JOHOR BAHRU: The spirit of Malaysian hospitality and togetherness has helped to ease the loneliness of foreigners, who are celebrating Hari Raya Aidilfitri away from their families and loved ones.
Abdulkader Sardini, 21, who hailed from Aleppo, Syria, said he was impressed with the Malaysian spirit of unity seen during the Eid celebration here.
”I have been here for one year already. I am very pleased with the spirit of community and unity here. No one here is asking whether you are a Malaysian or not. We are just one.
“Basically as foreigners here, we are away from our parents especially during Eid. But, all Malaysians have accepted us as part of their family especially at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) where I am studying, we are all one big family. We celebrated Eid together, just like another Malaysian,” the Computer Science student told Bernama when met at Istana Besar Johor, here today.
For Muhammad Asim Siddique, 38, who is from Pakistan, Malaysia is like his second home due to the similarity of liveliness during the Eid celebration as well as the spirit of community extended by Malaysians.
The Computer Science PHD student however really missed his “Briyani” which was specially served during Hari Raya Aidilfitri back home in Lahore.
However for the two UTM exchange programme students, this was their first time experiencing and celebrating Hari Raya with Muslims here.
French student Alexis De Lizaso, 20, said it was a good experience for him as the atmosphere was really warm and the food was great.
”It reminded me of Christmas where everybody celebrates together. I was really impressed.
“For food, I really like chicken satay and other delicacies except those which are spicy as I have yet to acquire the taste for spicy stuff,” he chuckled while showing off his blue Baju Melayu.
As for Linda Broere, she would definitely share her experiences celebrating the festive season here with her university friends back in Turku, Finland.
”We have a bulletin at the university where we can share our experiences especially during exchange programme.
“I have so much to tell them, especially about the lovely dishes and great experience encountered with the people here,” said the 21-year-old.
For the computing student, this is also her first time buying and wearing the Kebaya and she would definitely show off this traditional attire back in her country.
Meanwhile, UTM International director Prof Dr Mohd Ariffin Abu Hassan said the university brought a 100-member delegation comprising foreign students and their family members to the Sultan of Johor’s Hari Raya Open House today.
”This will be a good time for them to experience the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration, the culture and the liveliness of the celebration in Malaysia, especially after the pandemic,” he said.
About 18,000 people took the golden opportunity to celebrate the second day of Syawal with Sultan Ibrahim Almarhum Sultan Iskandar and the Permaisuri of Johor Raja Zarith Sofiah Almarhum Sultan Idris Shah here today. Also present was Menteri Besar Johor Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi. — BERNAMA
