Can you believe it? We’ve entered the third week of Ramadan! Feels like it was just yesterday when we were hit with the news on the pandemic and we were scrambling to regain some kind of normalcy in our lives.

Things were uncertain then for most of us, yet Alhamdulillah, we managed to pull through.

Now, we are given the chance to experience Ramadan again. A chance to make amends. A chance to strive to become better Muslims. A chance to appreciate everything we’ve been blessed with. A chance to do as many good deeds as possible, insha’Allah.

One of the good deeds that we could possibly do is to give gifts throughout the blessed month of Ramadan.

Giving Gifts During Ramadan?

That’s right! Ramadan is a great time to give gifts, and it becomes all the more special when you give gifts to your loved ones. It’s a nice way of telling them you have them in your thoughts and it could also help to strengthen your relationship with them.

Like really, are there people who do no look forward to receiving gifts?

Here are our top picks for 2021!

Something For The Traditional Foodie

Ketupat Palas – Ben & Chinta

This year, Ben & Chinta collaborated with @craveganu to come up with Ketupat Palas and Homemade Signature Serunding gift packs. All you need to do is to steam the ketupat palas in the steamer and once it’s cooked, you can enjoy it with their serunding.

Price: 20 pieces priced at RM35, Ketupat Palas Single Gift Pack priced at RM50, and the Family Gift Pack priced at RM80.

Something For The Sweet Tooth

Beryl’s Raya Chocolate Gifts 2021 – Beryl’s Chocolate

To mark the festive occasion, Beryl’s came up with not one, not two, but twenty different types of Raya gifts and hampers for you to choose from! However, at the time of writing only five hampers are still in stock. Better hurry before stocks run out!

Price:  Beryl’s Raya 2021 Lebaran Gift Set 2 priced at RM45.80, Beryl’s Raya 2021 Lebaran Gift Set 4 priced at RM46, Beryl’s Raya 2021 Harmoni Aidilfitri Hamper priced at RM67.50, Beryl’s Raya 2021 Cahaya Aidilfitri Hamper priced at RM81, and Beryl’s Raya 2021 Istimewa Aidilfitri Hamper priced at RM100.

Something For The Environmentally-Conscious

Raya 2021 Exclusive Festive Gift Baskets – Earth Heir

Opt for a fair trade gift set from environmentally-conscious Earth Heir. Their specially curated baskets are their way of giving back to the local rattan and mengkuang artisans as well as the local communities.

Price: The Raya 2021 Exclusive Festive Gift Basket priced at RM259

Something For The Artisan Lover

Raya Exclusive Festive Gift Baskets – Batik Boutique

Batik Boutique is an award-winning social enterprise established to empower artisans from marginalised communities across Malaysia. Shop from their hand-crafted Cahaya Raya 2021 Collection – where you can find a good selection of Malaysian made batik apparels, accessories, and gifts sets for your family and friends.

Price: The Borak Gift Set priced at RM279, Batik Face Mask (M/L) – Teal Driftwood priced at RM45, and Ketupat Bag – Pink Pagar priced at RM189.

Something For The Drinks Master

Jom Ra-Yay Pack – Tapping Tapir

Surprise your loved ones with a delightful set of sparkling sodas from the Tapping Tapir! Made from real fruit juices, spices and herbs, their sodas do not contain artificial colours, flavours and lots of sugar. Perfect for those eager to enjoy their drinks, minus the nasties.

Price: Jom Ra-Yay Pack priced at RM88.

Something For The Green Thumbs

Raya Exclusive Festive Gift Baskets – Nuhayra Pretty Leaf

Brighten up your family and friends homes by gifting them a pretty little potted plant from Nuhayra Pretty Leaf! This may not be the most conventional gift idea, though we’re certain it’d bring a smile to that special someone who has a soft soft for flowers and plants.

