Jump to content

Public holidays in Malaysia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Cheong Kok Chun (talk | contribs) at 12:10, 8 January 2011. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Template:Life in Malaysia

Celebrating National Day at Sultan Abdul Samad Building

There are two types of holidays in Malaysia, National and state levels. National holidays are normally observed by most governmental and private organizations. State holidays are normally observed by certain states in Malaysia or when it is relevant to the state itself.

In addition, Government agencies are closed every Saturday and Sunday. Meanwhille in Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu, government agencies are closed every Friday and Saturday.[1]

Types of holidays

Malaysians observe a number of holidays and festivities throughout the year. Some holidays are federally gazetted public holidays and some are public holidays observed by individual states.[2] Other festivals are observed by particular ethnic or religion groups, but are not public holidays. The main holy days of each major religion are public holidays, taking place on either the western calendar or religious ones.[3]

Secular

The most widespread holiday is the "Hari Kebangsaan" (Independence Day), otherwise known as "Merdeka" (Freedom), on 31 August commemorating the independence of the Federation of Malaya. This, as well as Labour Day (1 May), the King's birthday (first Saturday of June) and some other festivals are major national public holidays. Federal Territory day is celebrated in the three Federal territories.[3] Malaysia Day, held on 16 September to commemorate the formation of Malaysia, only takes place in the state of Sabah.

Religious and ethnic

A malay girl and two malay boys dressed in green traditional clothing
Malay children dressed for Hari raya

Muslim holidays are highly prominent in Malaysia. The most important of these is Hari Raya Puasa (also called Hari Raya Aidilfitri),[4] which 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 Maulidur Rasul (Birthday of the Prophet).[3]

Malaysian Chinese typically hold the same festivals observed by Chinese around the world. Chinese New Year is the most prominent, lasting for 15 days[3] and ending with Chap Goh Mei (十五瞑). The Vietnamese new year, or Tết, falls on the same day. Other festivals celebrated by Chinese are the Qingming Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Hindus in Malaysia celebrate Diwali/Deepavali, the festival of light,[3] while Thaipusam is a celebration in which pilgrims from all over the country meet at the Batu Caves.[5] The most important Sikh festival is the Sikh new year or Baisakhi. Because it falls during the month of Vaisakh, the occasion is more commonly known as the Vaisakhi festival. Other important days are Lodi and Gurpurab. Other Indian and Indochinese communities observe their new year celebrations at around the same time, such as Pohela Boishakh of the Bengalis and Songkran (water festival) of the Thais. People in the northern states also hold the thai festival of Loy Kratong.[6]

Wesak (Malay for Vesak), the day of Buddha's birth, is a public holiday.[3] Malaysia's Christian community observes most of the holidays observed by Christians elsewhere, most notably Christmas[3] and Easter. Good Friday, however, is only a public holiday in the two Bornean states. The harvest festivals of Gawai in Sarawak and Kaamatan in Sabah are also important for East Malaysians.[2]

New Years day, Chinese New Year, and the start of the Islamic calendar are all public holidays.[3]

Participation

Despite most of the festivals being identified with a particular ethnic or religious group, festivities are often participated in by all Malaysians. One example of this is the celebration of Kongsi Raya which is used when Hari Raya Puasa and Chinese New Year coincide. The term Kongsi Raya (which means "sharing the celebration" in Malay) was coined because of the similarity between the word kongsi and the Chinese New Year greeting of Gong xi fa cai. Similarly, the portmanteau Deepa Raya was coined when Hari Raya Puasa and Deepavali coincided.[7]

A practice known as "open house" (rumah terbuka) is common during the festivities, especially during Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Deepavali, Chinese New Year and Christmas. Open house means that all well-wishers are received and that everyone regardless of background is invited to attend.[8] Open houses are normally held at the home of the host and food are also prepared by the host, however, there are also open houses held at larger public venues especially when hosted by government agencies or corporations. Also during the festivities, most Malaysians would take the time off work or school to return to their hometowns to celebrate the festivities with their extended relatives. This practice is commonly known as balik kampung and usually causes traffic jams on most highways in the country.[9]

