GUA MUSANG: The Orang Asli community living in the interior are not exempted from the hustle and bustle of preparations to celebrate the upcoming Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
Semai-Malay Siti Norsyakila Kamarzaman, 35, of Kampung Lambok in the Kuala Betis Resettlement Area (RPS) here, said the festive atmosphere in the village has gone up a notch in the last days of this year's Ramadan.
She said her family started preparations in the middle of the fasting month by getting new clothes.
"In the last week of Ramadan, we will clean the house and discuss the Raya menu. Family members will prepare the ingredients and the normal dishes served are lemang tepung and lemang ubi.
"I will bake the lemang on Raya eve and hold an open house on the first day of Raya. I will also prepare the chicken rendang and chicken in gravy to be eaten with the lemang."
She said since most of residents in RPS Kuala Betis were Muslims, there would be the morning Raya prayer in the village.
"Although, we don't play fireworks here to celebrate Aidilfitri, the excitement and joy can still be felt.
"The celebration is different when I go back to my father's family. He is Malay while my mother from the Semai tribe."
Siti Norsyakila said that this year, she and her husband, Kamariza Kimtai Abdullah, 47, had set aside RM800 for Raya expenses, which includes Raya food and duit raya for family members.
"Raya will be celebrated in a simple way just like we celebrated Chinese New Year recently with my husband's family. He is a Jakun-Chinese Orang Asli from Pahang."
Siti Norsyakila, whose father Kamarzaman Hussin died over 20 years ago, said besides being with her husband and four children, she will also celebrate Aidilfitri with her mother Uda Zainon Panjang Ey, 57. — BERNAMA