Price: Starts from RM4.27

Something For The One Who Upholds Tradition

Classic High Tea Set – Nyonya Lab

Bring back the memories of the good old days with a beautiful box full of delicious nyonya kuih from the Nyonya Lab! Choose six types of kuih from their long list of kuihs available such as angku, bingka ubi, seri muka, kuih lapis, pulut tai-tai, lapis ubi and more. Customisable in a box, platter, and tiffin.

Something For The Chinese Muslim Food Connoisseur

Kitchen Essentials – Kaijia Muslim Food

No, this is not a shameless plug from us. The truth is we couldn’t find any Chinese Muslim Ramadan-themed gift packs on the market. So what’s the next best thing? Well, you could gift your family and friends any of our kitchen essentials products! They can use our Signature Chilli Oil and Garlic Oil in their cooking, while munching on some Guoba Snacks.

Price: Signature Chilli Oil priced at RM17 for a 300g jar and RM13 for a 200g tub, Garlic Oil priced at RM10 for a 300g jar, and Guoba Snacks priced at RM6 and above.

There we have it! Hope you’ll have fun buying gifts for your family and friends! While we’re at it, the 10 last nights of Ramadan are fast approaching. May we get to experience the Night of Power , Laylatul Qadr, ameen!

Sharing our brief guide to Ramadan in Mandarin Chinese.

Feel free to share this with your Chinese family and friends!

Hopefully, they’d be able to understand a little more about Ramadan.

Taking this opportunity to wish everyone a blessed Ramadan.

Let’s strive to be better people and make this the best Ramadan yet!

It’s a clickbait title.

In our previous article, we shared great Chinese New Year gift ideas you can find on Shopee Malaysia.

Well, this time around we want to cover gift ideas that include spending and not spending any money. We want to give options to our readers to choose the best option that suit their current situations. We bring you, 5 of our even more awesome Chinese New Year gift ideas!

Gift Paid Subscriptions

Online courses, Netflix, Astro, Spotify, Internet, gym membership, mobile apps, magazines… anything that requires subscription or has a subscription plan. All you have to do is to subscribe for that person and pay according to the subscription plan. Could be a month, quarterly, yearly or a lifetime subscription if you’re feeling generous.

Pro-Tip: Find something that the person has always wanted to subscribe to and gift that person that paid subscription plan. He or she would love you for it.

A Gardener At Heart? Give Seeds, A Plant or A Harvest Box!

We are in love with gardening and it has come to the point that I have half a mind to give seeds, plants and part of our harvest to family and friends as gifts. It’s all about sharing the joy of gardening, being able to grow your own food, and encouraging others to appreciate the food that came from the farmers.

Pro-Tip: Get even more creative by making and gifting a DIY gardening starter kit. Give some seeds, a bag of soil, a couple of small pots, polybags or your own DIY pots, a cute spade, a pair of gloves, spray bottle and a step-by-step guide.

Bakers & Cooks, Bake & Cook!

Now if you’re great in the kitchen, all the more reason for you to give something from your kitchen. Bake festive-themed cookies or cook a sumptuous spread. Pack the food in nice containers, decorate it with Chinese New Year motifs and gift it to your family and friends!

Pro-Tip: Find out what that person likes to eat and bake or cook that particular item. Make it extra special by baking or cooking something that the person has not eaten for many years.

Sew, Knit, Embroider or Cross Stitch Your Heart Into It!

Honestly, we don’t know that many people who can sew, knit, embroider or cross stitch anymore. What we do know is it’d be great to get something that’s sewn, knitted, embroidered or cross stitched by someone we know. Doesn’t have to be something technical. Just our names on a t-shirt would be fantastic enough.

Pro-Tip: Go all in by making an actual wearable or usable item that the receiver would feel proud of using. Could be a shopping bag. Could be a quilted blanket.

