Most celebrate Raya according to govt directive, wear last year’s Raya clothes
the Hari Raya open house, and therefore it was not that unusual for him.
“There were a few occasions where we didn’t celebrate at all and just flew off somewhere or just went somewhere to unwind,” he said.
But when they do celebrate, family members from all over Kuching and even other parts of Sarawak would come to his house for a grand celebration.
“Well, I do miss my social life and the capacity to travel. But other than that, staying in is actually a good thing.
“At this point, we’re just going through the mini Raya feast (with parents) prepared and just relaxing at home,” he said.
MIRI: Unlike previous years, there was no last-minute rush to get new clothes especially for the little ones and Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration was limited to only family members according to the directive issued by the government.
Most families celebrating Hari Raya here used last year’s Raya clothes and served limited cakes and biscuits, did not hold open house and only accepted visits from close family members, not exceeding 20 people.
A random survey found only a handful of people doing shopping which is understandable since this time there are no open houses.
According to a young family living at PPR Sungai Rait, they only cooked few dishes like butter chicken, rice, ‘lemang’ and ‘rendang’.
Adhwa Zhafri said, like others, he and his wife had been badly affected by the Movement Control Order implemented nationwide since March 18 to break the chain of Covid-19 infections and they had to be prudent in spending.
“We just brought our parents to our new house here and celebrated Hari Raya in a simple way but with the Raya mood while the children played firecrackers,” he said, adding they did not buy Baju Melayu this year as the previous ones were still good.
On the Covid-19 situation, he was optimistic that the chain of infection would be broken slowly and business would pick up again in the months ahead.
Sharing the same view was Ameera Natasya, who said she and her husband and two children wore last year’s Baju Melayu as the present situation did not permit them to buy new ones.
She said the first day of Raya was celebrated at her parents’ home in Taman Jelita and the second day was spent at her husband’s parents’ home at Desa Senadin.
“This year we celebrate Raya moderately and only visited our close family members,” Ameera added.