When hosting events for festive occasions, we’d like to be surrounded by friends and loved ones. Unfortunately for one man in Malaysia, such an event did not quite turn out that way.
He had invited 45 friends for a Hari Raya open house, having gone to lengths to cook and prepare for the event.
However, only a few guests turned up — none of them being his friends.
In the 20-second TikTok video posted on 12 April, Dekwan aka @muaandgroomingmelaka shared that he had prepared an array of dishes to share with his friends for the event.
This included large pots of curry chicken, trays of satay, and mee siam, among others.
However, the video shows only a handful of people dining at the open house, with empty seats all around.
Source: @muaandgroomingmelaka on TikTok
In the caption of the TikTok, Dekwan shared that he decided to host the open house since he had free time during the holidays.
Unfortunately, not many showed up to the event.
Acknowledging the few who turned up to partake in the festivities, he thanked them for their attendance.
Speaking to World of Buzz, Dekwan said that during Ramadan, he was at a dinner with some friends when one of them asked if he intended to host a Hari Raya open house.
After some discussion, Dekwan agreed to host the Hari Raya open house on the third day of the festive occasion.
“I take food seriously, so I planned everything ahead of time to ensure my friends and guests would feel comfortable, have enough to eat, and have a good time,” he said.
Dekwan added that to invite and accommodate all 45 of his friends, he had to set up a canopy.
He had also spent the whole day cooking for the open house.
While his preparations continued, Dekwan started receiving messages from five to six friends saying they could not make it to the event.
“I tried to stay positive and figured maybe they were busy celebrating Raya with their families,” he said.
“But out of 45 people, only five or six told me directly that they couldn’t come, while the rest just didn’t say anything.”
As his friends failed to turn up, Dekwan’s neighbours became his guests for the day.
Dekwan said he appreciated their presence as he was concerned about food waste. The guests ended up taking away the extra leftovers as well.
He also expressed his disappointment at the rest of his friends for not confirming their attendance.
Apart from his preparations, Dekwan had waited until 9pm for his friends to arrive — but they never did.
“I encouraged the guests who did come to take some food home because there was so much that I didn’t want it to go to waste,” he said.
“My advice to everyone is that if you get invited to an event, always let the host know whether you’ll be attending.”
Also read: Mum Invites 27 Kids To 3-Year-Old Daughter’s Birthday Party, None Show Up
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Featured image adapted from @muaandgroomingmelaka on TikTok.
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