KUALA LUMPUR: Taiwan is seen as a model country by many nations due to its swift and effective actions to stop the Covid-19 pandemic.
To date, Taiwan has only 441 reported cases, 79 per cent of them imported.
The island nation did not initiate a lockdown since the situation is under control, but the residents are required to follow certain practices such as social distancing and avoiding gatherings of more than 100 people.
"The situation here is almost normal as people can still go out for a picnic, jog and carry out sport activities in the park," said Nur Adibah Adammi, a Malaysian who has been living in Taiwan since 2014.
She said strict regulations were introduced by the Taiwan government earlier this year, including closing its borders with China and banning the entry of foreigners to curb the spread of the deadly virus.
Other precautions include making it mandatory to wear face masks when outdoors, especially on public transport. Violators could be fined up to one million Taiwan dollars.
Although the 33-year-old entrepreneur, who owns a halal food business known as Sambaldiba, is staying alone abroad, away from her family in Kuala Lumpur, she is independent and keeps herself busy to take her mind off the difficult time.
"I have been supplying halal food to university students in Taipei City since September last year until the Chinese New Year break in January.
"But immediately after the CNY, the government decided to extend the students' holiday due to the Covid-19 outbreak and I had to put a halt to my business strategy temporarily until the situation was stable," she said, adding that only after the government announced zero new cases, she decided to get her business back on its feet.
Aside from her food and sambal business, Nur Adibah also plans to open a halal kitchen restaurant at a new location.
The restaurant, which serves Malaysian delights, including her top-selling sambal, is set to open this July.
"I have a lot of things to do, including the kitchen design, renovation and staff training, so I believe Syawal is going to be a super busy month for me," she said, adding that she was used to celebrating Hari Raya alone in the foreign city.
Last year, her restaurant selling Malaysian food in Daan, Taipei, was open on the first day of Hari Raya because most of her customers were local Taiwanese and Aidilfitri was not a common celebration in the city.
"I rarely close my cafe. If I want to attend any Raya event or open house, my staff will take over the running of the eatery.
"Every year, I look forward to Ramadan because I love going to the mosque, gathering with fellow Malaysians and other Muslims from different countries for iftar and tarawih."
Unfortunately, because of the pandemic, the mosque is closed for tarawih and Aidilfitri prayers.
"Alhamdulillah, despite the pandemic, Ramadan in Taiwan this year was blessed with cooler weather compared with previous years, which were really hot."
Adibah said she missed her kampung in Kedah, especially the fresh smell of the padi fields, as well as cooking with her grandmother, cousins and aunts.
This year, she plans to celebrate modestly and cook chicken rendang to serve her Taiwanese friends.
"Although there are no big open houses expected this year, we are planning to have a small get-together with a handful of close friends."
Another Malaysian who is celebrating Hari Raya in Taiwan is Amirah Hurzaid, who is pursuing a doctorate in marine oceanography at the National Taiwan University.
"To get the Hari Raya vibes, I would play upbeat Raya songs all day long in my lab," she said, adding that she planned to bake chocolate chip cookies and London Almonds to keep the Malaysian way of the Raya tradition. Usually, I would bake these cookies a week before Raya, but half of them would probably be gone before the first day of Hari Raya!"
She said being away from family and friends during Ramadan and Raya made her miss them a lot more.
However, thanks to technology, she often makes video calls to her loved ones and updates them daily.
"I made a video call to my family the night before Hari Raya to update each other on the Hari Raya preparations."
Previously, she said, she would join her Malaysian friends to visit the home of a staff member from the Malaysian representative office after Raya prayers at the mosque and celebrate the day with them.
"We would recite takbir several times and, of course, munch away on our favourite Hari Raya dishes."
However, Amirah said, this year was different as this would be the first time she was celebrating without her husband since there were no flights available at the moment.
She said Taiwan should be on everyone's bucket list to visit once the country opened its borders to travellers.
"Although travelling is not recommended now, I hope when this (the pandemic) is over, everyone will visit Taiwan, even the Muslims."
Amirah said there were many places with scenic views to enjoy, including her favourite Taroko Gorge National Park, Yangmingshan National Park and Hehuan Mountain.
The 34-year-old PhD student has been residing in Taiwan for almost 4½ years and is set to return to Malaysia this September after her graduation.