Festive air in Kuala Betis resettlement areas as villagers prepare for Aidilfitri
The Orang Asli community, though living in the interior areas, are also busy making preparations to celebrate the occasion.
GUA MUSANG - With the Aidilfitri approaching, the Orang Asli community, though living in the interior areas, are also busy making preparations to celebrate the occasion.
Siti Norsyakila Kamarzaman, 35, of Malay-Semai blood from Kampung Lambok in the Kuala Betis Resettlement Area (RPS) here, said with the last remaining days of Ramadan, the festive atmosphere in the village has started as residents began making preparations for Aifdilfitri.
She said her family would start the preparation in the middle of the fasting month by getting new clothes for Raya.
"Now is the last week of Ramadan, we will start cleaning the house and discuss the menu for the Raya feast. Family members will gather to prepare the necessary ingredients and the normal dishes served for Raya are lemang tepung and lemang ubi.
"I will normally bake the lemang on Raya eve and hold an open house on the first day of Raya, I will also prepare the chicken rendang and chicken in gravy to be eaten with the lemang,” she told Bernama.
"I will normally bake the lemang on Raya eve and hold an open house on the first day of Raya, I will also prepare the chicken rendang and chicken in gravy to be eaten with the lemang,” she said.
According to her, since the majority of residents in RPS Kuala Betis are Muslims, so there will be Raya prayer in the village.
"Although, we don’t play fireworks in the village to celebrate Aidilfitri, the excitement and joy of celebrating it can still be felt.
"The celebration is different when I go back to my father’s family to celebrate Raya. My father is a Maly while my mother from the Semai tribe," she said.
Norsyakila said that this year, she and her husband, Kamariza Kimtai Abdullah, 47, had set aside RM800 for the Raya expenses, which include the Raya food and ang pau for family members.
"Raya will be celebrated in a simple way just like we celebrated Chinese New Year recently with my husband's family who is a Jakun-ChineseOrang Asli from Pahang.
Norsyakila, whose father Kamarzaman Hussin died more than 20 years ago, said besides being with her husband and four children, she will also celebrate Aidilfitri with her mother Uda Zainon Panjang Ey, 57. - BERNAMA
