Hari Raya Aidilfitri is the Malay term for the Muslim festival of Eid ul-Fitr. Hari Raya is also known as Lebaran.

During the Muslim month of Ramadan leading up to Hari Raya, it is mandatory for Muslims to fast from dawn to dusk. All Muslims except the young, old or infirm must fast. Many Muslims also abstain from pleasures during the daylight of the fasting month.

On the eve of Hari Raya, Muslims will recite the takbir, which is held in mosques and surau (smaller place of worship). In some communities, there will be congregations reciting the takbir from house to house. Many people also traditionally return to their home town generally from big metropolitan cities to rural areas. This is known as balik kampung, literally going back to one's home town to celebrate Hari Raya Aidilfitri with family and friends.

Usually on the eve of the celebrations, family members, especially mothers and housewives, will be busy preparing food, cakes, sweets, biscuits and various delicacies to be served on the day of Hari Raya. Delicacies such as ketupat or rice cake and a meat cuisine called rendang are among the most famous cuisines that are served during this day. Other family members will help in other chores such as decorating and cleaning up the house.

It is customary for Malays to wear traditional Malay costumes. The dress for men is called baju melayu while the women's are known as baju kurung and baju kebaya. Traditional textiles such as songket and batik are worn favourably during this day.

Muslims will attend Eid prayer in the morning and consecrate together harmoniously while taking the chance to meet and greet each other. Once the prayer is done, it is also common for Muslims in Malaysia to visit the grave of their loved ones. During this visit, they will clean the grave, perform the recital of the Yasin (a chapter from the Qur'an) and also the tahlil or prayers for the deceased. All these are done in hope that their loved ones are blessed by God and they are spared from the punishment in the grave.

The rest of the day is spent visiting relatives or serving visitors. Hari Raya is a very joyous day for children for this is the day where adults are extra generous.
During the night, there are often celebrations with sparklers and firecrackers, albeit restrictions on playing firecrackers enforced by the authorities.Safety issues, especially among children are raised and alarming cases relating to injuries caused by playing firecrackers are often reported, which initially led to the banning of playing firecrackers. Despite of the enforcement of banning firecrackers, more Malay children turn to home-made firecrackers such as meriam buluh (bamboo cannon) as alternatives to commercial fireworks. Usually the lighting of firecrackers begins a few days before the end of Ramadan, and continues for about a week afterwards.

During Chinese New Year, people will gather around and celebrate as a family. Usually at the house of the person who is the most senior. Gathering around as a family is a good thing as everyone gets to know each other more and have fun together.

Before Chinese New Year, everyone will clean their homes because Chinese believe that cleaning sweeps away the bad luck of the preceding year and makes their homes ready for good luck. Brooms and dust pans are put away on the first day so that luck cannot be swept away.

The first day is for the welcoming of the deities. Many people, especially Buddhists, abstain from meat consumption on the first day because it is believed that this will ensure longevity for them. Some consider lighting fires and using knives to be bad luck on New Year's Day, so all food to be consumed is cooked the day before.


Firecrackers were used in China to drive away evil spirits by their loud cracking sound when ignited. The use of firecrackers, although a traditional part of celebration, has over the years witnessed many unfortunate outcomes. There have been reported incidents every year of users of fireworks being blinded, losing body parts, or suffering other grievous injuries, especially during festive seasons. Hence, governments and authorities eventually enacted laws completely banning the use of firecrackers privately, primarily because of safety issues.


Red packets are also given out during Chinese New Year. They are also known as 压祟钱(Ya Sui Qian), the money is used to suppress or put down he evil spirit during this period.

Clothing mainly featuring the colour red is commonly worn throughout the Chinese New Year because it is believed that red will scare away evil spirits and bad fortune. In addition, people typically wear new clothes from head to toe to symbolize a new beginning in the New Year.

Jesse still celebrated Christmas even though he thinks he doesn't really bond with his family. They ate sweet potatoes and ham for dinner although they were poor, maybe because Christmas was a special occasion for them. Jesse received a racing-car set from his father. Brenda was angry because Ellie had a panty hose and she only had bobby socks. His mother wanted him to do chores even though it was Christmas.

How I celebrated Chinese New Year was different from how Jesse celebrated Christmas. Chores will be done before Chinese New Year because it is believed that cleaning sweeps away the bad luck of the preceding year and makes our homes ready for good luck. Instead of receiving presents, we received red packets with money in them. We were already happy upon receiving the red packets and the amount of money inside didn’t really matter to us. And same as Jesse, I spent time with my family.

When Chinese New Year was approaching, I looked forward to it with my family and we prepared for this festive season. During this festive season, I also spent a lot of time together with my family, more than the times we spent together normally. But for Jess, he didn’t spend much time with his family but spent more time with Leslie instead. He also didn’t seem to be looking forward to Christmas. He had gotten Leslie a present for Christmas but for us, we don’t exchange presents during Chinese New Year. Instead, we receive red packets from our relatives. But I feel that we are very fortunate to be able to spend time together with our families than our friends during this festive season, unlike Jess who spends very little time with his families but more time with his friend, Leslie. Hence, we should cherish what we have now.

