This is my 3rd raya in the States, far from family. Well, the nights coming up to 1 Syawal was difficult as I've started to listen and sings to the chime of Raya Songs. Those evergreen songs really capture the spirit of Hari Raya!

Raya 2008 at Penn State wasn't a bad idea! We have all of this new friends (freshman+sophomores+grad students) who arrived here at the start of the Fall semester. Our numbers jump up to 122 people which scared everyone at first, but we manage to live harmoniously. A bigger number doesn't mean that we can be called 'kampung melayu' easily. For now, we hardly meet with each other as Penn State is big with its population maxing out at 45,000 people this year!

Even though we hardly meet, once we do a get together, almost everyone join in. I was so impressed and admire with everybody's cameraderie. Living hand in hand without the mindset of 'kampung melayu'. Everyone is free to study and experience the american way of living.

Anyway, MASA this year came up with the great idea on how to get all of the malaysian to get to know each other. We divide everyone into 3 areas; which are East,Middle and West. Each of these area do their own Raya Celebration at 3 different dates. This measure are taken to encourage everyone to go to these areas and meet with each other while celebrating the joyous holiday. It turn out well and almost everyone came to each area's celebration!

Thank you to everyone for the blast Hari Raya season. Selamat Hari Raya & Maaf Zahir Batin.


1 Syawal at Penn State


Raya at East Side-the Loft