Hari Raya Puasa means “Day of Celebration” – it is an important religious festival celebrated by Muslims around the world, which marks the end of Ramadan (a month-long-dawn-to-sunset-fasting). The festival is greeted with great joy, as it symbolises purification and renewal, and signifies a victory of self-restraint.

In Singapore, oil lamps are lit up the night before and placed around homes. Families welcome the festival with a feast – special dishes like ketupat, rendang, and lemang are served during this day. Children are given token sums of money, also known as “duit raya”, from their parents or elders.

Many of our workers are Muslim and we understand that being away from loved ones during the festive period is difficult – with that, we at Mirador make it a yearly affair where we have fun-filled night with a buffet dinner, music, and simply a get-together for our workers. Unfortunately, with COVID-19 restrictions, we are still unable to do so this year – however, as a token of our appreciation, all our workers received a specially-catered dinner meal on the day.

Hopefully in time to come, we will all be able to resume our festivities. In the meantime, wishing all a safe and prosperous Selamat Hari Raya Adilfitri!

Note:
During the month of Ramadan, Muslims aim to grow spiritually and become closer to Allah (God) and their loved ones. They do this by fasting and abstaining from pleasures like smoking, drinking, etc between sunrise and sunset each day.

They believe that Ramadan teaches them to practice self–discipline, self-control, sacrifice, and empathy for those who are less fortunate, thus encouraging actions of generosity and compulsory charity.