Buoyed by influx of festive orders

(From left) Shahrole, Hanif, Azrul and Mohamad choosing their baju Melayu at a boutique in Angsana Mall, Johor Baru. – Photos: THOMAS YONG & ZAZALI MUSA/The Star

THIS year, some smart shoppers opted to do their shopping well in advance to skip the lines and avoid the last-minute crowds at shopping centres.

A group of friends said they shopped some two weeks ago.

Teacher Hanif Azhar, 30, said they collectively adopted this strategy after witnessing the frantic activities that ensued last year when Hari Raya Aidilfitri was declared a day earlier than most people had anticipated.

The announcement caught many unprepared and families were left scrambling to cook Hari Raya dishes overnight.

Hanif remembers the experience all too well and thus has planned ahead this year to avoid any hassle.

“My family has made early preparations as we don’t want to be exhausted on the first day of Hari Raya,” he added.

Fellow teacher Azrul Fahmie Kamal, 32, who works in Johor Baru, is catching a plane back to Langkawi, Kedah, today.

Since there are no flights from Johor Baru to Langkawi, Azrul plans to catch a bus to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2, to meet up with friends and travel together.

Azrul paid RM400 for the round-trip ticket which he bought a month before Ramadan, for a week’s stay.

“I paid the same price when I went back for Hari Raya last year,” he added.

For administrative assistant Shahrole Rafique, 31, he still prefers to buy his baju Melayu from a physical store instead of ordering it online.

“You cannot feel the material if you buy online, and sometimes what you see is not what you get,” he said, adding that he started shopping for outfits two weeks ahead of Hari Raya.

Shahrole also do not want to risk ordering from online marketplace for fear of not receiving his baju Melayu on time, in case courier companies are overwhelmed by the surge in Hari Raya deliveries.

Mohamad Izham, 31, said he would be going back to Manjung in Perak for Hari Raya with his wife and three children aged between 15 months and six years.

“We are leaving Johor Baru at about 3pm today and hopefully, the journey north won’t be too bad,” he said.

He, too, had shopped two weeks before their travel date and had allocated RM1,500 to spend on his family’s Hari Raya clothing, festive foods such as biscuits and cakes, and zakat payments.

A couple who live near Kota Tinggi, Herman Mohamed Yunus, 40, and Alia Roslan, 30, have done their shopping in Johor Baru 12 days ahead of their travel date as the state capital has a wider selection.

“We are only spending RM1,000 this year as I am expecting my second child,” said Alia.

“Both of us are from Mersing and our villages are also not far from each other,” said Herman, a civil servant.

He comes from Kampung Seri Pantai while his wife Alia, also a civil servant, is from Kampung Tanjung Genting.

“On a normal day, it takes around 1.5 hours’ drive from our house in Kota Tinggi to Mersing, about 93km away,” said Alia.

However, she said they took about three hours when they went back for Hari Raya last year.

Meanwhile, business owners in Johor Baru have their hands full fulfilling Hari Raya orders.

Tailor Jamil Sukaimi is a lot busier this year, compared to the last few years.

He said that back in 2022, he did not receive many orders even after the border between Malaysia and Singapore reopened on April 1.

He recalled how piles of baju Melayu telok belanga and baju Melayu cekak musang filled his boutique at Dataran Larkin, Johor Baru back in 2020.

Jamil said he had made traditional menswear for his Malaysian and Singaporean customers in 2019 and early 2020 but the multiple movement control orders and border closure resulted in his clients not being able to pick up their bespoke clothing.

But things have improved this Hari Raya as he started getting orders from his out-of-state and Singaporean customers as early as April last year.

He said the baju Melayu telok belanga style was previously synonymous with the Malays in Johor but it has been gaining popularity among Malays from other states and Singapore too.

Another vendor, Zaveen Lee, said demand for her Kek Lapis Betawi had increased this year.

She said her company received few orders for the kek lapis between March 2020 and March 2022 as the borders between Malaysia and Singapore were closed.

Kek Lapis Betawi (or Batavia, the old name of Jakarta) is traditionally flavoured with cinnamon, cardamom, clove and star anise. It used to be served for afternoon tea during the Dutch colonial days.

Lee said, “The cake is a must-have for Hari Raya Aidilfitri and many prefer to order because the process of making the cake’s 20 to 25 layers is tedious and time consuming.”

She said the cake had evolved over the years.

Previously, there was only the traditional flavour, but now the cake is available in chocolate, prune, masam-manis (sour and sweet) and even cempedak and durian, she said.

“The older generation still prefers the traditional spice flavour while youngsters go for the new flavours,” she added.