In multicultural Singapore, there’s always a significant festival just around the corner. As a newcomer to the country, perhaps you may have noticed that your Muslim colleagues, friends, and acquaintances have been absent from team meals or snack breaks during the day.
That’s because Muslims are currently in the midst of their annual fasting month, known as Ramadan. Muslims fast from food and drink from dawn to sunset in this month, choosing to devote more time to prayer and acts of charity.
The end of the month of Ramadan is hugely anticipated and celebrated by Muslims in Singapore and all over the world—culminating in a grand holiday known as Eid al-Fitr or more commonly Hari Raya Puasa in Singapore. Hari Raya Puasa is also a Public Holiday in Singapore.
During this joyous festival, many Muslim homes, streets, public buildings, and community spaces in Singapore are adorned with lights, banners, and festive ribbons to mark the start of the new month.
If you’re experiencing your first Hari Raya Puasa in Singapore, are curious to know more about the occasion and want to immerse yourself fully in the celebrations, read right on.
Our guide to Hari Raya Puasa in Singapore will tell you all you need know to celebrate Hari Raya Puasa meaningfully with your new friends.
Eid al-Fitr, meaning the “Festival of Breaking Fast” in Arabic, is the first day of the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. It’s a joyous day that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, the ninth month on the Islamic calendar.
In Singapore, this celebration of Eid al-Fitr is also known as Hari Raya Puasa (which means “a grand day of rejoicing from the fasting” in Malay).
To understand the significance of Hari Raya Puasa, you first need to know about the holy fasting month of Ramadan. Ramadan is considered to be one of the most important months for Muslims. It is believed to be the month in which the holy book in Islam, the Quran, was given to the prophet Muhammad.
The month of Ramadan differs from year to year, but always lasts for approximately 29 and 30 days, for the duration of a lunar cycle from one crescent moon to the next.
During the holy month of Ramadan, almost all Muslims are obligated to fast from food, drink, smoking, and all behaviour which could compromise the fast, from dawn till sunset. Children, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, the feeble elderly, and sick people whose health would be affected by fasting are exempted from the obligatory fast.
The daily fast begins at dawn and ends at dusk. The timings for each day differ slightly and are determined by Islamic scholars and/or the prevailing Islamic governing bodies in the country; in Singapore, Muslims generally follow the timings provided by the Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS), also known as the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore—a government statutory board in the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) of the government of Singapore.
Muslims also make time for additional prayers during the month of Ramadan, such as the voluntary night prayers known as the Tarawih prayers. While prayers and fasting can be done alone, these rituals are very much a communal thing for some Muslims, and can be done at mosques and community spaces too among friends, family, and fellow faithful.
Alms and tithe-giving are also important aspects of Ramadan. In Islamic law, every Muslim is obliged to give religious tithes to the poor, known as Zakat in Malay, paid to collection centres and mosques all around Singapore. Here in Singapore, the zakat required to be paid can be calculated on the MUIS website.
The end of the fasting month of Ramadan is marked by the celebration of Hari Raya Puasa. For the Muslim community, it is a time of forgiveness and strengthening of bonds among relatives and friends.
The significance of the Eid holiday and the practices of putting on your finest traditional clothing and family gatherings with lots of food are universal among the Islamic world. Every country, however, has its own unique take on the grand festivities.
In Singapore, Hari Raya Puasa is often a multicultural and inclusive affair, with people from all ethnicities and various religions participating in the celebrations. Many Muslim families open their homes to non-Muslim friends, colleagues, and neighbours to share the merriment, food, and good cheer.
In Singapore, Hari Raya Puasa is marked as an official Public Holiday, allowing Muslim families to celebrate the day fully.
This year, Hari Raya Puasa falls on Monday, 31 March 2025.
The vast majority of the Muslim community in Singapore continues to celebrate Hari Raya Puasa for the whole month after, for families and friends to be able to complete all their visiting.
Open houses will typically be hosted all throughout this month too, with some Muslim households opening their homes to non-Muslim friends, colleagues, and neighbours too. It’s considered polite to attend if you’re invited. And lucky too, because the food at Hari Raya Puasa open houses is known to be really delicious.
Hari Raya Puasa is a fabulous time to enjoy the vast array of Malay food in Singapore, which is well-known to be rich, aromatic, and extremely delicious—many of which cannot be easily found in restaurants.
Malay home-cooked food is truly on a level of its own, and if you’re so fortunate to be invited to your friend’s house for the celebrations, you’ll find out for yourself exactly why we say this.
Food holds a special significance to those who celebrate Hari Raya Puasa, because of its role in Ramadan in the past month, and also as a symbol of unity and family.
Here are some popular Hari Raya Puasa dishes that you may come across at your Malay friends’ houses:
This traditional Malay rice cake is made by tightly wrapping glutinous rice in woven pandan or coconut leaves in a diamond shape, which is boiled in water to cook. It can be eaten simply by itself, or with other savoury dishes like satay or sayur lodeh (vegetable stew). Symbolising unity, gratitude, prosperity, and good fortune, the ketupat is a staple on every Muslim household’s dining table at Hari Raya Puasa.
