August 11, 2014, by Deepa Kumari Veerasingam
RTAD: Hari Raya Open House
The Research Training and Academic Development (RTAD) had its Hari Raya Open House on Friday, 8 August 2014 @ BA64.
Hari Raya Aidilfitri is the term used in Malaysia for the Muslim festival of Eid. The phrase Hari Raya literally means “day of celebration”. The festival marks the conclusion of Ramadhan, the Islamic month of fasting.
The Open House began with a brief presentation by Amirah titled “Raya Highlights“, which showcased the typical raya celebration of Malays, particularly emphasised the cultures and traditions of her hometown in Negeri Sembilan – one of Malaysia’s fourteen states, lies on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It was later followed by a “ketupat weaving” session, where everyone participated in making ketupat casing. Ketupat, commonly described as “packed rice”, is a type of dumpling made from rice, packed inside woven coconut/palm leaf pouch. Instead of using coconut/palm leaf, colourful ribbons were used as decorations to signify the festive occasion.
Ketupat weaving can be considered as a forgotten art of Malaysia because most Malaysians do not know or are not interested to learn how to weave, especially the younger generation. Ketupat weaving is quite challenging and it needs patience and many rounds of practice to master the art. Some postgraduate students commented that it is even harder than doing their thesis!
Here are some epic fails in weaving ketupat, for your viewing pleasure.
The Open House was a huge success, attended by approximately 40 postgraduate students. Everyone indulged themselves with traditional Malay delicacies such as nasi impit, rendang and kuih raya.
The Admin Team of RTAD started the celebration since Ramadhan with an iftar/buka puasa session where we gathered @ Marhaba Restaurant in Publika, Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, 12 July 2014.
We sincerely appreciate the big turnout of postgraduate students for this joyous occasion. We look forward to seeing more of such big turnout for our future events. Cheers!
Salam Aidilfitri. Maaf Zahir & Batin.
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