Every year, Hua Ho Department Store in Brunei always commemorates the celebration of Hari Raya Aidilfitri also known as Hari Raya Idul Fitri or Hari Raya Puasa, an important Muslim festival celebrated globally. It signifies the end of Ramadhan and the start of Syawal. It falls on August 19 this year. Please note Muslim festivals are timed according to local sightings of various phases of the moon and thus this Hari Raya date given is approximation.
But before that day comes, Hua Ho department store’s artists of Sengkurong, Yayasan, Manggis and Tanjung Bunut branches are busy brainstorming for the concept of the display for the said occasion. Earlier as of June they were gathered for a meeting and discussed the future events. Tasks are given individually. After a thorough discussions and planning, the concepts are now ready to take in. And since the said Hua Ho Department Store’s 4 branches follow the same pattern for the display, it was stress-free doing the design in CAD and SketchUp 8 for the designer.
An arch and a mosque are the main subjects of the concept of this year’s store display. After the layout was send and approved by the store’s boss, the following days are the hardest day of preparations.
The Hari Raya Aidilfitri display was 97% made of Styrofoam and the remaining percentages are composed of hot glue, barbecue sticks, wires, bulbs and paints. Each artist focused on their stores display and since the store only have 4 artists, two months preparation was required. The arch I made for Hua Ho Yayasan branch, has the stature to 4,000.00mm laid in box with 2,430 millimeters in height. And the mosque measurements was 1,298.8mm x 891.6mm x 2,799.3mm. There was a modification done on the actual settings. But we must lay the mosque in the exact place that is easily noticed by those who pass through the escalator. We also have added other designs besides those same design we agreed. Somewhat there's a difference between the design of the arch which I made relative to what they did because I kept it nearer to the design and colors used by my colleague to the shopping guidebook he did for the store. And using bright colors like lemon yellow will destruct the main concept so I'm using pantone color number 600, instead.
The installation is supposed to start on the 25th day of July, but conforming to the store management’s request, we installed it much earlier. I was so upset when the manager suggested to move the position of the arch opposed those stated in the plan, for the pillar of the arch was nearly broken in the first attempt of its installation due to excessive amount of people willing to help. There I realized, that the number of people helping does not always justify the result of the work, but with proper technique and planning. Because the next day, we were able to arise the arch where only three of us have worked together. With the help of my colleague, the installation of the whole display was completed successfully.
 Hua Ho - Tanjung Bunut store display |  Hua Ho - Manggis store display. |
 Hua Ho - Yayasan store display |  Hua Ho - Manggis supermarket area display. |
 Hua Ho - Sengkurong store display. |  Hua Ho - Yayasan store display. |
 Hua Ho - Yayasan store display. |  Hua Ho - Yayasan store display. |
