PETALING JAYA: An interfaith council has urged the Kedah menteri besar to reinstate the state’s casual Thaipusam holiday and “pave the way to embrace the spirit of national harmony”.
The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism said the reasons given by Muhammad Sanusi Nor for not declaring a holiday were unacceptable and showed “a failure to embrace religious sensitivity in a multiracial and multi-religious Malaysia”.
On Wednesday, Sanusi said there would be no Thaipusam holiday in Kedah this year as all activities for the annual festival had been cancelled because of movement restrictions.
The council said, however, that the prohibition was only for mass gatherings at temples, and Hindus had started to observe their fasts, made their vows “and are preparing to celebrate Thaipusam in a new normal way through home prayers with their families”.
It said there was no need to disrupt the norm without suitable justification.
The statement was endorsed by the council’s president Archbishop Julian Leow Beng Kim, Malaysian Gurdwaras Council’s Sardar Jagir Singh, Malaysia Hindu Sangam’s RS Mohan Shan, Federation of Taoist Associations Malaysia’s Dao Zhang Tan Hoe Chieow and Malaysia Buddhist Association’s Venerable Sing Kan.
Thaipusam is the Hindu festival of atonement and is a public holiday in Johor, Kuala Lumpur, Negeri Sembilan, Penang, Perak, Putrajaya and Selangor. It is not a state public holiday in Kedah, but a casual holiday has been declared in recent years. FMT
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