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PORT KLANG: Although most Muslims
are taking time off from work
to be with their loved ones
on Hari Raya, there are some
who sacrifice this joy
because of their jobs.
One such group
is the port workers at Westport
Malaysia Sdn Bhd who work round-the-clock
to ensure the smooth running
of the daily shipment of cargo.
Quay crane
operator Azhari Ibrahim, 37,
is among the many Westport workers
who will work this Hari Raya
and miss celebrating it with
his family in Alor Star for
the sixth time since joining
the company 10 years ago.
"Who doesn't want to spend
time celebrating the festive
occasion with their family?
But for us, duty comes first,"
he said.
He said it
was tough enough having to spending
the festive season without his
parents and wife but this year
it would be even more difficult
because he would be missing
the first Hari Raya celebration
with his two-month-old daughter.
"The sadness
lessens when I celebrate the
first day of Hari Raya with
my non-Muslim colleagues and
also the Muslim ones who have
to work through the festive
period," he said.
"Everyone
would come to work in their
baju Melayu and have ketupat
and rendang prepared by the
company before they start work."
Being a crane
operator, Azhari will be on
the seven-storey-high crane
station to load and unload goods
from the cargo vessels docked
at the port in Pulau Indah.
Dispatcher
Mohd Amir Hassan, who provides
job assignments to crane operators
from the port's planning centre,
said he had been working with
Westport for 10 years and had
spent most of his Hari Raya
celebrations at the port.
"It is
okay for me to spend Hari Raya
at work, but my wife will merajuk
(sulk) sometimes because she
has to take the children back
to Sungai Siput on her own,"
he said.
Vessel operations
manager Titus Raj Francis Xavier
said quay crane operators and
dispatchers were the most important
groups and the port could not
operate without them.
He said that
with Muslims making up 70% of
the workforce at the port many
of them sometimes have to wait
several years for their turn
to go on Hari Raya leave.
By
CHRISTINA TAN
The Star, 23.09.2008
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