Jess celebrated his Christmas with his family by eating ham and sweet potatoes for dinner as a family despite being poor. Even though they were not rich, they still celebrated Christmas together. Jess’ mother was asking him to do chores like milking the cow and one of his sisters was not happy with her gift. Jess also got a present for Leslie and it was one that he was proud of. My Christmas is not very much different from Jess as me and my family ate together. Before Christmas, all the chores will be done and we do not have cows or any animals, so we did not have to worry about that. We were all happy with our presents as we knew that we were all very fortunate to have a family and time to spend together, being with the family is all that mattered. We did not really buy gifts for our friends as we were not as close to them as Jess was with Leslie.

My experience
• I spent the whole day with my family and relatives.
• I visited relatives.
• I collected lots of money.
• I didn’t have a tree to decorate.
• My brother and father visited graves.
• I woke up early.

Jess Experience (Christmas)
• He spent half of the day with his family and then the other half with his friend.
• He couldn’t visit relatives because they are in another country.
• He received presents and gave gifts.
• He decorated with his family a Christmas tree.
• Nobody visited any graves.
• He didn’t have to wake up early.

Christmas was almost a month away but Jess wasn’t really looking forward to celebrate it with his family. He didn’t really spent much time with his family during this festival. Instead, he spent more time with Leslie. He enjoyed her company very much. Jess desperately wanted to give Leslie something for Christmas but didn’t know what. In the bus, as he was gazing out the window, he saw a sign saying “Free Puppies”. He alighted at that stop and took one. That afternoon, he told Leslie to meet him so that he could give her the puppy. There was no mistaking the delight in Leslie’s eyes when she saw the gift. It was indeed a present that Jess could be proud of. Later that afternoon, Leslie gave Jess his present. She didn’t know how proud and good she made him feel, that the rest of Christmas didn’t matter because that day had been so good. When he got home, he didn’t even bothered when the presents were to be opened as the glow of that afternoon stayed with him. The next present he received was a racing-car set by his father. He liked it as he knew his father had put more money into it than he should have. Jess soon felt the spirit of Christmas again.

Chinese New Year is one occasion I grew up looking forward to every year with eagerness and anticipation. We would be receiving red packets from our relatives and friends when we visited them. Then there’s the glorious food and the festive atmosphere.

When I was young, one of the best things I loved about Chinese New Year was the chance to dress up and wear nice clothes. Months before Chinese New Year I would already be asking my mum to get me pretty clothes, and I could hardly wait for the first day of Chinese New Year to arrive. One thing I loved also was to have lots of people in our house! The red decorations and heaps of shoes outside the house. Relatives hanging around chatting and watching television. Us, who were kids then gorging ourselves out on the delicious goodies and sharing toys with other kids. We would be playing Mahjong and the head of our household which is my grandfather would be playing banker to feed our gambling craves. It was so noisy and heaps of fun.

As I grew older however, things like new clothes and red packets start to bear less significance. Nowadays I don't even get excited that much about it. Is it me, or has Chinese New Year really grown quieter and less festive in the recent years? Most of my best memories were when I was child. Is it because when you were a young kid, the impact of everything is magnified ten-fold due to your inexperience?

But Chinese New Year hasn't completely lost it's charm, because it never fails to remind me of how blessed I am to have my family, a large and close one at that too.


On the eve of every Chinese New Year, it’s a custom for every family to have reunion dinner. Cousins, aunts and uncles went to my grandparents’ house for reunion dinner. We had steamboat, a variety of dishes where raw ingredients are cooked in a simmering pot of broth at the table. At around 11.30pm we will leave the house and make our way to the temple to pray because the first day is for the welcoming of the deities of the heavens and earth.

The first day of Chinese New Year, is a time when families visit the oldest and most senior members of their extended family. My family went to visit my paternal grandfather early in the morning. My cousins would be playing Xbox and Playstation while my aunts and uncles enjoyed a game of Tai Di and Mahjong. In the late afternoon, we left my paternal grandfather's house and went over to my maternal grandparents’ house but I didn’t get to see all of my cousins because some had already left.

We went to visit a friend of my dad’s on the second day. Then, we visited my uncle who is my dad’s eldest brother later in the afternoon and because we hadn’t seen each other for a very long time, we had a lot of catching up to do.

The next two days, leaving the house early in the morning to go visiting and then coming home late will be the same routine for my family. This made me really tired. But I still enjoyed Chinese New Year!

Chinese New Year is a time for bonding with my extended family members because I don’t get to see them very often. And yes, also getting together and spending more time with my family.

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Since young, this will always be the festive season that I look forward to every year. It will be the time where I get to see my family all together celebrating this festive season and also the time where I will get to spend more time with my cousins. I will also be able to receive many red packets from relatives and there’s so many delicious food!

