Foreign students welcome Raya with joy

MUSLIMS just went through the month of Ramadhan, fulfilling their fasting obligations. The Hari Raya jingles played in shopping malls have still not stopped.

Shopping malls are still embellished with traditional Malay attires.

While most Malaysian Muslims had balik kampung (returned to their hometowns) this festive season, we wonder how foreign Muslim students celebrated the festival.

Will this Eid (Hari Raya in Arabic) feel like home (or hell) away from home?

For Hamed Magram and Abdul Fattah, flying back to Yemen was not an option, leaving them with no choice but to celebrate Eid here.

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“I couldn’t go home because Eid clashed with my exam period,” business student Abdul Fattah explained.

But for Maira Rakhatova who is also from Business School, she was more than delighted to spend the festive holiday in Malaysia.

“... It was my first experience celebrating this great nationwide holiday away from Kazakhstan in a different country. I got to see how Malaysians celebrate Eid and it was really fun!” she quipped.

Despite being away from home and family, these students had plans aplenty on their sleeves for this festive season.

While Maira had some seaside fun in Langkawi Island with her friends, interior design student Aseel Shalabi, who hails from Palestine, says that she went on a trip with the Malaysian Travelling Society and two of her friends.

On the other hand, Mazaher Kassam, a Tanzanian, has experienced Eid the Malaysian way Đ and enjoyed it thoroughly.

“I was lucky to have a Muslim Malaysian in my class, who invited me to his open house. The experience was wonderful because I realised that celebrations in Malaysia revolve around food.

Unfortunately, no one gave me any duit raya (the Malay equivalent of the angpau - a sum of money usually packed in little packets given to children during Chinese New Year),” the business student said cheekily.

However, for future architect Mohammed Akilah, a Palestinian, Eid celebrations in Malaysia have not been any better than back at home.

While this is the first time for Sadha Ahmad to experience Eid holidays in Malaysia, she acknowledges the vast difference of the Ramadhan atmosphere here compared to in her home country.

“We would have street events and you would see kids playing traditional games, and people out and about preparing for Eid back in the Maldives. Here, there seems to be no hype at all,” the hospitality student said disappointedly.

Mass communication undergraduate Alda echoed Sadha’s view.

“The anticipation in Indonesia is surely more obvious. Furthermore I don’t feel like I’m in a Muslim country at all. Back home, non-Muslims will not eat in front of you during the fasting month. Restaurants would curtain their windows during Ramadhan to respect those who are fasting,” she elaborated.

In contrast, Ba Moussa from Senegal shared his appreciation towards celebrating Eid in Malaysia.

“I was raised in Ottawa so the environment during Eid is very different there. It’s much more interesting here because of the culture diversity,” the mass communication student shared.

By: Rachel Law (23.09.10)