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After a month of fasting during the month of Ramadan, Muslims celebrate the first day of Syawal which is the tenth month of the Muslim calendar with joyous enthusiasm. This is a major festival for Muslims and they usher in the day with prayers in mosques and remembering their departed loved ones. It is also the time for family reunion when members of the family from different parts of the country get together. Special festival dishes are served for festivals and friends during "open house". The festival mood is reflected is brightly decorated homes, government and commercial buildings. Homes are also lit with all lamps at the entrance in keeping with a long established tradition.    |
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This is the most important festival of the Chinese community and it lasts for a full two weeks! It begins with a reunion dinner which is traditional for every member of the family to attend. Chinese New Year is the time when spirits are appeared and offerings are made to Gods. It is a boisterous festival with the clang of cymbals accompanying lion dances and the thunder of firecrackles filling the air. Guests are entertained to a variety of sumptuous food and drinks and the unmarried youngsters are given Ang Pows - gifts of money enclosed in little red packets. Major hotels and shopping complexes celebrate the occasion by holding lion dances and special Chinese programmers to entertain their clients.  |
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Chap Goh Mei is a Hokkien term for the 15th night of the new year. The day is celebrated with a big bang. On this day, firecrakers are let off and the din fills the air throughout the night. It is a day for prayers and offerings signifying the end of Chinese New Year celebratings. This grand finale sees many unmarried women being encouraged to throw tangerines into the sea in the hope that they will marry good husbands. Houses are brightly decorated with fairy lights. At Reservoir Park, Kuching, various Chinese cultural shows are performed which include lantern and lion dance competitions..  |
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Hari Raya Haji or Aidiladha is celebrated towards the end of the haj pilgrimage. Performing the haj, which is the fifth pillar of Islam is obligatory for Muslims who are affluent. In Malaysia and other Muslim countries throughout the world, the rationale of this festival is to rejoice and remind the individual of the revelation and sacrifices of Prophet Abraham. Goat or cattle are slaughtered as animal sacrifice. It is a symbolic gesture depicting to the story of Prophet Abraham sacrificing his son, Ishmael as an act of loyalty to Allah. The meat from these sacrificed animals is distributed to the poor. Most of the day is celebrated with prayers at mosques. |
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Also known as Maal Hijrah, Awal Muharram is the start of the Islamic New Year. This day coincides with the Prophet Muhammad's journey from Mecca to Medina in 622 AD on the first of Muharram by attending religious talks and Nasyid (spiritual singing) perfomances.  |
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Water resource plays an important role in the socio-cultural and economic development of the Malaysian society. Apart from functioning as a communication system, an economic, resource and determinant of early settlement pattern of the Malaysian society, it had also been a place where families carried out their recreational activities in the past. Therefore, water resource in whatever form should be protected, valued and utilised to the maximum. For that purpose, Water Festival Month Programme is instituted with the intention of re-enacting the variety of events of yesteryears and to utilise the beauty and uniqueness of the natural environment of the country as one of the tourism attractions for domestic as well as international market, and to instill the appreciation towards water. This programme will be carried out for a period of one-month starting from 14 April-13 May 2001 with packaging of all activities based on water resources throughout the country.  |
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Wesak is a Buddhist festival. It is the most important of all Buddhist celebrations. Itis a day of prayers, offerings, chanting and alms-giving. The festival highlights the three sinificiant events in the life of Lord Buddha. They are ; his birthday, his enlightenments and the achievement of Nirvana. Onthis day, Buddhist devotees attend services in temples throughout the country. Talks on Buddhism are also given to the disciples of Buddha. In the state of Malacca, a galastyle procession, complete with decorated floats, marching bands and acrobatic ats pass through the streets at night. Unlike most other Malaysian festivals, Wesak is celebrated on a spiritual note, minus the loud feasting and merrymaking. 