This stew is a firm favourite during Hari Raya Puasa, made from aromatic herbs and spices like lemongrass, galangal, ginger, garlic, turmeric, chili peppers, and other spices, and filled with tender beef, chicken, or mutton. It’s typically cooked for hours over the stove in a mixture of coconut milk and broth, until the meat is infused with the delicious sauce. This is a communal dish that many Muslims like to break fast over.
A versatile spicy paste comprising fresh chillies, shrimp paste, sugar, salt, shallots, and lime juice—sambal is typically prepared according to each family’s own recipe. The preparation in itself is a communal effort, as families and friends often come together to batch prepare sambal to last throughout the month-long festivities. It can be eaten in an assortment of ways—as a relish, condiment, or marinade in curries and stews.
Sambal seafood dishes using squid or prawns are cooked as a treat at Hari Raya Puasa gatherings, so you’ll definitely want to try it if you see the dish at your host’s table.
Meaning “vegetables cooked until soft” in Malay, Sayur lodeh is a delicious vegetable coconut-milk based stew, cooked in spices such as galangal, candlenut, chilli, onion, coriander, lemongrass, cloves, turmeric, lime, bay leaves, and curry powder. Vegetables often cooked in this aromatic and rich broth include cabbage, carrot, long beans, and eggplant, with fried tofu and a fermented soy bean cake known as tempeh. Sayur lodeh is often eaten with rice or ketupat.
What looks to be a humble rice porridge is actually a very significant dish for the Malay community, as it is the traditional dish served in mosques and communal halls to those who are breaking fast during Ramadan. It is a reminder of the spirit of generosity and togetherness that marks the Hari Raya Puasa celebrations. Cooked with galangal, lemongrass, pandan leaves, onions, and garlic in rich coconut milk and either beef or chicken, Bubur lambuk is comforting and delicious with every spoonful.
And the best dish you can find at Malay households during Hari Raya Puasa has to be the wide variety of Kueh. Kueh is a bite-sized snack that can be sweet or savoury, and also includes cakes, cookies, dumplings, biscuits, puddings, and pastries, made by the Malay and Chinese community in Singapore. Kueh Raya, which refers specifically to these delicious snacks enjoyed during Hari Raya Puasa, includes delicacies like:
The day itself is usually full of rituals and family visiting for those who celebrate it. In the morning, the mosque is visited, before starting on family visitations. Big feasts would be prepared for the celebration, with a lavish spread of food and snacks available for all visitors. Green packets are also given by older adults to children, to signify forgiveness and generosity.
The celebrations in Singapore typically last for an entire month, so there’s plenty of time for everyone to visit their family and friends.
If you are lucky to be invited into a home for a Hari Raya celebration, you can look forward to scrumptious food and a wonderful time of warmth and laughter! Do greet the hosts and everyone in the home with a “Selamat Hari Raya” greeting, and thank the host family for their generosity.
You will also want to bear in mind to dress appropriately and avoid revealing clothing—even better if you can wear something that covers your arms and legs.
Many public spaces are adorned with lights, banners, streamers, and decorations for Hari Raya Puasa, including shopping malls, community centres, and public streets. Ramadan bazaars are also a rather common sight during this festive period, with vendors selling a variety of sweet treats and savoury snacks amidst a bustling atmosphere.
In multicultural Singapore, you probably won’t be surprised to see Muslim homes adorned with beautiful Hari Raya Puasa decorations, with fairy lights adorning windows and balconies, colourful ribbon ketupats hanging on the door, and fresh floral displays on the tabletops. Some households have taken the decorations up a notch this year, with eye-catching inflatable decorations and neon signs outside the window!
What you may be surprised to see are thoughtful Hari Raya decorations in common corridors of government HDB blocks. Well-meaning residents of the apartment block, who want to spread the joy of the season to their neighbours, string up beautiful lights along the entire floor, display Quran verses on neon lights on the walls, and line corridors with artificial grass and pebbles to create a whimsical entryway as neighbours step out of the lift.
Check out Geylang Serai for the gorgeous light-up at Hari Raya Puasa, and for a hotspot of night bazaars to wander around in.
Visit a mosque in the month of Ramadan—but please remember to be respectfully attired with head, arm and leg coverings. We recommend the Sultan Mosque for its atmospheric architecture and cultural significance, as the mosque was built by the first Sultan of Singapore.
Attend a Hari Raya Puasa open house hosted by a neighbour or colleague, and come in your best attire.
Contrary to popular belief, Hari Raya Puasa is not the Islamic New Year. It is actually the beginning of the 10th month in the Islamic calendar, after the conclusion of the Ramadan fast.
There are two Hari Raya celebrations each year—Hari Raya Puasa which celebrates the end of the fasting month, and Hari Raya Haji which celebrates the completion of the Hajj pilgrimage period.
Many families dress up in matching family outfits during Hari Raya Puasa, to signify family unity and togetherness. It definitely adds a fun touch to the celebrations (and makes for gorgeous family photos too!)
Green packets (known as Duit Raya) are typically given out to children and the elderly during Hari Raya Puasa, as a way of wishing them good luck and good health. This is similar to the Chinese practice of giving out red packets during Chinese New Year, which may explain why many people mistakenly assume Hari Raya is also a celebration of a new year.
While the public holiday lasts for only one day in Singapore, many Muslim families celebrate Hari Raya Puasa for the entire month, with family visits and parties happening on all the weekends in the month. It’s a hustling month indeed in Singapore.
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