Malaysians Share Their Fave Raya Family Traditions That They Look Forward To Every Year
From eating rendang at 3am to doing duit Raya lucky draws, hehe. So fun!
Published for TikTok, 29 Apr 2022, 11:06 AM
Raya is almost here, woohooo! :D
While we still found ways to make celebrating Raya over the past two years fun, it just wasn't the same without being able to gather with our loved ones, especially if that meant missing out on special family traditions.
Whether it's eating a specific type of food, doing a certain activity together, or putting your own spin on festive customs, confirm every family has their own Raya traditions that everyone loves being part of, kan?
In collaboration with TikTok, we asked Malaysians to share their favourite Raya family traditions that they look forward to every year.
Here's what they said:
Note: Some names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.
1. "It's kinda dumb, but my family's 'tradition' involves hiding kuih Raya from my brother, hahahaha!"
"This all started back when I was a kid. One year, my mother and I spent the entire month of Ramadan making all kinds of kuih Raya like tat nenas, almond london, semperit, chocolate cake, and more. We tried so many recipes from all sorts of magazines that my mum found and baked to no end (seriously, our electricity bill skyrocketed that month!!).
"But unfortunately, a lot of the kuihs didn't make it to Raya day itself cause my brother would sneak into the kitchen to eat all our hard work in the middle of the night, adoiiii!
"So, the next year, we purposely hid all the kuih Raya from him, and eventually, it kinda turned into a game over the years, hahaha. We hide the kuih Raya, and he'll try to find and makan 'em. We have to get more creative every year 'cause we've used up most of the hiding spots in the house!"
- Juliana, 24
2. "You know how you're supposed to eat rendang on the first day of Raya? My family eats so much rendang the night before that we end up getting sick of it, hahaha!"
"My family cooks rendang on the eve of the last day of puasa, so we can feast on it repeatedly before Raya comes. For us, our favourite time of the Raya period is the night before Raya, when we feast on rendang. I love it!
"We've even had rendang for supper at like 2 or 3 in the morning, hahaha. It's a somewhat special tradition for us since we can go quite ham on rendang after fasting for 30 days straight.
"Ironically, we eat so much of it the day before Raya that we lose interest in it and don't feel like having it at all on the first day of Raya. So, we usually end up having fast food or instant noodles for dinner on the first day of Raya instead, hahaha."
- Irfan, 26
3. "My family likes to get away from it all and go cuti-cuti during Raya"
"Our Raya tradition is to travel. It's easy for us to do this tradition because my family is very small. For the past eight years, we have been travelling during Raya, both inside and outside of Malaysia.
"We've been to South Korea and Australia, and are planning to go to Japan and Taiwan in the future. If my dad is unable to take cuti panjang, then we just travel locally. We've been to Langkawi, Cameron Highlands, Penang, and Melaka. Would like to someday experience Raya in Sabah too!
"It's actually really fun being overseas for Raya, because we usually go to countries where Raya isn't a public holiday, so most shops and attractions are open as usual. We still keep up with traditions while we're overseas though. We wear our baju Raya and look for halal meat to cook rendang there. What's also cool is that we get to visit mosques in different places to do our Aidilfitri prayers.
"Because of COVID-19, we didn't get to travel over the past two years and spent our Raya at home. It was nice, but I really miss travelling! For this Raya, we'll be celebrating it in Ipoh, yay!"
- Lily, 22
4. "I come from a mixed family (my dad is Malaysian and my mum is Indonesian), and we always have Indonesian dishes during Raya"
"Of course, we have all the classic Malay dishes that must be served on Raya morning like ketupat and rendang. But in addition to that, we also have Indonesian dishes on the first day of Raya. It's usually bakso or soto ayam.
"As we haven't been able to balik kampung to Indonesia for the past few years, having these dishes makes us remember our family there.
"Oh, fun fact: according to Indonesian culture (especially Javanese), rendang and ketupat are only eaten on the seventh day of Raya. We don't do that when celebrating Raya in Malaysia, but we do if we're in Indonesia."
- Ellina, 25
5. "My sister does a 'lucky draw' when giving out duit Raya, hahaha"
"On Raya day, we will wake up as early as 4am to start cooking varieties of food for Raya. Nasi minyak is our compulsory menu every year, along with rendang, nasi impit, and satttttaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy... yummmsss!!!
"After we habis makan-makan, that's when my sister will start her duit Raya 'lucky draw', in which I'm rarely the lucky one, hahaha. AS ALWAYS, I will get the one with a paper inside that says 'Try again next year', haishhhh!"
