding that this is the first time that she had tried lemang.

This article was taken from: The Star Online: Metro: Central 22 September 2009