Hari Raya Preparations

In the picture, the family is preparing for Hari Raya together. The mother and children are baking festive cookies, rolling and shaping the dough and arranging them on a tray, while others are cleaning and decorating the house. There are containers of finished cookies stacked on the table, ready to be served to visitors. What I also noticed is that the youngest child is helping with a simple task like pressing the shapes, so everyone is included at their own level.

My family celebrates Chinese New Year, and my job every year is to help with the spring cleaning and to fold the pineapple tart boxes. My grandmother makes the tarts herself and she lets me press the pastry into the moulds, though she always redoes the ones I do badly when she thinks I am not looking. On the eve, I help to set out the sweets in the round tray in the correct order, which she is very particular about. It is the same every year, and I would feel strange if we skipped any part of it.

I feel it is important because traditions are passed on by doing them, not by being told about them. When children help to bake or clean or set things out, they learn the reasons behind each custom and they will be able to do it for their own families one day. It also creates memories, because the preparation is often remembered more fondly than the festival itself. Most importantly, working side by side gives children and grandparents time to talk, and those conversations are how family stories get passed down.