EVENT organisers such as the Tourism Ministry have been urged to promote local cultural celebrations instead Western events such as Halloween, says Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin.
The Masjid Tanah MP said such events were not part of local culture yet it was recently promoted by the Tourism Ministry.
“We are about to celebrate Deepavali soon.
“Why can’t we hold a large programme for Deepavali instead of the Halloween, which is not our culture and that of the Asian people,” she said at a press conference in Parliament yesterday.
She cited a recent social media post by Tourism Malaysia promoting a Halloween event which drew flak from netizens who criticised the promotion of a Western cultural event over Deepavali.
Earlier, Mas Ermieyati expressed disappointment that her question over the serving of alcohol during the Global Travel Meet gala dinner recently, which was supposed to be presented during the Prime Minister’s Question Time, was deferred.
She claimed that the gala dinner was hosted by the Tourism Ministry, and that the action of the ministry went against sensitivities of Muslims, particularly an official event to promote Visit Malaysia Year 2026 (VM2026).
Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing has since dismissed the claims made by Mas Ermieyati, calling the allegations “baseless and misleading”.
Tiong clarified that Tourism Malaysia was not responsible for the event and only played a facilitating role at the event.
On Monday, the co-hosts of the dinner event expressed regret over the incident.
The Malaysian Indian Travel & Tours Association, the Malaysian Inbound Chinese Association and the Malaysia My 2nd Home Consultants Association told Tiong they understood the sensitivities raised.
