The Sultan Mosque in Kampong Glam is at the centre of this weekend’s festival.
This coming Friday will be a public holiday in Singapore to commemorate Hari Raya Haji.
One of the best things about Singapore is that we celebrate a whole mixture of public holidays. Being a melting pot of cultures, Singapore celebrates many different holidays. Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist holidays are all observed. Even if you are not a muslim you will still get a day off on Friday.
So what is Hari Raya Haji?
Hari Raya Haji is a muslim holiday. It comes 70 days after the holy month of Ramadan every year. The festival marks the end of the holy pilgrimage to Mecca. It also demonstrates each muslim’s submission to Allah. It is also known as the festival of sacrifice. It is believed that Ibrahim was about to sacrifice his son Ismael on God’s orders. God stopped him at the last minute and instead Ibrahim sacrificed a sheep.
What is the unique point about Hari Raya Haji?
At some of the mosques you can see Korban. Korban is the sacrificing of livestock. This recognises Ibrahim’s offering. There are of course strict health and safety rules in place. A third of the meat is for the family who purchased the animal. The second third is then distributed to family and friends. The last third goes to charities feeding the less fortunate.
Due to covid, this year there will be no Korban in Singapore. The animals will be sacrificed in Australia instead.
Hari Raya Haji is not a big festival of celebrations. People will often visit friends and family for a few days. You can still go and watch the prayers at some of our amazing mosques.
Singapore’s multi cultural community
Many schools in Singapore will teach the pupils about the upcoming festival. This helps children who come from different cultures learn about each other. We often run school food tours where we encourage the pupils to try the food of different culture to their own. We are lucky in Singapore. We can visit different parts of the island and feel like we are in different countries. Going to Little India we can immerse ourselves in Indian food and culture. A trip to Kampong Glam or Geylang Serai takes us instantly to Malaysia. Singapore does a lot to promote racial harmony. By us all celebrating each others religious holidays, we learn more about our different cultures.
If you’d like to learn more about Singapore, join our food tours. Our small group tours take you off the beaten path and into real Singapore. To learn more about the best food tour in Singapore go to www.singabites.com