Give The Gift Of Time

Time is of the essence and it’s something that we often crave for, yet can hardly get enough of. Use this holiday season to spend more time with your loved ones. Listen to them, play with them, watch TV with them, talk to them, cook with them, teach them a new skill, anything that makes them feel you are right there with and for them.

Pro-Tip: Plan your day ahead so you can make the most of your time. Best way forward is to ask how they’d like to best spend their time with you.

What do you think? Do you have any ideas you’d like to share with us? Let us know!

Extra: Don’t have a Shopee account yet? Sign-up by clicking here.

Festivities are always the best time of the year to give gifts, especially to family and friends who you seldom get to meet. Nothing beats giving them a little something from the heart. It could be a kind word, a warm hug, or something that you bought or made. Gift-giving is a great way to show your appreciation, respect, and affection to that special someone.

Now then, since the Chinese New Year festival is coming soon, we thought why don’t we come up with a post on great Chinese New Year gift ideas? We’ve rounded up some of the best items you can find and purchase on Shopee Malaysia. Enjoy!

Ready-To-Eat Food Gift Baskets & Hampers

You can never go wrong with ready-to-eat food gift baskets and hampers! These usually consist of delicious Chinese New Year goodies, including cookies, candies, chips, dried fruits and nuts.

1. Master Looi 雷师傅 Chinese New Year Cookies Luxury Gifts Sets A 新年送礼年饼精美组合A
   • Includes: Deep Fried Smiley Sesame Balls, Peanut Crunch Candy, Plum Blossom Cookies, Garlic Crunchy Chicken Biscuits and Pineapple Tarts Cookies.
2. SURPRISE CHOCOLATE BOX | gift set | ferrero rocher | kitkat | birthday gift | anniversary gift | friendship gift
   • Includes: 18 pieces of original Kit Kat 2F and a Personalized Greeting Card.
3. (Chinese Muslim Product) Kaijia Signature Chilli Oil 辣椒油 Minyak Cili (Produk Cina Muslim)
   • Not many knows this but we can wrap our order nicely and include a special handwritten message.

All-In Food Gift Baskets & Hampers

Another great idea is to give gift baskets and hampers filled with all sorts of food items. These items include tea, nuts, biscuits, mushrooms, tidbits, dried meat, and crisps.

1. Chinese New Year Gift Set | CNY Hamper | 新春礼盒 2021
   • Includes: 12 Grains NutriRice, Pu’er Tea, Red Dates, Flower Mushrooms, Pistachios, etc.
2. BAN HEANG Chinese New Year 2021 Gift Set 1 Box (Mixed Assorted Cookies & Snacks) by PenangToGo
   • Includes: Coconut Crisp, Salted Egg Almond Slice, Cheese Almond Slice, Original Almond Slice, Salted Fish Crisp With Seaweed, Cheese Crisp, Salted Egg Crisp, Butter Cookie, Almond Cookie, Fruity Marshmallow Bite and Matcha Marshmallow Bite.
3. [Vegetarian 素食] Chinese New Year CNY Hamper 精美素食新年礼盒 🧧 Limit to 5 gift boxes per order 每单限五个礼盒
   • Includes: Vegan/Vegetarian Fish Maw Crisp, Vegetarian Mushroom Snack Rou Gang, Vegan Seaweed Floss, Nuts, Cha Cheer Kuaci and Red Paper Box.

Items Gift Sets

The best time to find seasonal items that are created just for the festival. Since this year is the year of the Ox, you can find all sorts of items with ox decorations available in the market. Top gift ideas include soft toys, ornaments, tableware, clothes, money packets, and yes, if you can afford to splurge go for gold or jewelry.

1. 4pcs Bowl Ceramic Tableware Chinese New Year Lunar New Year Gift Koi Fish Bowl Rice bowl for soup 農曆新年主題陶瓷碗套裝年年有余
   • Includes: Ceramic Bowls and Packaging Box.
2. Chinese New Year lucky pattern single-sided printing microfiber pillowcase sofa cushion cover home decoration
   • Includes: Pillowcase.
3. 2021 Ox Year Lucky Dollar Money Gold Foil Banknotes New Year Gift 牛年金钞
   • Includes: Gold Banknote.

