Harley Owners Group - Brunei Chapter celebrate Raya with the Labuan Black Eagles

Hari Raya is all about fostering closer relations and renewing ties with friends and relatives. On the first day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri, we usually ask for forgiveness from those we have wronged over the past year, particularly our parents and other family members. This is usually done after Aidilfitri prayers.

Enter the season of open houses. While the first day is usually reserved for family and close relatives, the open house gatherings that follow will usually show a broadening of scope to include friends and more relatives.

The pace of celebrations won’t slow down for another week or two, after which celebrations will still carry on but with slightly reduced intensity.

But as Raya celebrations start to wind down in houses – and in some cases, offices – we bikers start to get excited again. Why is it another peak in the Hari Raya celebration? For members of the Harley Owners Group Brunei Chapter, this is the time in which they set off to Labuan to meet with fellow bikers, thereby spreading the Brunei Raya spirit to their counterparts in neighbouring Malaysia.

After all, Brunei is renowned throughout the region as one of the few countries that hold Raya celebrations well into the closing days of the month of Syawal.

In this year’s celebration, 20 bikers rode their Harleys some 300 kilometres to celebrate Hari Raya with their counterparts in Labuan. Thundering down the road, the Harley entourage would awaken the sleepy towns and lonely villages in its path, leaving behind smiles and excited waves from not only the children that ran to the side of the road just to see the bikes, but also from the older generations who’d find the momentary change of scene quite amusing.

The Brunei leather-clad bikers were welcomed on arrival in the city by the Labuan Black Eagle Riders, led by Dato Suhaili Abd Rahman. For three days the Black Eagles watched over the members of the Harley Owners Group Brunei Chapter like a mother eagle, making sure that all arrangements including accommodation and food were in order.

Dato Suhaili said the joint celebration showed that the biking hobby is a hobby that transcends borders, and that the brotherhood and bonds between the bikers from various states and countries make biking an activity that not only portrays the good image of brotherhood but is also one that fosters closer relations between bike enthusiasts across the island of Borneo. One of the members of the Brunei group described the generous hospitality rendered by the hosts as “overwhelming and heartfelt”.

The Hari Raya ride to Labuan was part of a return gesture by the Brunei group to its Labuan counterparts. In July this year, the Black Eagles swooped down to Brunei to join in His Majesty’s 63rd Birthday celebrations.

The Harley Owners Group Brunei Chapter played host to the joint celebrations, along with PEMODA.