- Lia, 29
6. "My family ada this one tradition of always changing from baju Raya to normal baju rumah when we balik from sembahyang Raya"
"Why? 'Cause Malaysia panas wei! But when people come over to our house, we cepat-cepat tukar to our baju Raya again, hehehe.
"Also, we don't do 'Salam Raya' during pagi Raya because we think everyone should minta maaf, no matter whether it's Raya or not!"
- Ikmal, 24
7. "Every year, we do an open house on the night of the first day of Raya, and we make satay ourselves to serve during the open house"
"Everyone has a different task... like cutting the meat, preparing the marinade, cucuk the meat, and lastly, bakar it. It's something I really enjoy doing with my family. We would invite the whole kampung to the open house, and everyone will makan satay together.
"In recent years, we've started just buying the satay instead of making it, but it's still something that I look forward to every year. This year, we're finally able to do the open house again, but we're just keeping it to close family only. I can't wait to makan satay with them!"
- Syaza, 28
8. "We basically go on a family retreat during Raya"
"I have a large family — eight siblings, including me. So, when half of us got married and started mini families, we upsized to being 20 pax with all the spouses and lil' babies. The problem is, finding hotels to accommodate our large family is too hard and pricey.
"So, for every Raya, our tradition is to rent a secluded chalets in places like Hulu Langat or Janda Baik to spend a week of intimate family bonding time. We entertain ourselves with lazy pool days, game nights, BBQ parties, and more."
- Ihsan, 27
9. "Not just my immediate family tau, my whole extended family wears baju Raya sedondon every year"
"Only the design je a little bit lari sometimes, but the colours still the same, hee. Since we gather from near and far to celebrate together, my family takes this opportunity to show off united and fashionable outfits.
"It's heartwarming to see every member of the clan, from Mak Ngah and Pak Usu to all the cucu, planning their baju Raya and dressing in the same shades every year. Meriah! I can't wait to see everyone's baju Raya for this year"
- Nany, 27
10. "I love when all my aunties, mum, Opah, and I would hole ourselves up in the kitchen and whip up a storm every Raya"
"Making rendang with my Opah is the best thing ever. Whenever Raya draws near, I'm always super excited because it means… BALIK KAMPUNG! I get to see my Opah, who makes the best rendang ever. Like legit the best, I'm not even joking.
"Every year, I love spending time in the kitchen, cooking with all the ladies in my family. The aroma… wah! My stomach grumbling already. And I also like that I can curi the food straight from the kuali, HAHAHAHA. So many cekodok would go missing. They know I'm the culprit la but it's ok. :P"
- Aiman, 30
With travel restrictions being lifted, this year will mark the first time in a long time that we've been able to celebrate Raya with our families in person, yaaay!
From going to open houses to finally being able to balik kampung, we can't wait to reconnect with family and friends and have a REAL Raya celebration. We're especially looking forward to being able to do all our special Raya family traditions.
To make this festive season extra meaningful, TikTok has come up with an exciting Raya song because they "nak Rancak Raya dengan you!"
Titled Rancak Raya, the music video for the song is fully fueled by top local celebrities and TikTok creators. This includes Izzue Islam, Khai Bahar, Yazmin Aziz, Razmansyah, Fatia, and more. It's so cute how everyone is grooving to the beat, hehe!
Watch it below and try to spot your fave celebrities and TikTok creators:
What's cool is that the creators featured in the music video are from various TikTok categories such as education, food, livestreams, sports, entertainment, beauty, and fashion
Coming together to celebrate the festive season, they cheerfully depict the theme of "the most authentic Raya", just by doing what they do best based on their original TikTok content.
For example, food creators are seen making kuih Raya and sharing recipes, those from the education vertical are seen teaching how to make ketupat-shaped decorations, and a deaf TikTok creator known for her livestreams can be spotted teaching bahasa isyarat to her followers. We just love how inclusive the music video is! <3
Something else that's unique is how the scenes were catered to suit the individual TikTok celebrities and creators that are in them. Those who grew up in a kampung are featured in a kampung environment, while those from the city are featured in a city background. Talk about attention to detail!
Overall, the bright, vibrant, and colourful music video will definitely bring a smile to your face, especially with how it shows everyone finally getting to balik kampung and reunite with family.
With their tagline of 'Raya Kita Paling Raya', TikTok wishes Selamat Hari Raya to all Malaysians, and hopes that your festive celebrations will be rancak!
Jom #RancakRaya bersama TikTok! They've got so much going on, like new effects, the chance for you to win am exclusive TikTok wellness pack, fun mini games to play, and so much more.
Check out all of TikTok's Raya offerings here.
