Each year, at the start of the fasting month, there is the Hari Raya light up.
How did it start?
It probably came from the tradition of lighting up our homes with flicker lights, that possibly came from traditions such as ‘’malam tujuh likur”, “malam selikuran” and “malam lampu colok”.
In the Javanese tradition, malam selikuran is celebrated on the 21st night of Ramadan to celebrate the last 10 nights which has been consideted auspicious. From this night, much of the places are litted.
Whether or not the Hari Raya light up came out of this tradition, it is useful to note that in the tradition, it was meant to mark the last 10 nights and the light up only begins from then.
Today, it begins even before Ramadan and has become more decorative than bearing any meaning or connection to significance to Ramadan.
Further reading:
https://www.roots.gov.sg/ich-landing/ich/hari-raya-puasa
https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=1d986272-ab7e-4e5c-af7c-5b69e76c60af
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