Unconventional Gift Ideas

So we found a few items that people may not usually give during Chinese New Year. However, items such as face masks have become a necessity and we figured we would include it for those who may want to consider giving these instead. We have also included a couple of other items to add variety to the list.

1. 2021 Chinese New Year Face Mask 3ply Kids Adult Mask 2021农历新年口罩成人儿童口罩 Red Mask CNY Mask
   • Includes: Face Mask.
2. Jambutree Cute 2021 Happy Chinese New Year Year of Ox 牛年 如意 Unisex Couple T-Shirt Tee CNY Gift Tshirt Baju READY STOCK
   • Includes: T-Shirt.
3. Vintage Red Tassel Earrings Firecracker Lantern Drop Earring Women Girls Chinese New Year Gift Ethnic Jewelry
   • Includes: Drop Earrings.

Found any other great ideas on Shopee Malaysia? Drop it in the comments section for others to know! For new users, sign-up by clicking here.

Chinese New Year is expected to fall on Friday, 12th of February this year. However, preparations for the festival have started for most people. Our neighbours for instance have started their annual spring cleaning activities. Shopping malls on the other hand have soaked up the atmosphere with their Chinese New Year decorations, festive songs, and storewide sales.

Big Question: Do we celebrate Chinese New Year?

Although K is Chinese, he doesn’t celebrate Chinese New Year and the reason is simply because his family doesn’t celebrate it too. Having said that, we do have family and friends celebrating it and they would always give us delicious food and thoughtful gifts during the festive season.

Not familiar with the food? We’ve got some good news for you. Here’s our list of 5 Chinese New Year food you ought to try in 2021. Let’s begin our list!

1. The New Year Cake 年糕 Kuih Bakul

Made of glutinous rice flour, this traditional rice cake can be taken sweet or savoury. The new year cake can be found easily in most supermarkets, but if you’re game enough to make your own, you can try these recipes from the Asian Food Network – Nian Gao and What To Cook Today – Easy Nian Gao Recipe (Tikoy / Fa Gao / Kue Bakul).

2. Dumplings 饺子

Dumplings are pieces of dough filled with all sorts of delicious fillings. Traditionally, the people at K’s hometown in the Northwestern part of China prefer to have it boiled and they eat it by dipping the dumplings in chili oil and black vinegar. Laotai Arui did a video on it and you can view it here – Dumplings Halal Recipe | Muslim Chinese Food | Best Chinese Halal Food |饺子

3. Tangyuan 汤圆

These addictive sticky rice balls are made with glutinous rice flour. Often served in a sweet soup, the fillings vary from peanut to red bean. Tangyuan are chewy in texture and you can easily make these at home using store-bought tangyuan. To make your own from scratch, follow this Tang Yuan Chinese Glutinous Rice Balls 汤圆 recipe shared by the Red House Spice.

4. Yee Sang 魚生

Essentially a salad, most restaurants would offer this during the Chinese New Year period. But with movement restrictions, you could purchase ready-made yee sang from restaurants and supermarkets. All you have to do is assemble the ingredients, pour the sauce, and dig in!

5. Tangerines & Oranges

You can’t really end the list without mentioning the fruits that are synonymous to the festival. It’s fair to say that Chinese New Year is the only festival where you’ll see people buying, eating and gifting boxes of these fruits. In fact, we can’t think of any time of the year where we can find ourselves eating and receiving this many tangerines and oranges.

There are definitely more good food that people usually eat during Chinese New Year and we’d be sharing those in future posts, insha’Allah. In the meantime, you can refer to last years’ post – Top 3 Snacks You Should Try For Chinese New Year.

Are you celebrating Chinese New Year this year? Let us know in the comments section!