Contradictheory: Hari Raya ads that touch all faiths and races

Ads for the major festivals in Malaysia have became short films, celebrated for their emotional depth and reminding you what it means to be Malaysian. 'Amanah Sulung' is one of the columnist's favourites – what's yours? Tell us at [e-mail]. — Screen capture

As Ramadan progressed and Hari Raya approached, you might have noticed YouTube’s algorithm shifting gears. Suddenly, it stopped recommending football and cooking videos and started serving up heartwarming tales of a father’s undying love, a mother’s quiet sacrifices, or a group of strangers bonding over a plate of ketupat and rendang.

Did you – like a lot of Malaysians – get swept up by these marketing campaigns designed to tug at your heartstrings and nudge you towards some brand loyalty? Or did you just hit the “Skip Ad” button the moment they appeared?

Either way, you can’t deny that the Hari Raya advertisement has become an annual tradition. But it wasn’t always like this. There was a time when they were just... well, ads.

Way back in the 1990s (or as my daughter calls it, “the ancient times”), Hari Raya ads were simple, straightforward affairs. A family sitting around a table, the takbir Raya heard over the mosque’s loudspeakers, and then a cheerful voiceover reminding you to buy whatever product was being sold. Done. Ads were 60 seconds long, and they ended with a ketupat packet neatly placed beside the company logo.

Then, in the early 2000s, something changed. Filmmaker Yasmin Ahmad, under the aegis of advertising firm Leo Burnett, crafted a series of now-legendary PETRONAS Raya ads that were less about selling petroleum and more about telling stories. And much like Yasmin’s films, these stories captured what it meant to be Malaysian, and in the process they made you think, laugh, and almost always made you cry.

And they were designed to get you to become invested in them. The first few ran for two minutes, then the next ran longer, up to five minutes. Raya ads became short films, celebrated for their emotional depth and reminding you what it means to be Malaysian.

Though Yasmin is no longer with us (she died of a heart attack in 2009, aged 51), the trend she pioneered has endured. Today, long-form Raya advertisements have become the norm, with over 150 of them listed on YouTube this year alone. Very few are under five minutes, and some stretch to nearly half an hour.

And many still make you think, laugh, and cry. Part of this is due to the emotional themes they keep revisiting, year after year. The most obvious of these is family, usually the bond between parents and children, but also between siblings.

One of the best this year, in my opinion, is Amanah Sulung, which tells the story of an eldest sister’s sacrifices for her family. It was directed by Rewan Ishak, who also has several PETRONAS ads under his belt.

Another key theme is forgiveness, which makes sense given that Ramadan presents the opportunity to renew one’s spiritual self. The phrase “Maaf Zahir dan Batin” isn’t just a greeting; it’s an act of reconciliation. This idea is taken a step further in Selamat Lari Raya, where a convict in prison learns that forgiveness isn’t just about asking amends with others. The fact his grandfather needs to get thrown into jail to tell him this, and his grandmother’s spirit needs to reach from beyond to help out too, doesn’t make the story any less poignant.

Then, of course, there’s the theme of celebration and festivities, which naturally includes food. This is captured with a twist in Raya Penuh Makna, where a girl tries to stick to healthy eating so she can fit into her beautiful new baju Raya.

When looking at these themes, what’s striking is that, for a religious festival, the messages in these ads aren’t exclusive to any one race or faith. Instead, they’re broad, universal ideas that resonate with all Malaysians.

Indeed, there are more than a few that celebrate Malaysia’s masyarakat majmuk (plural and diverse society), including the very direct Kenal and Aku Cina, Tapi Sambut Hari Raya, as well as those with a lighter touch such as Saat Bermakna and Syukur. There’s even Ini Kuali-Lah where a small kuali wishes it could contribute more to the festivities. I also must give a shout-out to comedian Douglas Lim’s Aidilfitri di Malaysia which earns the distinction of being a full-on lagu Raya from a non-Muslim’s perspective.

Love, sacrifice, family, gratitude – these are values that transcend ethnicity and religion. These are the things we all celebrate. And yet too often our national discourse focuses on who is giving or taking too much from whom. But the reality is that there’s room for all of us, and we don’t have to chase others away just because “it’s our right” to do so.

The real value of Malaysia’s religious celebrations is the reminder of what we could be. By some miracle, the best Raya ads (as well as those for Chinese New Year, Deepavali, and Merdeka) manage to capture a vision of a better Malaysia, a nation that is understanding, united, and full of love for one another. If only we could take that message as seriously as we take the ads themselves, that would be a celebration worth having.

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In his fortnightly column, Contradictheory, mathematician-turned-scriptwriter Dzof Azmi explores the theory that logic is the antithesis of emotion but people need both to make sense of life’s vagaries and contradictions. Write to Dzof at [e-mail]. The views expressed here are entirely the writer's own.