Hari Raya celebration - Iwa

Hari Raya means a day of celebration. This
festival marks the end of the Ramadan month of
fasting. To honor this special day IWA members
got together in a beautiful location. Our
traditional coffee morning was hosted at Villa
Warisan Hotel. It was not easy to find it.
The traditional Malay style hotel is like a
hidden treasure in the heart of JB. IWA members
and their guests gathered on the first level of
the hotel. The open doors and windows gave us a
great opportunity to admire the lovely view.
After the official matters, such as
registration, we all wondered around a little
bit. As far as I noticed for the most of us
were not familiar with the place. We could not
resist, but to take a lot of pictures of the
gorgeous wood works, the stylish and elegant
decoration and furnishing. The hotel stuff
proudly presented to us the lovely ambiance
One of our purposes was to
learn more about these
festive days and about the
Malay culture. Thanks to Dr.
Maimunah Mohd Said we
achieved our goal. She told
us about the local custom,
she demonstrated the festive
clothes. From her nice
stories we learnt about the
purpose of the festival, and
we all agreed that family
celebration and forgiveness
are so important, specially this time of the
year.
After her enthusiastic speech the buffet lunch
was opened. Food is a very important ingredient
of this festival. Different special and
traditional Malay food was prepared for us,
such as Ketupat, Chicken rendang, Lodeh and
various cakes. They all looked very tasteful,
they were all delicious. While we enjoyed the
lunch, we shared our celebration stories.
Thank you all for making this day memorable! It
was truly a joyous day.