KUCHING: With the unexpected announcement of an ‘early’ Hari Raya Aidilfitri last night, Muslims across the country rushed to make their final preparations, including last-minute shopping, baking, cooking as well as preparing their Raya clothes.
Social media were flooded with posts and photos of families rushing to supermarkets and malls to buy what they needed for the Hari Raya preparation, some expressed feeling panic and shocked while others described this year’s Hari Raya as “Tiba-tiba Hari Raya” (Suddenly it’s Hari Raya already).
A Sabahan, Sapiah Abdullah, 54, who was waiting to board her flight at the Kuching International Airport (KIA) from Kuching to Brunei last night, was surprised that Hari Raya had come early this year.
Sapiah, is a teacher and is teaching in Limbang and married to a Bruenian.
“It’s a rush as I’m going back (last night) and the next day is already Hari Raya. Nevertheless, I’m glad to be able to return to her hometown and celebrate the festival with my family in Brunei,” she said.
Meanwhile, Abdul Yazeed Hamzani Yazeed, 25, from Kuching, said that everyone in the family needed to get into full gear to prepare ‘ketupat’ and ‘rendang’.
“We are all in a hurry. It was really unexpected,” he said as he laughed.
For his Raya clothes, he said that he was glad that he had already bought some of them a day before at a local mall here.
“But, overall, I’m truly thankful that this year’s celebration can be celebrated with joy,” he said.
Meanwhile Yuzairul Yusof, 35, from Batu Kawah said his family had their sofa delivered at 11.30pm.
“It was quite a funny experience. But we are glad that they are still able to deliver it,” he said.
Farah Aishah, 21, said that thankfully the contractors were able to renovate her family’s house just in time on April 29.
“They were supposed to have it done by April 30. But they managed to complete the renovation earlier. So, last night, we only had to do minor cleaning up,” she said.
