Selamat Hari Raya Maaf Zahir dan Batin. A blessed Eid Mubarak to all and may you have a blessed Eid.
As much as I am sad that Ramadhan has gone. And praying that I we will see next Ramadhan InsyAllah, ameen ameen Ya Rabb. This year Eid Mubarak I have had the chance to see, experience and feel the different aura and environment of how Eid (Hari Raya as we like to call it here in Brunei) is celebrated outside of Brunei. This year we managed to visit Kota Kinabalu. My husband’s relative is located in Papar and we had the chance to visit the neighbouring country. We witness on how Hari Raya was celebrated there. Despite the different culture and traditions, you can still sense the Hari Raya spirit in the air. With music of hari raya songs blazing in the shopping complexs, hari raya songs of new and old playing back to back on the Radio stations. And meeting old faces of long distance relative makes the heart warm. The food is oh so my…a mixture of sweet, spicy and tangy of different varities of home-cooked meals. What touched me the most the scene of when we returned from KK to return to my husband’s aunt place (as we were staying there overnight). Its was past 12am ish and the streets were dark (literally dark as there is no street lamps) and the brightest house on the very end welcomed us of cheer, children playing fireworks, bright & colorfull festive lights and relatives from each corner of the village welcomed us with such hospitality and kindness. The warmth of the moment melted my heart away as it had brought me to a flashback moment of my childhood in the 90s and how we celebrated Hari Raya.
Back in the 90s
When I was growing up, the joy and cheer of Hari Raya can be felt as the environment was filled with young children visited every home on the street and was invited in for a glass of cold beverages, cookies of all kinds and of course, green packs for each child. The cheer of lighting fireworks during the night, the spirit of spring-cleaning the homes and re-arranging the living rooms for family and friends to get comfortable during their visits. Sights if the males going to mosques to perform their prayers and giving Zakat.
Now in the 21st Century
Now in our Era, many things have changed. There are less visits by the children, as there are all grown-up now. And more into virtual games then fireworks. Huhu. And the tradition of what used to be our joy of walking to visit our neighbours have now slowly faded. But on the other hand the Traditional Family portraits are now made of selfies and wefies, which is hip and kinda fun. Capturing moments that you can store at the palm of your hand and you can see them whenever you like.
Traditional family portraits are now called Selfies or Wefies.
As the ages come and gone. There are much differance of Hari Raya then and now . Apart from aging each year, I feel that some traditions are slowly fading. Hoping that youth will still carry on the true meaning of Eid Mubarak (Hari Raya). That is asking for forgiveness, being thankful that we are still well and alive and not forgetting to give to those who have less.
Here The Deens would like to wish everyone a blessed Eid Mubarak.
The purest of its origin Is At Its Core 