Public holidays by states and territories

Date Name JHR KDH KTN KUL LBN MLK NSN PHG PNG PRK PRS PJY SBH SGR SRW TRG
January 1 2011 New Year's Day * * * * * * * * * * *
January 11 2011 Hari Hol Sultan Johor *
January 14 2011 Sembilan State Ruler's Birthday *
January 16 2011 Kedah State Ruler's Birthday *
January 20 2011 (January 30 2010) Thaipusam * * * * * * *
February 1 2011 Federal Territory Day * * *
February 3 2011 (February 14 2010) Chinese New Year (1St day) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 4 2011 (February 15 2010) Chinese New Year (2Nd day) * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 15 2011 (26 February 2010) Birthday of Prophet Muhammad * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
March 4 2011 (March 2010) Second (2011)Anniversary of Installation of Sultan of Terengganu *
March 30 and 31 2011 Kelantan State Ruler's Birthday *
April 15 2011 Declaration of Malacca City as Historical City *
April 19 2011 Perak State Ruler's Birthday *
April 22 2011 (2 April 2010) Good Friday * *
May 1 2011 Labour Day * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
May 7 2011 Hari Hol of Pahang *
May 17 2011 (May 28 2010) Wesak Day * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
May 17 2011 Perlis State Ruler's Birthday *
June 1 and 2 2011 Gawai Dayak *
June 4 2011 (June 5 2010) Malaysia King's Birthday * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
June 29 2011 (July 10 2010) Israk dan Mikraj * * *
July 7 2011 Declaration of George Town as World Heritage Site *
July 10 2011 Penang State Ruler's Birthday *
July 20 2011 Terengganu State Ruler's Birthday *
August 1 2011 tentative (August 11 2010) Awal Ramadan * * *
August 17 2011 (August 27 2010) Hari Nuzul Al-Quran * * * * * * *
August 30 2011 tentative (10 September 2010) Hari Raya Puasa * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
August 31 tentative (11 September 2010) Hari Raya Puasa (2Nd Day) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
August 31 2011 Merdeka Day * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
September 10 2011 (October 23 2010) Sarawak State Ruler's Birthday *
September 16 2011 Malaysia Day * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
October 1 2011 (September 16 2010) Sabah State Ruler's Birthday *
October 8 2011 (October 9 2010) Melaka State Ruler's Birthday *
October 24 2011 Pahang State Ruler's Birthday *
October 26 2011 (November 5 2010) Deepavali * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
November 6 2011 (November 17 2010) tentative Hari Raya Qurban * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
November 7 2011 (November 18 2010) tentative Hari Raya Qurban (2Nd Day) * *
November 22 2011 Johor State Ruler's Birthday *
November 27 2011 (December 7 2010) Awal Muharram * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
December 11 2011 Selangor State Ruler's Birthday *
December 25 2011 Christmas Day * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Festivals of Malaysia

Muslim festivals

Christian festivals

Buddhist festivals

Hindu festivals

Chinese festivals

Others

References

  1. ^ Jadual Hari Kelepasan Am Persekutuan dan Negeri 2011, Laman Web, Bahagian Kabinet, Perlembagaan & Perhubungan Antara Kerajaan, Jabatan Perdana Menteri Malaysia
  2. ^ a b "Malaysia — Holidays". Go2travelmalaysia.com. Retrieved 2010-09-15.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Marshall Cavendish Corporation (2008). World and Its Peoples: Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Brunei. New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation. p. 1221. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  4. ^ "Festival of Malaysia ~ Hari Raya Puasa". Go2travelmalaysia.com. 2010-09-11. Retrieved 2010-09-15.
  5. ^ "Festivals of Malaysia ~ Thaipusam Festival". Go2travelmalaysia.com. Retrieved 2010-09-15.
  6. ^ Ben van Wijnen. "Loi Krathong". Malaysiasite.nl. Retrieved 2010-09-15.
  7. ^ "The English Teacher" (PDF). Malaysian English Language Teaching Association. 2008-05-02. Retrieved 2010-09-15.
  8. ^ "Religion". Matic.gov.my. Retrieved 2010-11-08.
  9. ^ "Ripple effect of the festive rush". New Straits Times. September 7, 2010. Retrieved 18-11-2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

See also

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Public_holidays_in_Malaysia&oldid=406664591"