June 21, 2019, by Lisa Chin
Raya celebration for postgraduates
Celebrating Hari Raya
The most significant celebration for Muslims, Eid Ul-Fitri, marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. The words Hari Raya means day of celebration in Malay language.
Our annual Raya celebration for all our postgraduate students was held on 19 June 2019. Despite the unexpected power outage on campus, the celebration was very well attended and the crowd of postgraduates had clearly enlivened the Raya celebration.
Our Raya celebration was organised based on the open house concept, a unique culture where families, friends and even strangers would visit the homes of those who are celebrating the festive occasion. This open house celebration is the norm in Malaysia not only for Hari Raya but also all the other celebrations like Chinese New Year and Deepavali.
Consideration and understanding
Consideration and understanding are fundamental to building great camaraderie. This was the underlying message by Deepa Kumari Veerasingam, Head of Graduate School. Deepa, in welcoming the postgraduates, said she was surprised to see such a great turnout despite the power outage on campus and glad that we went on with our Raya celebration as initially planned. She thanked the postgraduates for coming and joining in the celebration in the great Malaysian spirit of muhhibbah. The word muhhibbah means goodwill in Malay language.
Happy feasting
The celebration featured an array of delicious festive must-haves and delicacies, including nasi impit (compressed rice) and kuah kacang (peanut gravvy), mutton kurma, ayam masak merah (spicy tomato chicken) as well as kuih-muih (local desserts).
Renewing and strengthening ties
In the midst of the festivity, the best part about celebrating Hari Raya is the renewing of communal ties and bonds. For us at the Graduate School, it was a wonderful and great feeling to be able to share the joy of celebrating Hari Raya together with our postgraduates. Through our annual festive celebrations, we hope to promote and foster the spirit of unity and solidarity among members of the postgraduate community on campus.
What about you?
In our previous blog post entitled Happy Festivities, we listed our favourite Raya ads this year. So what’s your favourite Raya ad? Share one of your favourite ads with us in the comment section below.
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