Hotel Istana once again became the venue for this year's KLHQ Hari Raya Open House which was held on 19 September, the 10th day of Syawal.

Happy faces of kids and parents cladded in colourful traditional attire filled the room as they feasted on traditional goodies such as beriyani, laksa johor, lemang, soto ayam, rendang and the likes. Some stalls were visited again and again, among the favourites was the roast lamb stall. Of course the kids were extra jovial, with smiles radiated from their faces as they lined up at the main door to shake hands with the hosts and were handed a packet of duit raya each.

Our special guests for the day were the children from Pusat Jagaan Siraman Kasih, Rawang who were given duit raya and a goodie bag each by Chairman of Malakoff, Tan Sri Abdul Halim Ali and MD/CEO of Malakoff, En Ahmad Jauhari Yahya. They were touched by the gesture of a corporate company such as Malakoff, who is sensitive to the plight and needs of the unfortunates such as themselves and is humbled to share and celebrate a happy moment like this with them.

It is hoped that this yearly celebration will bring every one of us closer together and become a means for us to reconnect with each other.