Cultural and religious festivals: the Malaysian experience

Ishak, Mohd. Shuhaimi (2009) Cultural and religious festivals: the Malaysian experience. In: International Conference on Migration, Citizenship and Intercultural Relations, 19-20 Nov 2009, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia.

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Abstract

Malaysia, a multiethnic and multi-religious society in Southeast Asia, has a population of 27.7 million comprising three major ethnicities, consisting of 67% Malays/Bumiputras, 24.7% Chinese, and 7.4% Indians along with many smaller minority groups. The Federal Constitution of Malaysia declares Islam as the official religion, but guarantees religious freedom. Malaysian observes a number of celebrations according to the religious faith of its people. The Malays celebrate their Muslim festivals such as Aidil Fitri andAidil Adha. The Chinese in Malaysia celebrate festivals like Chinese New Year and Chap Goh Mei where cultural celebrations such as the lion dances and Chingay procession take place. For the Hindus, apart from the Deepavali celebration, the festival of light, the Thaipusam is a celebration where more than one million people flock to Batu Caves. While in East Malaysia, the grandest celebration is Tadau Keamatan in Sabah, and Gawai Dayak in Sarawak. Both celebrations are of significance as the occasion to mark rice harvesting season. The paper attempts to highlight the celebrations of the major ethnics groups in Malaysia and depicts real experiences of individuals of each group to show that it accommodates the differences in culture and religious belief.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Full Paper)
Additional Information:	4676/34022
Uncontrolled Keywords:	celebrations, Malaysia, multi-religious, constitution and ethnic groups
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races > HT101 Urban groups. The city. Urban sociology H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races > HT1501 Races H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races > HT51 Human settlements. Communities
Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button):	Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences > Department of General Studies
Depositing User:	Asst. Prof. Dr. Mohd. Shuhaimi Ishak
Date Deposited:	09 Jan 2014 15:02
Last Modified:	16 Apr 2014 16:01
URI:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/34022

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