Schoolkids' parents shudder as Hari Raya approaches
Published on: Thursday, March 21, 2024
By:
FMT, Yasmin Abdul Latif
The bazaar on Jalan TAR is getting more crowded each day with visitors looking to get some Hari Raya shopping done.
PETALING JAYA: With Hari Raya Aidilfitri fast approaching, parents of school-going children are getting increasingly nervous.
“We haven’t even finished buying their school items and it’s already time for Raya,” several people interviewed by FMT lamented.
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The prospect of preparing for the biggest annual religious festival in the country has weighed heavily on the minds of many already burdened by the high cost of getting their children ready for the new school year, which began earlier this month.
Contractor Ariffin Mohd Ali, 41, said the government should be more sensitive and start the school year in January next year, instead of 2026 as announced by the education ministry previously.
The new academic year began on March 10 and 11 across the country.
Hari Raya is expected to fall exactly a month later, on April 10 and 11.
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“It is a huge burden because Aidilfitri is drawing near. The government should be more mindful of this. We should no longer be burdened by the effects of the pandemic. School needs to start as before (at the beginning of the year).
“Many are unlikely to celebrate much because, in the current climate, each child costs us thousands of ringgit. It is not like in the good old days,” he told FMT.
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A grocery store worker who only wanted to be known as Mai, 51, said the usual festive purchases have become much more costly this year.
“It has become burdensome. Groceries that used to cost between RM100 and RM200 now cost between RM300 to RM400. Even Raya clothes have gone up in price.
I was under the impression school would revert to January this year. Hopefully it will next year,” he said.
Meanwhile, automobile factory worker Abdul Rahman Latif, 40, is broken-hearted at the prospect of disappointing his five children.
“I wish I could have bought each of them new clothes. But we have a long way to travel for Hari Raya and it is more important that I service our car to ensure a safe journey to our kampung and back,” he said.
Housewife, Sharifah Abdul, 42, said she was unable to put away much money as the cost of essentials has gone sky high.
“I cannot afford what I would have liked to buy. I tried really hard, but it is what it is,” the mother-of-three said.
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