Any good news to share despite the challenging year?

Our business has inevitably been affected by the pandemic, and when the business is affected, the employees feel the impact first. As a business owner, I have a responsibility to take care of my staff who have helped build this company. We had to put our thinking hats on and come up with a project that not only allowed us to keep our staff, but also our current network and industry. So we diversified and started a new line of snacks called Ayyah Murukku. It's been doing great and we're very grateful.

What are your wishes and hopes for this time next year?

That next year will be a better year for all of us. We've been humbled by what is happening around us but we remain positive. 

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What will Deepavali look like for you and your family this year?

Our home will be decorated with colourful flowers (jasmine is a must), garlands and oil lamps. Early in the morning, we'll light up the altar, give thanks for our blessings and then proceed to a hearty homecooked traditional Indian breakfast. It’s so heartwarming to see children, grandnieces and grandnephews all dressed in colourful ethnic outfits with joy on their faces at receiving their ang pows. As the CMCO continues to be extended well after Diwali, celebrations this year will be a very quiet family affair, observing social distancing and other SOPs with a small number of family members.

Any special reflections that you'd like to share?

Diwali is a festival of lights, celebrating the triumph of good over evil. Hence, this Diwali we will have our oil lamps lit and pray that we will overcome the darkness of the pandemic, and that there will be light in all our lives.

What are your wishes and hopes for this time next year?

That Diwali next year will be celebrated in a big way, with joy and laughter, with family and dear friends who look forward to celebrating with us. I’m hoping for a more colourful Diwali lighting up our lives.

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What will Deepavali look like for you and your family this year?

Although we were hoping to open our home to all our friends and family this year, we’ll have a smaller celebration, just me and my parents, as well as FaceTiming my sister who's in Los Angeles! We’re still going to cook up a feast and celebrate the tradition but in a more intimate way, which is also sort of nice.

What are you most grateful for in 2020?

Family, for sure! I’m so lucky that my sister and my parents are both healthy and safe. We worry for my sister who's working in the film industry but thankfully she's safe and well.

Related: Do You Know These Sweet And Savoury Diwali Snacks?

What are your wishes and hopes for this time next year?

That we’ll be able to gather and celebrate again. Hoping for our country and everyone all over the world to be rid of this horrible virus, and that we can go back to living our lives more mindfully.

More: The Tatler Guide To Throwing A Virtual Party

What will Deepavali look like for you and your family this year?

This year, it will be a small celebration in my home with my immediate family. We'll be celebrating Diwali together over lunch and thereafter engaging with wider family virtually. 

What are you most looking forward to this Diwali?

No matter how challenging this year has been, I'm extremely grateful for the fact that we are all healthy and continue to have the motivation to pursue the business endeavours we've built over the years. These times have also presented us with several commercial opportunities which we have seized, and I am hopeful that all of these new endeavours will take off soon.

What are your wishes and hopes for this time next year?

That we will be back enjoying each other's company face to face, something I have always cherished in the past.     

What will Deepavali look like for you this year?

My in-laws live very close by so we will be celebrating with them this Deepavali. I was really looking forward to eating food at relatives’ homes and meeting my husband’s friends and family, but we can't do that many visits this year. As a family, we're currently making muruku and cookies together, and we are sending these to family and friends near and far.

Since it will be just us this year, we’re ordering from my steamboat and grill delivery service (Ili Pot) to keep cooking at home to a minimum. Plus, my mother-in-law is making some marinated mutton to spice up our Deepavali grill.

What are you most looking forward to this Diwali?

I'm one of the very lucky ones who get to be with family, though some are so far away from theirs at this time. I'm looking forward to wearing my sari that I got as a gift from my in-laws at my wedding last year, and just being with loved ones and enjoying the food. 

What are your wishes and hopes for this time next year?

That we will all be out of this pandemic, that families will be reunited, and our lives can go back to normal. I miss Malaysia-style celebrations and holidays. Deepavali, Hari Raya, Christmas—they are so different now.

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