No surprises this year! Raya on Saturday
20 Apr 2023 08:09pm
Hari Raya Aidilfitri falls on Saturday (April 22), as announced by Keeper of the Ruler’s Seal Tan Sri Syed Danial Syed Ahmad this evening on behalf of the Rulers’ Conference.
"In order to fulfil the decree of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, following the consent of the rulers, I confirm that Hari Raya Puasa for states throughout Malaysia has been fixed on Saturday, April 22, 2023," he said.
The announcement follows the sighting of the new moon of Syawal, which was carried out at various locations throughout the country.
This also denotes that tomorrow will be a public holiday as announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Tuesday, who said that the government has determined that Friday, April 21, will be a public holiday if Hari Raya Aidilfitri falls on Saturday.
Last year, Malaysians were taken by suprise when Syed Danial announced that Hari Raya fell on May 2, one day before the expected day on May 3 as indicated by several calenders.
The sudden announcement of Syawal 1 left many Muslims scrambling to do last minute shopping, eleventh hour cooking, settling the 'baju raya' and other errands all in one night.
Malaysians expressed gasps of shock and fuss of joy mixed with disbelief.
Heaps of memes on social media went viral on the early Hari Raya announcement while some travel plans were expeditiously brought forward by one day.
