The festival of Ponggal is peculiar to Tamils and is a thanksgiving to nature for a good harvest, said former Malaysian Hindu Sangam president A Vaithilingam.
"Whether it's purely cultural or has some religious elements, is a matter of interpretation but certainly it is respected by Tamils who are Christian and Muslim as well," said Vaithilingam (above), who cited the late Indian president Abdul Kalam as a Tamil Muslim who always paid his respects to the harvest festival.
Vaithilingam was commenting after news broke of a purported Education Ministry circular stating that Ponggal is haram (forbidden) for Muslims.
Human Resources Minister M Kulasegaran has promised to bring up the issue in this morning's cabinet meeting and said that there is no religious significance in the harvest festival.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo echoed this view in a Facebook post today, saying "Ponggal is not a religious event and instead, marks the success or prosperity of the harvest. It should be seen as an event for our community to strengthen friendships, respect culture, promote unity and build our nation."
Vaithilingam said Ponggal dates back many centuries.
"Ponggal has been a Tamil festival for generations. In India, in Tamil Nadu, it is a great festival and many go back to their hometowns to celebrate. In Malaysia, it is more symbolic.
"It is a celebration of surya, the sun, from which life springs. There is the traditional dish prepared from the new harvest of rice boiled in milk and sugar," he added.
Vaithilingam said other elements of Ponggal celebrations included Mattu Ponggal and Kanni Ponggal.
"Mattu Ponggal honours the cow, which is considered to be the most useful animal helping the farmers. It gives milk, pulls the bullock carts to provide transport and also ploughs the field.
"Kanni Ponggal is for the unmarried young girls to get a good match, it's always towards nature."
He cited the Ponggal greetings from Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today who wished Malaysians a happy Ponggal and a prosperous year for all.
Vaitilingam said Ponggal has been celebrated peacefully in Malaysia for many years and the circular, if true, "must be the work of some fanatic civil servant".
Selamat Menyambut Hari Ponggal.
Semoga tahun ini memberi kemakmuran yang melimpah-ruah untuk kita semua.
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- Mkini
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