2011/08/29
By Ahmad Fairuz Othman and Syed Umar Ariff
After a month of fasting, Muslims in Johor celebrate the arrival of Syawal by strengthening ties with family and friends
THE Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration in Johor is a much-cherished festivity that is celebrated the end of Ramadan.
It is an opportunity for family and friends to come together and seek forgiveness from each other.
Guests are invited for "open house", a uniquely Malaysian tradition.
The merriment of Hari Raya can be felt weeks ahead of the big day.
In the days following the advent of Hari Raya, families are busy making preparations and shopping for baju Melayu, baju kurung, other clothes and shoes.
The air is filled with festive songs about balik kampung and reuniting with a loved ones at Raya. There are even songs about food and children playing firecrackers.
In kitchens, women, and a few men, toil away baking cookies and cakes; while the postmen sort out thousands of greeting cards.
In Johor Baru, a sure sign of Aidilfitri is when shopping malls like Plaza Angsana gets even more crowded as the celebration draws closer.
The road leading to the mall is reduced to a crawl as shoppers come from surrounding towns such as Muar, Batu Pahat and Ledang, and even Singapore.
Plaza Angsana is known as a one-stop centre for Hari Raya shopping. It has everything one needs for Hari Raya such as baju Melayu, baju kurung and baju kebaya to trendy ladies' and men's attire.
The mall also sells ketupat, lemang, traditional kuih, pineapple tarts and crackers such as the crunchy rempeyek.
Although such delicacies produced in factories are easily available, there are those who prefer to buy homemade cookies and kuih.
Maizatul Jaffar, 40, has transformed her passion for making cookies into a thriving business during festive seasons.
The former secretary to ex-Tanjung Puteri state assemblyman, Mohamad Kasbi, had to learn to bake cookies when she was 10 years old because her family could not afford to buy ready-made ones.
"My mother, Rajiah Muin, would buy the ingredients and asked me and my siblings to bake the cookies. She said if we wanted kuih raya, we had to make them ourselves.
"My siblings were not much help as I often ended up finishing what they started.
"That was how I learned to bake, and now I have a business supplying cookies and cakes," said Maizatul, who sells 30 types of cookies, and four types of kek lapis.
Because of the nature of her business, Maizatul has her hands full even during the first few days of Raya.
"Some of my suppliers drop by during the first day of Raya to collect their payment, while traders who sell my cookies come to pay me. It is business as usual for me during Raya. I only visit my relatives a week later."
However, Maizatul keeps to the tradition of performing solat sunat Aidilfitri and visits the graves of loved ones on the morning of Raya.
Maizatul also fulfills her obligation by paying the annual zakat fitrah or tithe which Muslims must pay before performing solat sunat Aidilfitri.
"I join my siblings and their children to pray at the Kampung Melayu Majidee mosque. We then visit my late father's grave before returning home for meal of ketupat and rendang."
It is after this meal that families such as Maizatul's gather to shake hands and ask for forgiveness from each other.
Children gleefully receive duit raya after kissing the hands of the elderly.
It is common to see children in villages going from house-to-house in groups to beraya and collect as much duit raya as possible.
Maizatul's niece, Fatin Shafiqa Mahadi, 21, is still receives duit raya from her parents because she is not working.
However, the diploma in physiotherapy student knows that receiving money is not what Hari Raya is all about.
For her, it is about strengthening family ties and getting together with relatives.
"My family and I spend the first two days of Raya at my aunt's place in Batu Pahat. We visit my grandparents' grave in the morning and all my relatives will adjourn to my aunt's for a family gathering."
Aishah Kamal, 21, who celebrates Hari Raya in Kampung Melayu Majidee, close to the heart of Johor Baru, has a slightly different way of ushering the first day of Syawal.
The civil engineering diploma student meets up with friends during her open-house visits and they proceed to the cineplex in town to catch a movie.
"Unlike other people, my family does not balik kampung as our relatives all live close-by.
"We celebrate Raya in the city. After visiting some open houses, my friends and I love to go downtown to do some shopping or catch a movie.
"You could say it is the city slicker way of celebrating Hari Raya," said Aishah.
Meanwhile, Singaporean Ariffin Ahmad, 32, who was doing his Raya shopping in Johor Baru, said he visits relatives in Johor Baru and Air Hitam during the first week of the Aidilfitri.
"I make it a point to visit my uncle in Johor Baru and my aunt in Air Hitam during the Raya season. They are both Singaporeans who married locals and now live in Johor."
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