We were on our way to the Kinabatangan River in Borneo when our guide asked if we wanted to stop by his house as they were celebrating Hari Raya. How could we refuse an invitation like that, after all, what better way to get to know the culture than seeing how a local family celebrates a festivity?

Hari Raya is the Muslim feast which marks the end of Ramadan, which is the month of fasting. It is also celebrated a bit like the Malay new year by Muslims in Malaysia. By pure chance, we happened to be in the Malaysian part of Borneo during this celebration.

For westerners, you could say the celebration is a bit like Xmas, minus the tree. All the family comes to visit, and they give each other gifts (usually money), eat good food, and chill out and enjoy themselves. It’s also a bit like the Chinese New Year since many times they dress in new clothing and give each other Hong Bao’s (envelopes with money)!

Our guide was from Kuala Lumpur but settled in Sandakan around 20 years ago. When at his house he introduced us to his wife and 5 kids, all boys, who were playing with all their relatives in the family gathering.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, October 27th, 2007 at 12:30 am and is filed under Front Page, Borneo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.