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Holidays in
Malaysia
Malaysians observe a number of holidays and festivities throughout the
year. Some holidays are federal gazetted public holidays and some are
public holidays observed by individual states. Other festivals are
observed by particular ethnic or religion groups, but are not public
holidays.
The most celebrated holiday is the "Hari Merdeka" (Independence Day) on
August 31 commemorating the independence of the Federation of Malaya in
1957, while Malaysia Day is only celebrated in the state of Sabah on
September 16 to commemorate the formation of Malaysia in 1963. Hari
Merdeka, as well as Labour Day (May 1), the King's birthday (first
Saturday of June) and some other festivals are federal gazetted public
holidays.
Muslims in Malaysia celebrate Muslim holidays. The most celebrated
festival, Hari Raya Puasa (also called Hari Raya Aidilfitri) is the Malay
translation of Eid al-Fitr. It is generally a festival honoured by the
Muslims worldwide marking the end of Ramadan, the fasting month. In
addition to Hari Raya Puasa, they also celebrate Hari Raya Haji (also
called Hari Raya Aidiladha, the translation of Eid ul-Adha), Awal Muharram
(Islamic New Year) and Maulidul Rasul (Birthday of the Prophet).
Chinese in Malaysia typically celebrate festivals that are observed by
Chinese around the world. Chinese New Year is the most celebrated among
the festivals which lasts for fifteen days and ends with Chap Goh Mei.
Other festivals celebrated by Chinese are the Qingming Festival, the
Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival. In addition to
traditional Chinese festivals, Buddhists Chinese also celebrate Vesak.
The majority of Indians in Malaysia are Hindus and they celebrate Diwali,
the festival of light, while Thaipusam is a celebration which pilgrims
from all over the country flock to Batu Caves. Apart from the Hindus,
Sikhs celebrate the Vaisakhi, the Sikh New Year.
Other festivals such as Good Friday (East Malaysia only), Christmas, Hari
Gawai of the Ibans (Dayaks), Pesta Menuai (Pesta Kaamatan) of the
Kadazan-Dusuns are also celebrated in Malaysia.
Despite most of the festivals being identified with a particular ethnic or
religious group, all Malaysians celebrate the festivities together,
regardless of their background. For years, when Hari Raya Puasa and
Chinese New Year coincided, a slogan, Kongsi Raya, a combination of Gong
Xi Fa Cai (a greeting used on the Chinese New Year) and Hari Raya (which
could also mean "celebrating together" in Malay language) was coined. For
years when the Hari Raya Puasa and Deepavali coincide, a slogan, Deepa
Raya, is similarly coined.
resource : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia |
