Mandarin oranges in Raya-themed green boxes spark positive reactions online, highlighting Malaysia’s multicultural spirit
CHINESE New Year ended just over a month ago, and Malaysia is already preparing to celebrate Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
In a quirky twist reflecting the country’s multicultural spirit, mandarin oranges — usually associated with Chinese New Year — are now being sold in Raya-themed green boxes.
Typically, the fruit is packaged in bright red boxes with Chinese-style fonts and labelled as “CNY edition”. However, a Reddit user recently spotted them repackaged in green for the upcoming festive season.
In a Reddit post, user RhinneXChronica shared a photo showing the green boxes of mandarin oranges displayed alongside dates at a supermarket during Ramadan.
“First we had ‘green angpau’, now we have green mandarin orange boxes,” the user captioned.
Rather than criticising the unusual packaging, many Redditors welcomed it, saying it reflects Malaysia’s unique blend of cultures.
“This is what makes us uniquely Malaysian. And why waste leftover oranges if they are still perfectly good?” wrote user armandkugan9.
“Our cultures intertwining is what makes us cool and unique. Stop seeing it as ‘them and us’. This is all of us.”
Another user agreed, commenting: “The more good Malaysians share the same sentiments as you, the faster we can break the chains of division that hold us back. This is us, indeed.”
User PeroduaMeowvi said he would not mind celebrating Hari Raya with family while enjoying mandarin oranges this year.
“Yes! Adopting other people’s culture is awesome, as long as they adopt the good stuff,” another Redditor added.
Meanwhile, user pcboss00 pointed out that traditions often start somewhere.
“The Raya angpau, I believe, started in the 1980s,” the user noted, suggesting that the green mandarin orange boxes could simply be another evolving cultural trend.
