Hari Raya is a muslim holiday celebrated after the long month of Ramadhan. Ramadhan is when us Muslims fast for 30 days from sunrise to sunset in order to experience how the poor feel and to appreciate our privileges. During Hari Raya (also known as Eid-ul-Fitr), we ask for forgiveness from our relatives as well as our family. By doing so, we often receive packets of money. But before all this happens, we have to prepare for the open houses and family feasts.
A few days before Raya, we buy decorations such as lights and candles to decorate our lovely homes. We will also cook and plan out food for everyone to enjoy. Some of the foods include ketupat (rice cake packed in a diamond-shaped container), rendang (thick coconut-based gravy served with beef or chicken), dodol (sticky coconut dessert) and many more. To celebrate any holiday, you obviously need to dress the part so we spend tons of time deciding on which traditional outfit to wear. Women wear Baju Kurung and men wear Baju Melayu. We enjoy a vast range of activities, such as savouring traditional food as well as playing with fireworks and enchanting sparklers.
Normally, we would do this with family members and friends however due to the Covid-19 situation, we’ve had to limit ourselves with our celebrations. Barely any open houses, no heart-warming visits to our kampungs and no social interactions. This has been the case for the past 2 years though. I myself had almost lost hope in ever celebrating Raya again. However, this year, a lot of the Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted as we are heading towards the ‘Endemic’ phase. Families are now slowly starting to visit each other and receive much more duit raya. Hari Raya (as well as other celebrations) are starting to return back to normal.
This year, I wasn’t expecting to do much for Raya because of my experience in the past 2 years. On the last day of Ramadhan, we had the sudden news that Hari Raya would be celebrated a day earlier! I was quite taken aback but it didn’t matter much as I was going to celebrate Raya on that day with my family already. I went to Langkawi and had a magical getaway with my parents. Although we didn’t get to wear beautiful clothes and eat the same delicious Raya delicacies, we still had the same amount of enjoyment. Selamat Aidilfitri to all!
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