Since the start of Hari Raya Aidilfitri, I have been attending open houses almost daily.
While I look forward to the celebration every year, I’m also being reminded that it is the one festive season when food wastage is at its most rampant.
I get that Raya is about gathering friends and family to spend quality time over a meal. But somehow, we the celebrants have the habit of putting a large amount of food on our plates without thinking about whether or not we can finish it. As a result, most of the food ends up in the bin. If untouched, we could at least give it away, to our neighbours or the underprivileged.
Then there is the common practice of serving little bottles of water to the guests. They would pick one up and drink a sip or two before leaving it at a random part of the house, forgotten. Rinse and repeat until it is time to leave. Why not just serve water in a jug?
As a Muslim, I’m disappointed by such a practice. Islam prohibits wastage in all aspects of life including food. To celebrate Raya shouldn’t be a display of excessiveness; it should be able uniting with loved ones and forging new friendships through house visits.
Unsettled Celebrant