During the eve of Chinese New Year, I will go back to my paternal grandmother’s house for reunion dinner. Surprisingly, this year I started receiving red packets on the eve of Chinese New Year from my relatives. After the dinner, as usual the adults will start playing mahjong or poker cards, whereas the kids will play with their PSP or handphone or just watch television and laze around.

On the first day of Chinese New Year, my relatives will start coming to our house and soon I will go back to my paternal side for lunch and I will stay there for almost the whole day unless we go and visit our other relatives. And we will have to travel from one end to the other end of Singapore. And this will be routine for the next three days for this year’s Chinese New Year. Many times, when we go aorund visiting our relatives, i won't really know them well because i only see them that once in that year thus we aren't close at all.

This year's Chinese New Year was also a special one because i went out with all my cousins for the first time without any adults around. We went to watch a movie and played at the arcade. Watching a movie with cousins and friends is totally a different feeling. Same thing playing at the arcade. I really had an enjoyable Chinese New Year.

I really loved this year’s Chinese New Year because the first two days falls on Thursday and Friday respectively. Then we will have a long weekend because it will be the weekends on the third and fourth day. But it’s also tiring because I will always get home very late and go out early in the morning. And I always have to rush through my homework.

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During this festive season, people would have a big family gathering, games, sing-a-longs, a huge feast, and for Christians maybe even scripture reading. Everyone in my family felt happy and excited during this festival as there were a lot of presents being passed around.

Christmas is a time for fun and laughter with everyone in the world together with their families and celebrating as one. Christmas originated from Christians belief and has been passed down for generations. Presents are the main attraction during Christmas and many hours are used to buy presents, but the main thing is to gather as a family together to talk and have fun with each other. Some time before Christmas, my church ward would come together and celebrate Christmas as a church by passing presents, eat together and have fun.

This Christmas was more special this year. My aunts, grandmother and I went to church a few days before Christmas to teach more people about how Christmas originated. We had to have roles and we those few days were either guides, basket weavers or King Harold’s wife, which was a torturing role as we had to either fan him or feed him grapes. We all had a great laugh and great fun those few days and found it meaningful and hard to forget.

On the big day, everyone came to my parent’s house to celebrate. We ate ham, salad, duck, mash potato, vegetable soup and log cake. After the huge feast, we had scripture reading and singing, we also listened to the radio for Christmas carols. Games too were part of our celebration and everyone had fun winning gifts from various games.

The grand finale to the perfect Christmas was the presents! Gift wrappers were thrown all around, thank you’s and smiles could be seen on everyone’s face. Christmas that year was specially special as not only did we celebrate it as a family, we even showed people who entered our church the true meaning of a happy Christmas.

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Finally we can stop fasting. I had so much fun on this day! Early in the morning, my brother and my father went to the mosque to pray. Then they will go to the cemetery to visit my relatives’ graves. They had to visit 4 graves, and since it rain, the ground was muddy and slippery. When they come home, we will go to our relatives house. We would go to my grandmother’s house, my father’s mother. Then we will stay there until around 6 o’clock in the afternoon. All my fathers brothers and sisters will gather there and so will their husbands and wives. I and my brother will play with our cousins. My brother will always play with only the boys but all they play is my cousin’s x-box. Until the x-box spoilt that is. Me and my female cousins will go to my cousin’s room and tell ghost stories until we run out of stories. By time then it will be time for lunch, we have lunch at around 2-3. After we eat lunch, we will eat a few kuihs made by my cousin’s mother. The kuihs were really yummy. Then we will play board games. We play cluedo, payday and holiday. I will often let my cousins win, they are younger than me and they are sore losers. If I play with my older cousins I will try my best to win. Then we will listen to our mothers talk. Often very long and boring stories. If we are bored, we will go the boys’ room and disturb them. When it is around 6pm we will go to my grandmother’s, mother’s mother, house. We stay for awhile, eat dinner, then return home by 8 or 9. Then I and my brother will count how much money we receive. Often it will be more than $100. And last time my brother collected more than me cause he is older. Primary gets $10, Secondary gets $15. Now it’s the same. Well that’s how I celebrate Hari Raya.

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This festival follows a month of fasting. On the eve of this celebration, my whole family will be busy preparing food, cakes, sweets, biscuits and various delicacies to be served. The delicacies consist of rendang, ketupat, sambal goreng (fried chilli paste) and serunding(shredded coconut fried with spices. We will also be busy doing the chores such as decorating and cleaning up the house.

Early in the morning, my father and brother would go to the mosque to attend Eid prayer. When they get back, we would spend the rest of the day visiting different houses. Firstly, we would go to my grandparents’ house for both my mother and my father’s side. For the next few days, we will just be visiting our relatives’, friends’ and neighbours’ houses. During the night, there are often celebrations with sparklers. We usually see and hear young children playing with them downstairs.

I think the part I enjoy most every year is when the adults are being extra generous. Children will be given token sums of money from their parents and elders. I enjoy celebrating this festival together with my family and friends as it is a time to reconcile, seek forgiveness and renew relationships with others.

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