JOHOR BARU: He means business when it comes to sending Hari Raya cards.

To ensure he had ample time to pen the cards, civil servant Iszaynuddin Abd Hamid started preparations about five months ago.

“It is not easy to buy Hari Raya cards these days since it is a dying practice. So I have to make the cards myself.

“I started making the cards as early as November last year since I planned to send more this time around,” he said.

For this year’s celebration, Iszaynuddin, 51, had sent out about 170 Hari Raya cards to people from all over the country and even Brunei.

“I even sent Hari Raya cards to some of my teachers, whom I have not met for over 30 years,” he said.

In return, he himself received about 70 Hari Raya cards.

Iszaynuddin even belongs to a group called “Geng Pengumpul Kad Hari Raya” (Hari Raya Card Collectors Group).

It is a Facebook community with about 2,200 members.

“A majority of those receiving my Hari Raya cards are people I met through this group,” he said in an interview.

To the members of this group, the sending out of such physical correspondence is a treasured ritual.

For the past five years, Iszaynuddin has been sending Hari Raya cards to his family and friends in hopes of keeping the practice alive.

“I used to send Hari Raya cards when I was in secondary school and university, but I eventually stopped doing so as the tradition slowly disappeared.

“But I miss the excitement I get when I receive a card from my loved ones. It is such a special feeling that can never be replaced by digital wishes of any kind.

“That is why I decided to start posting Hari Raya cards again about five years ago,” said the father of three from Pontian, Johor.

He sent out about 10 Hari Raya cards in the first year he resumed the tradition.

Iszaynuddin, who works in Selangor, said he hopes to see more people continue sending Hari Raya cards.

But like most young people, his children, whose ages range from 17 to 24, have not caught on with the habit.

“I hope more people will embrace this so that future generations will experience the joy of getting a card from the postman.

“It would be such a pity to see such a tradition disappear,” he said.