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The Kadazans of Sabah celebrate their Harvest Festival in a grand scale as rice is not a staple food to them, but also a symbol of reverence in their many traditional and ritual practices. However, the festival is not just celebrated as a solemn and spiritual exercise but with great pomp and festive merry-making. The fun gets merrier with the drinking of the inevitable tapai which is an alcoholic drink made from rice wine. Apart from these, there are also organised agriculture shows, buffalo races, cultural perfomances and traditional games as part and parcel of the festive celebrations.  |
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The Gawai Dayak festival is celebrated by the Dayaks of Sarawak who live in longhouses. Being one of the major festivals of the community, it is celebrated on a grand scale and lasts for a week. The Gawai Dayak festival marks the transitional period between the season of rice harvesting and the new planting season. Hence, it is a reason of thanksgiving for the bountiful harvest and also a time to rest from work before the new planting season. Preparations for the festival include the sprucing up of the longhouse, clearing the gravesites of ancestors and the preparation of rice wine and lemang (glutimous rice). During the festival week, the Dayaks dress in their traditional costumes. The sound of boisterous laughter, convival talk, drinking, dancing and merry-making will echo relentlesstly all through the days of this exotic and colourful festival.  |
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Falling in late January or early February as determined by the Hindu calendar, Thaipusam is a celebration of the birthday of Lord Subramaniam, also known as Lord Muruga. On the eve of Thaipusam, a statue of Lord Subramaniam is taken for a procession on a chariot drawn by bullocks. The next day, devotees carrying kavadis throng Hindu Temples amidst chanting and drumming. A kavadi is either a metal or wooden arch with elaborate decorations, which is placed on the devotee's shoulder. Hooks of spikes extend from the kavadi to various parts of the devotee's body. Thaipusam is celebrated on a big scale in the states of Selangor, Pulau Pinang, Negeri Sembilan and Perak.   |
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Chung or Chinese Rice Dumpling Festival is celebrated by the Chinese which falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. The Chung festival is celebrated in remembrance of Chinese scholar and poet Ci Yuan. According to the legend, he committed suicide in protest against the emperor's oppression of the people. He then, tied a slab of stone to himself and jumped into the river. Dumplings are stuffed with meat, mushroom, egg yolk, dried prawn and chestnuts or beans wrapped in bamboo leaves. 
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Prophet Muhammad was born in 571 A.D. All over the Muslim world the Prophet's birthday is celebrated on a large scale. However, the festival is not celebrated with merriment and feasting but rather on a solemn note and a spiritual tone. Verses from the Holy Quran are recited. It is a day of obligation for Muslims to worship at the mosques, attend sermons and to partake in religious discussions, procession, and lectures as in the festival of Maal Hijrah.  |
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On the 31st of August 1957, Malaysia gained its independence from British rule. Annually on this day the nation's citizens celebrate Merdeka (which means independence). Merdeka Day celebrations in Malaysia is participated by one and all, the old and the young, with the great sense of patriotism to the king and the country. It is a gala affair, filled with pomp and pageantry. Grand celebrations are held all over the nation, marked by parades, processions, stage performances, competitions and fascinating fireworks display. In Kuala Lumpur, where the major events of the celebrations take place, the Merdeka Square becomes the focal point where the various races, corporate citizens, government bodies and other communities joins hands with the King, the Prime Minister and his Cabinet members in a show of solidarity and national unity.  |
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This festival is celebrated by Buddhists and Taoists on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month. It is believed that the Gates of Hell areopened on this day and all the hungry imprisoned spirits rush out in search of food.There are many tales associated with the festival but perhaps the most interesting is the story of forbidden love. Legend has it that two childhood sweethearts forbidden to marry by their parents ended their lives by jumping from a Bridge. Several days later, the search party found a single talk of lotus bearing twin flowers growing under the bridge. Today, the festival is celebrated day by holding religious ceromonies at homes, temples. associations and guilds. Prayers are offered to dead and offerings of food such of chickens, vegetables, fruits, beancurd and white rice are placed at street corners and roadsides for the spirits. The chinese believe that this will prevent wandering spirits from entering their homes and cause disturbance in their households.  |
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This festival celebrates the victory of the Chinese in bringing about the demise of the Mongol overlords during the Yuan dynasty. In falls on the 15th day of the eight lunar month, about two weeks before or after 23 September-when the moon ia atits brightest. When planning the revolution, mooncakes were used as a means of communication. In them were messages from their general, telling them of his plans. Lanterns were used to signal the start of the revolution. At the agreed date, the Hans launched the revolution which took the Monggols by surprise. Till today, mooncakes and lanterns symbolise liberation. Moon cakes are circular-shaped pastry with rice fillings of lotus seed paste, sweet red beanpuree and egg yolks. Another storey related to the festival comes from the Hsia dynasty. It tells of a tyrannical King who discovered an elixir for immortality. The King's kind-hearted and beautiful wife, stole this elixir to prevent further sufferings to the people. When the King discovered that his wife was responsible for the theft, she swallowed the elixir and fled to the moon. Cakes were made in recognition of her kindness and sacrifice. Night celebrations are marked by the Chinese community in colourful parades as children carry lanterns of every shape and size. Friends and families exchange mooncakes and other delicacies.  |
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This is a Hindu festival of light. Homes of Hindus are lit with little lights to signify the victory over darkness for the Hindus believe that this is the day when the forces of good overcame the forces of evil. Deepavali is a major festival of the Hindus and on the eve prayers are held both at home and in the temples.Hindus take a traditional oil bath in the early hours of the morning on Deepavali day and after prayers entertain their friends and guests to "open house".  |
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The birth of Christ is celebrated by Christians in Malaysia in the true traditional style. Most Christians homes are decorated with festoon and coloured lights and the Christmas tree is a must! Young Christians go carolling days before Christmas day to usher in the Yuletide spirit. Churches hold midnight masses on the eve of Christmas. The festival is celebrated on a national scale in Malaysia and Christians hold "open house" to entertain their friends and colleague  |
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