Public holidays in Malaysia

     States that rest on Saturdays and Sundays
     States that rest on Fridays and Saturdays

There are two types of public holidays in Malaysia, those at national and state levels. National holidays are normally observed by most governmental and private organisations. State holidays are normally observed by certain states in Malaysia or when it is relevant to the state itself.

In addition, government agencies are closed every Saturday and Sunday in most of Malaysia, while in Kedah, Kelantan, Johor and Terengganu they are closed every Friday and Saturday.

Types of holidays

Malaysia has one of the highest numbers of public holidays in the world, ranking number seven in the top ten countries after Thailand, Indonesia, India and Hong Kong. Some holidays are federally gazetted public holidays and some are public holidays observed by individual states. Other festivals are observed by particular ethnic or religion groups, but are not public holidays. The main holy days of each major religion are public holidays, taking place on either the western calendar or religious ones.

Secular

The most widespread holiday is the "Hari Kebangsaan" (National Day), otherwise known as "Hari Merdeka" (Independence Day) on 31 August commemorating the independence of the Federation of Malaya. This, as well as Labour Day (1 May), the King's birthday (First Saturday of June) and some other festivals are major national public holidays. Federal Territory day is celebrated in the three Federal territories. Malaysia Day, held on 16 September to commemorate the formation of Malaysia, became a nationwide holiday in 2010. Before that it was celebrated only in Sabah. New Year's Day is also observed as a public holiday in all Malaysian states, except for Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis, and Terengganu.

Religious and ethnic

Muslim holidays are highly prominent in Malaysia. The most important of these is Hari Raya Puasa (also called Hari Raya Aidilfitri) which is the Malay translation of Eid al-Fitr. It is generally a festival honoured by the Muslims worldwide marking the end of Ramadan will the fasting month. In addition to Hari Raya Puasa, they also celebrate Hari Raya Aidiladha (also called Hari Raya Haji referring to its occurrence after the culmination of the annual Hajj or Hari Raya Qurban), Awal Muharram (Islamic New Year) and Maulidur Rasul (Birthday of the Prophet).

Malaysian Chinese typically hold the same festivals observed by Chinese around the world. Chinese New Year is the most prominent, lasting for 15-days and ending with Chap Goh Mei (十五瞑). Other festivals celebrated by Chinese are the Qingming Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Malaysian Indians of the Hindu faith celebrate Deepavali, the festival of light,[1] while Thaipusam is a celebration in which Hindu pilgrims from all over the country meet at the Batu Caves.[2] The most important Sikh festival is the Sikh new year or Vaisakhi festival. Other important days are Lodi and Gurpurab. Other Indian and Indochinese communities observe their new year celebrations at around the same time, such as Pohela Boishakh of the Bengalis and Songkran (water festival) of the Thais. People in the northern states do celebrate the Thai festival of Loy Kratong.[3]

Wesak (Malay for Vesak), the Buddhist festival commemorating Buddha's birth, is a public holiday.[1] Malaysia's Christian community observes most of the holidays observed by Christians elsewhere, most notably Christmas[1] and Easter. Good Friday, however, is only a public holiday in the two Bornean states. The harvest festivals of Gawai in Sarawak and Kaamatan in Sabah are also important for East Malaysians.[4]

New Year's Day, Chinese New Year, and the start of the Islamic calendar are all public holidays.[1]

Participation

Despite most of the festivals being identified with a particular ethnic or religious group, festivities are often participated in by all Malaysians. One example of this is the celebration of Kongsi Raya which is used when Hari Raya Puasa and Chinese New Year coincide. The term Kongsi Raya (which means "sharing the celebration" in Malay) was coined because of the similarity between the word kongsi and the Chinese New Year greeting of Gong xi fa cai. Similarly, the portmanteau Deepa Raya was coined when Hari Raya Puasa and Deepavali coincided.[5]

A practice known as "open house" (rumah terbuka) is common during the festivities, especially during Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Deepavali, Chinese New Year and Christmas. Open house means that all well-wishers are received and that everyone regardless of background is invited to attend.[6] Open houses are normally held at the home of the host and food are also prepared by the host, however, there are also open houses held at larger public venues especially when hosted by government agencies or corporations. Also during the festivities, most Malaysians would take the time off work or school to return to their hometowns to celebrate the festivities with their extended relatives. This practice is commonly known as balik kampung and usually causes traffic jams on most highways in the country.[7]

2014 Public holidays by states and territories

[8]

