PETALING JAYA: Less than a month before the Mid-Autumn Festival, mooncake sellers have started to receive orders and bookings of more than 100 orders per day.
The Mid-Autumn Festival, which is also known as the Moon Festival or the Mooncake Festival, will be celebrated on Sept 10 and is one of the most important festivals for the Chinese community.
The Chinese celebrate the festival by gathering for dinners, lighting paper lanterns and eating mooncakes, which are round pastries, made to symbolise the full autumn moon. It’s a festival tradition to give and receive mooncakes as gifts and there is a wide variety of flavours available in the market.
Nur Farrah Diba, a mooncake baker from Bukit Mertajam in Penang, started her mooncake business in 2017.
Now, in the run-up to the festivities, she said she receives more than 100 orders a day.
“Business is fantastic. Customers have been walking into my shop for the past two weeks from the time it opens until I close for the day and I sell more than 100 mooncakes a day.”
Farrah said over the last five years, the prices of mooncakes from her shop has increased from RM10 to RM13 a piece.
“The RM3 increase is to cover labour and ingredient costs, which have all gone up. A box of 50 salted eggs was priced at RM44 a year ago. But now, I buy them for RM66.”
With mooncakes being sold for between RM14 and RM25 a piece, Farrah said the prices depended on the uniqueness and branding.
“Some may put extra salted eggs to improve the texture. Some may be hand-made and not machine produced. The skill of making mooncakes by hand is not easy to master and that is why it is a bit more expensive.
“Some people just buy the fillings from a seller, and others may opt to produce it on their own. The pricing is determined by all these factors.”
Farrah added that the mooncake festival highlights the harmonious nature of Malaysians as giving mooncakes as gifts is a common practice in the country regardless
of race.
“I learned how to make mooncakes from the Chinese aunties in my housing area. They were the ones who taught me the skills from scratch and this allowed me to open a business to sell the delicacy to all Malaysians.
“As I sell halal mooncakes, Malaysians are buying the festive treat from me to send to their friends and staff of various races so that everyone can enjoy it. ”
She said Malaysians must respect and appreciate every race and religion in the country.
“We are a unique country with tremendous cultural diversity. We have so many races here, so we as Malaysians should celebrate together and respect every religion, race, culture and festival.
“Giving out mooncakes is just one example of how Malaysians care for each other. It is a sign of tolerance and respect for one other.”
Another seller, Haziqah Nurulhuda, said mooncakes are a symbol of one Malaysia, which shows our togetherness as a country.
“With the variety of mooncake flavours nowadays, everybody can have a slice of it, whether you are celebrating the moon festival or not.
“It is an inclusive and unique delicacy,” she said.
