Malaysians bring open house tradition to UAE
By: Nor Faridah Abdul Rashid
Abu Dhabi, 14 Oct (BERNAMA) - If foreigners in Malaysia are awed by our traditional open house during the festive season, Malaysians celebrating Aidilfitri in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the first time are thrilled to find this tradition very much alive here.
Strings of open house were held right after the morning Aidillfitri prayers and continued on the second and third day of this auspicious month, bringing together Malaysians, some of whom had not celebrated the occasion in Malaysia for the last few years.
At the Malaysian embassy here, some 650 people thronged its open house on the first day of Aidilfitri on Friday with groups travelling in express buses from Dubai, about two hours drive from Abu Dhabi, to celebrate the occasion with ambassador Datuk Abdul Mubin Razali and friends from all over Malaysia.
?I?m very happy indeed with this huge turnout, despite some having gone back home to Malaysia to celebrate Aidilfitri,? Mubin told Bernama.
Mubin, his wife Datin Eliza Tajudin, and the embassy staff were on hand throughout the evening to welcome and entertain guests, including Brunei ambassador to the UAE Datuk Paduka Adnan Zainal and his wife who were the guests of honour.
With the number of Malaysians here increasing yearly, Mubin expects more to come next year.
He said there were now some 4,000 Malaysians in the UAE and they did not include those who came on a short-term basis.
For those who missed Malaysian food, their appetites were whetted with food like ketupat, laksa Johor, rendang, nasi tomato, ayam masak merah, nasi briyani and traditional kueh such as pulut panggang, cucur badak and seri muka.
For Malaysian Nina Muslim, a journalist with the English daily Gulf News for almost three years, although celebrating Aidilfitri in a foreign land is not new to her, she sill misses the ketupat.
I woke up feeling a bit cranky and I realised that I missed the ketupat,? said Nina who had to work on the first day of the Eid and could not make it for the embassy?s open house.
Meanwhile, in Dubai, there was also an air of festivity at the open house of Ahmad Zafri Zawawi, the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) regional director (West Asia), and Shushilil Azam Shuib, the Malaysian Education Promotional Centre (MEPC) regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.
The guests, resplendent in their baju Melayu and baju kurung, came, wishing each other Selamat Hari Raya and asking for forgiveness, the familiar greetings during the month of Syawal.
It was also a time to catch up on the latest news and enquire about where to get tailors to sew the baju kurung and baju Melayu, which are easily available in Malaysia but not so in this desert city.