DateNameJohor
Johor		Kedah
Kedah		Kelantan
Kelantan		Federal Territory (Malaysia)
Kuala Lumpur		Federal Territory (Malaysia)
Labuan Territory		Malacca
Malacca		Negeri Sembilan
Negeri Sembilan		Pahang
Pahang		Penang
Penang		Perak
Perak		Perlis
Perlis		Federal Territory (Malaysia)
Putrajaya		Sabah
Sabah		Selangor
Selangor		Sarawak
Sarawak		Terengganu
Terengganu
1 JanuaryNew Year's Day•••••••••••
14 JanuaryNegeri Sembilan State Ruler's Birthday•
14 JanuaryBirthday of Prophet MuhammadNational
17 JanuaryThaipusam••••••••
19 JanuaryKedah State Ruler's Birthday•
31 JanuaryChinese New Year (1st day)National
1 FebruaryChinese New Year (2nd day)••••••••••••••
1 FebruaryFederal Territory Day•••
4 MarchAnniversary of Installation of the Sultan of Terengganu•
14 AprilTamil New YearNational
15 AprilDeclaration of Malacca City as Historical City•
18 AprilGood Friday••
19 AprilPerak State Ruler's Birthday•
26 AprilTerengganu State Ruler's Birthday•
1 MayLabour DayNational
7 MayHari Hol of Pahang•
3 MayWesak DayNational
17 MayPerlis State Ruler's Birthday•
27 MayIsrak dan Mikraj•••
30 and 31 MayTadau Kaamatan••
1 and 2 JuneGawai Dayak•
7 JuneKing's BirthdayNational
29 JuneFirst day of Ramadan•••
7 JulyDeclaration of George Town as World Heritage Site•
12 JulyPenang State Governor's Birthday•
15 JulyDay of Nuzul Al-Quran••••••••••
22 JulySarawak Day•
28 and 29 JulyHari Raya PuasaNational
31 AugustMerdeka DayNational
13 SeptemberSarawak State Governor's Birthday•
16 SeptemberMalaysia DayNational
4 OctoberSabah State Governor's Birthday•
5 OctoberHari Raya Aidiladha (1st day)National
6 OctoberHari Raya Aidiladha (2nd day)••
10 OctoberMelaka State Governor's Birthday•
22 OctoberDeepavali•••••••••••••• •
24 OctoberPahang State Ruler's Birthday•
25 OctoberFirst day of MuharramNational
11 and 12 NovemberKelantan State Ruler's Birthday•
22 NovemberJohor State Ruler's Birthday•
29 NovemberHari Hol Sultan Johor•
11 DecemberSelangor State Ruler's Birthday•
25 DecemberChristmas DayNational

Public holidays by states and territories

DateEnglish NameLocal NameJohor
Johor		Kedah
Kedah		Kelantan
Kelantan
Kuala Lumpur
Labuan Territory		Malacca
Malacca		Negeri Sembilan
Negeri Sembilan		Pahang
Pahang		Penang
Penang		Perak
Perak		Perlis
Perlis
Putrajaya		Sabah
Sabah		Selangor
Selangor		Sarawak
Sarawak		Terengganu
Terengganu
1 JanuaryNew Year's DayHari Tahun Baharu
JanuaryThaipusamThaipusam
1 FebruaryFederal Territory DayHari Wilayah
January–FebruaryChinese New Year (1st day)Tahun Baru Cina (Hari ke 1)National
January–FebruaryChinese New Year (2nd day)Tahun Baru Cina (Hari ke 2)
January–FebruaryChinese New Year (3rd day)Tahun Baru Cina (Hari ke 3)
4 MarchAnniversary of Installation of Sultan of TerengganuHari Ulang Tahun Pertabalan Sultan Terengganu
March–AprilGood FridayHari Jumaat Agung
15 AprilDeclaration of Malacca City as Historical CityPerisytiharan Bandar Melaka sebagai Bandaraya Bersejarah
1 MayLabour DayHari PekerjaNational
7 May(Hari Hol of Pahang)Hari Hol Pahang
May–JuneWesak DayHari WesakNational
May 30&31Harvest FestivalPesta Menuai
June 1&2Gawai DayakGawai Dayak
1st Sat JuneMalaysia King's BirthdayHari Keputeraan Yang di-Pertuan AgongNational
7 JulyDeclaration of George Town as World Heritage SitePerisytiharan George Town sebagai Tapak Warisan Dunia
31 AugustMerdeka DayHari KebangsaanNational
16 SeptemberMalaysia DayHari MalaysiaNational
October–NovemberDeepavaliDeepavali
29 November(Hari Hol Sultan Johor)Hari Hol Sultan Johor
25 DecemberChristmas DayHari KrismasNational
Muharram 1First day of MuharramAwal MuharramNational
Rabi' al-awwal 12Birthday of Prophet MuhammadMaulidur RasulNational
Rajab 27Isra and Mi'rajIsrak dan Mikraj
Ramadan 1First day of RamadanAwal Ramadan
Ramadan 17Day of Nuzul Al-QuranNuzul Al-Quran
Shawwal 1&2Hari Raya PuasaHari Raya AidilfitriNational
Dhu al-Hijjah 10Hari Raya Qurban (1st day)Hari Raya Aidiladha (Hari ke 1)National
Dhu al-Hijjah 11Hari Raya Qurban (2nd day)Hari Raya Aidiladha (Hari ke 2)
VariantState Governor's BirthdayHari Jadi2nd Sat Oct2nd Sat July1st Sat Oct2nd Sat Sep
VariantState Ruler's BirthdayHari Keputeraan22 Nov19 Jan11 Nov14 Jan24 Oct19 April17 May11 Dec26 April
Total19161617171816182018161718161819

Festivals of Malaysia

Religious festivals

Muslim festivals

Christian festivals

Hindu festivals

Buddhist festivals

Taoist festivals

Sikh Festivals

Ethnic festivals

Chinese festivals

East Malaysian festivals

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Marshall Cavendish Corporation (2008). World and Its Peoples: Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Brunei. New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation. p. 1221.
  2. ↑ "Festivals of Malaysia ~ Thaipusam Festival". Go2travelmalaysia.com. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  3. ↑ Ben van Wijnen. "Loi Krathong". Malaysiasite.nl. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  4. ↑ "Malaysia – Holidays". Go2travelmalaysia.com. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  5. ↑ "The English Teacher" (PDF). Malaysian English Language Teaching Association. 2 May 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  6. ↑ "Religion". Matic.gov.my. Archived from the original on 10 April 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
  7. ↑ "Ripple effect of the festive rush". New Straits Times. 7 September 2010. Archived from the original on 14 September 2010. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
  8. ↑ http://www.mef.org.my/PublicHolidays/PH2017.pdf
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.