No justification to cancel Thaipusam holiday

 

Kedah Menteri Besar Mohammed Sanusi Md Nor has become irrational over the Hindu festival of Thaipusam.

He has announced that the holiday or “cuti peristiwa” meant for Thaipusam in Kedah will be cancelled.

The cancellation of events associated with Thaipusam is not meant to deny the holiday meant for it.

Sanusi cannot make a distinction between a public holiday meant for Thaipusam and why the events associated with Thaipusam were cancelled.

Penang was the first state to announce that events related to Thaipusam would be cancelled and Hindu devotees were asked to pray at home.

A week later the National Security Council (MKN) announced the cancellation of main Thaipusam activities but with some flexibility for one or two events with strict adherence to SOPs.

Neither Penang nor the federal government sought to cancel the holidays reserved for Thaipusam.

The Covid-19 pandemic might be here for some time, but every effort is made by the federal and state governments to contain and flatten the curve.

There is no necessity to cancel the holidays meant for Thaipusam in states such as Penang, Kedah, Selangor, Perak and others.

The pandemic is not going to be here forever for us to cancel the holidays.

But Sanusi thinks and acts as though the Covid-19 pandemic is going to be here forever.

Anyway, I don’t see any link between not having Thaipusam under conditions of the pandemic and the need to cancel the holiday.

Thaipusam may not be celebrated in its various forms, but the cancellation of the events, including prayers, do not negate the religious significance of Thaipusam.

Yes, the devotees might not have the luxury of enjoying the events and mass prayers in temples, but Jan 28, 2021, is nonetheless Thaipusam.

Thaipusam will not be negated by the cancellation of events, but it will be celebrated in a controlled manner with prayers in homes.

Unfortunately, Sanusi seems not to understand this simple logic.

Given this, why should he cancel the holiday or “cuti peristiwa” meant to fall on Thaipusam? Sanusi continues to act and behave in extreme ways.

The Thaipusam holiday means so much for Hindus but now it has been taken away forcibly in Kedah.

Will the Hindus in Kedah ever see the return of the Thaipusam holiday once the pandemic subsides?

Would he cancel the holidays meant for the Chinese New Year and other religious holidays?

Is this the way PAS respects the multi-racial and multi-religious character of Malaysia?

P Ramasamy is deputy chief minister II of Penang. - FMT

The views expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.