Kuala Lampur, March 5 -- Ramadan evenings in Malaysia have a particular, well, texture.

You can feel it in the traffic around 5.30pm. Not angry traffic. Not quite impatient. Just heavier, as if the whole city is leaning forward slightly.

Cars and motorbikes line up near Ramadan bazaars. Plastic bags fog up with steam. The smell of grilled ayam percik drifts across parking lots.

Someone is counting small change under a fluorescent light. Someone else is negotiating over the last packet of roti john. Or tepung pelita.

And by seven o'clock, the rush softens into anticipation. At home, plates are arranged earlier than usual.

Dates (or whatever dessert Khairul Aming is suggesting that day) sit at the centre of the table. Drinks are poured...