By Jennee Grace U. Rubrico
In Brunei, Filipinos take part in the month-long Eid celebrations
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei -- On the second day of the Muslim holiday of Eid, Liza, the wife of a Filipino journalist working in Brunei went to the residence of reigning monarch Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah to attend a royal banquet.
Dressed in blouse and jeans on that sunny day, she and her teenage daughter Zaki got off at the gates of the Istana Nurul Iman, the Leandro-Locsin designed royal residence, and boarded a shuttle that took them to an area within the palace grounds that was prepared for the feast.
“We arrived at 9:30 a.m. We only got delayed when we were boarding the bus. There was some pushing, but when we got inside, there was no queue for the food,” said Liza, whose family is experiencing Eid in Brunei for the first time.
After getting their fill of the traditional Malay dishes prepared by the royal caterer, the mother and daughter pair joined the queue to the Palace halls, where guests were to meet the monarch and his wife, Queen Saleha. By tradition, adults were to receive souvenirs, and children, green money packets at the meet-and-greet session.
Just a few meters shy of the entrance, however, Liza and Zaki were asked to leave the queue.
“We were not able to get in, because we were in jeans... Everyone else was in their traditional outfits,” Liza said.
Missing the chance to rub shoulders with Bruneian royalty during her first visit to the Istana, Liza nevertheless has other opportunities to meet them in the future: the session that she and thousands of residents and tourists in Brunei attended that day was the first of six that were organized for the three-day Istana Open House, which the Royal Family hosts annually to celebrate Eid, the Islamic holiday that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadhan.
Perhaps underscoring the importance of Eid in the sultanate, it is only during these three days that the 200,000-square meter Istana, which holds the Guinness world record for being the largest residence of a state head, opens its doors to the public. Every year, more than 100,000 people visit the Istana over the three-day period to see the Royal Family, take part in the banquet, and receive gifts.
“We arrived at 9:30 a.m. We only got delayed when we were boarding the bus. There was some pushing, but when we got inside, there was no queue for the food,” said Liza, whose family is experiencing Eid in Brunei for the first time.
After getting their fill of the traditional Malay dishes prepared by the royal caterer, the mother and daughter pair joined the queue to the Palace halls, where guests were to meet the monarch and his wife, Queen Saleha. By tradition, adults were to receive souvenirs, and children, green money packets at the meet-and-greet session.
Just a few meters shy of the entrance, however, Liza and Zaki were asked to leave the queue.
“We were not able to get in, because we were in jeans... Everyone else was in their traditional outfits,” Liza said.
Missing the chance to rub shoulders with Bruneian royalty during her first visit to the Istana, Liza nevertheless has other opportunities to meet them in the future: the session that she and thousands of residents and tourists in Brunei attended that day was the first of six that were organized for the three-day Istana Open House, which the Royal Family hosts annually to celebrate Eid, the Islamic holiday that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadhan.
Perhaps underscoring the importance of Eid in the sultanate, it is only during these three days that the 200,000-square meter Istana, which holds the Guinness world record for being the largest residence of a state head, opens its doors to the public. Every year, more than 100,000 people visit the Istana over the three-day period to see the Royal Family, take part in the banquet, and receive gifts.
