Sarina Rini, 40, and her family had never failed to light up hundreds of raya oil lamps to bring joy of the festivity in her kampung – at least for the past 15 Hari Raya celebrations.

Last year, the family lighted up almost 400 lamps along the side lane of Pa’Dris Road.

Sarina, who has just become a grandmother, said the tradition must go on from generation to generation.

“This tradition is very important for us. It must be continued. Just like how my father passed it down to us and I am passing down to my kids and hopefully my kids will pass down to their kids,” she enthused.

The mother of four said this year she could only light up 271 oil lamps as she could not construct the same arch and design as she did last year because she had to take care of her grandchild.

Five of her family members including herself helped with the construction of the arch and she said it was a lot of work.

“We started to design the arch last week and it took us one day to construct the arch. We also went out to find the bamboos,” she said, adding that she reused the empty cans she used last year.

The arch bears the words ‘Hari Raya’. She said she shared the expenses on the materials for the lamps with four other family members.

“We spent about RM1,000 on this project. We actually sold some of our belongings to meet the cost,” she confided.

She also said that the family used to construct it every Merdeka (Aug 31).

“The most important thing is the atmosphere of the festivity. This is the happiest time of the year as all our family members are coming back for the holiday,” she said. She entered a competition once for the Raya Oil Lamp decoration and won the first prize.

Source:
courtesy of THE BORNEO POST

by Jane Moh

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