Families caught off guard by early date for this year’s festivities

Compiled by C. ARUNO and MARTIN CARVALHO

SINAR Harian featured two stories on how families were caught off guard when Hari Raya was celebrated on Monday instead of Tuesday as widely expected.

For instance, a family of six in Kuala Selangor ended up eating instant noodles on the first day of Syawal.

“This is the first time ever that our family gathered to have instant noodles shortly after completing the Hari Raya prayers,” said teacher Norazizah Chon, 48.

She said the initial plan to have beef curry, chicken rendang and lontong did not happen due to the unexpected announcement.

And her desire to exchange dishes with her neighbours could not materialise either, she said.

In another case, a man from Seremban ended up having to slaughter eight chickens at his mother-in-law’s home in Temerloh, Pahang.Rosle Darham, 61, said he had travelled with his family to the home of his mother-in-law on Sunday, assuming that the celebration would fall on Tuesday.

“We did not prepare anything as we wanted to get the necessary essentials at the market only on Monday.

“We arrived at the village at dusk. But just as the mahgrib prayers concluded, I heard an in-law shouting that Hari Raya would be celebrated the following day,” he said.

In haste, Rosle said he slaughtered the chickens that night as there was nothing in the refrigerator to prepare meals for the next day.

> Like many others celebrating Hari Raya, Hafizatul Najmi Pizat posed for a picture with his family, showing them in matching blue attire.

There were eight children and three women in the photo that was published in Harian Metro.

Hafizatul Najmi, 33, has three wives aged, 32, 30 and 26.

He said that he had often been asked about his “secret” to practising polygamy.

“It’s not difficult. Just hold onto the teachings of Islam and practise them in your daily life, apart from doing an abundance of charity,” he said.

Hafizatul Najmi, who lives in Terengganu, said he treated his wives well and their parents too.

He spoke about setting aside money to buy them birthday presents and Hari Raya necessities.

As for the Raya celebration, he said all of them had gathered briefly together on the first day.

The three women then returned to their respective kampung.

His first three days are usually spent at the home of his first wife in Marang, Terengganu.

“The fourth to sixth days of Raya is spent with my second wife in Besut, while the seventh to ninth days of Raya is spent with my third wife in Penang,” he said.

Their eight children are aged between six and 13.

The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.