Malaysia’s Raya and Ramadhan season is always an exciting time of the year as it’s the largest celebrated religious holiday of the nation.
As soon as the new moon’s crescent starts to show…Ramadhan officially begins and it’s a whole month of fasting for Muslims till they get to celebrate Hari Raya (after another official moon sighting of course).
Unique local cultural traditions are celebrated throughout the whole two months!
Meanwhile, Malaysian media gets flooded with Ramadhan and Raya related content from newly released Raya songs to shopping sales, it’s impossible to miss how seriously Malaysia takes this celebration.
Just last year the country celebrated a ‘Panic’ or ‘Hurry’ Raya when it was announced that Raya fell a day before people expected the holiday to begin, making for hilarious online commentary on the incident by surprised netizens.
This year, WORLD OF BUZZ was not short at covering Ramadhan and Raya related stories and we’ve decided to round up the season’s top 5 media highlights!
Check out the list below.
1. All things “bizarre” at bazaar Ramadhan 2023
One of the most popular local traditions during the Ramadhan season is the multiple bazaar Ramadhans that mushroom nationwide. Interestingly, there was some bizarre bazaar Ramadhan news that made our headlines.
For example, did you know that one of JB’s bazaar Ramadhan had a Vin Diesal look-alike who sold Kunafa? What in the multiverse is going on… After going viral for his looks, the man has been identified as Ahmed, a 39-year-old Egyptian residing in Malaysia with his two kids.
Moving on to more unhygienic news, not everyone was pleased with the food they bought from the bazaars. Various news of random objects like a tooth and a coin found in their packed food horrified netizens.
Yes, you read that right. If that wasn’t gross enough, a video of a bazaar seller making drinks with pipe water also went viral last month.
As much as we love our street food, we seriously hope next year’s bazaar Ramadhan sellers improve vastly on their cleanliness levels.
2. Endless news of fireworks fiasco
Unfortunately, with all the excitement of Raya, there were also some firework related accidents this year.
Despite strict safety warnings from authorities, the legalisation of fireworks perhaps played a role in making it easier for unsupervised children to buy and misuse them.
Some cases, it’s not even done by kids but irresponsible adults like this video of a man who sets off fireworks on the MRR2 highway!
Shockingly, even a policeman was caught smuggling fireworks, believed to be worth RM25k! There must be a large demand for firecrackers in our community…
Playing with fireworks is a tradition for many families here in Malaysia but it’s always important to prioritise safety when handling them.
If got injuries then how lah to salam relatives and happily accept duit Raya kan?
3. Heartwarming dancing Raya TikToks
Thankfully it’s not all shocking news! One of the most heartwarming trends on social media during this season was the abundance of Raya-themed TikTok videos.
So many families showed off their quirks through TikTok trends and some even go viral, like this cute 70 year old grandma who danced with her family on the morning of Raya or these solo performers showing off their moves in a video to get duit Raya from relatives.
It’s lovely to see large families enjoy each other’s company while creating more priceless memories, it’s what these times are best for!
4. New Raya songs released
Almost every year at least one local artist releases a Raya song. This year, celebrity influencer, Dato Sri Aliff Syukri took the local music scene by storm with his latest single.
His skin tight blue baju melayu worn in his music video caught some serious flack. He also has made a video urgently calling for local radio stations to play his song.
Wonder what the local artists will come up with next year…
What do you think of the song? Yay or Nay?
5. Time to Give Back
Ending our list with the most positive part, news of local Muslims doing kind charitable acts during this time of year warmed many hearts.
In an extremely grandiose Raya bonus, one popular local influencer and entrepreneur gave her helpers each an RM10k packet of duit Raya with an island vacation!
Peek the Ralph Lauren logo on those green money packets…
Meanwhile, a video of a primary school student handing out early duit Raya to his classmates also went viral.
It’s important to remember the true spirit of the season by giving back to people in our communities.
Like this other story where Malaysians overwhelmed a father with financial support after he put up a sign saying he is selling laksa to buy Raya necessities for his family. Now that’s proof that Malaysians are charitable people!
Social media is a great tool to take inventory of our community’s current culture and habits. Malaysian media has seen some interesting headlines this Ramadhan and Raya season and we can’t wait to discover more of these priceless stories in the future.
What do you think of our list? Did we miss out on any other unique moments circulating around media during this time? Let us know in the comments!
Also Read: M’sian Mum Specially Makes Raya Clothes For Family To Attend PM Anwar’s Open House
