A Raya of much needed inclusivity

FOR many foreign visitors, one striking feature of Eid al-Fitr – what we in Malaysia call Hari Raya Puasa or Aidilfitri – is the sheer inclusivity of the celebrations. Of course, as with other festivals, malls and public spaces become adorned with relevant decorations, while retail outlets and restaurants advertise special promotions.

While the eve of Hari Raya brings both solemnity and merriment among family members, who gather at their kampung, visit graves, recite the takbir Raya and indulge in fireworks (now legal), it is the open house the next day that truly embodies the inclusion of Hari Raya.

Among the 20,000 visitors (a new record) to the Istano Terbuko at Seri Menanti were people from all racial and religious backgrounds.

Negri Sembilan is already one of the most diverse states in Malaysia, and I was happy to host Christians (including a priest), Hindus and Buddhists at my table.

All the usual elements were there to facilitate cross-cultural bonding: endless logs of lemang, tonnes of roast lamb, ginormous bunches of satay, finished by especially crispy apam balik Seri Menanti and gloriously refreshing cendol Kuala Pilah (although a bout of rain did help with that too).

A new feature this year was the live music, and I had Waris, Suki Low and Hael Hussaini (all from Negri Sembilan) perform both Raya classics and hit songs. In between hosting the crowd, my brother, uncle and I, accompanied by the Penganan Band, dared to perform Apo Nak Dikato to an audience that would have been intensely familiar with the Blues Gang staple.

There was lots of new Raya music this year too, and all paid homage to diversity and inclusion.

In Meriah Lain Macam, Hael Hussaini and Nadeera repeat “Jumpa semua yang lama tak jumpa” as they perform their signature elbow move, now immortalised in social media alongside a whole host of skits that have gone viral this season (my cousins persuaded me to make a rare appearance on TikTok).

In Pulanglah Berhari Rayo, Waris and his friends beseeched all to “pulanglah” – and also extol the wearing of “songkok sendeng” as they play traditional instruments from the ancestral homeland, including the distinctive rattling of the angklung.

In Serumpun, Mimifly (who also has an ancestral connection to the state) in a traditional Negri Sembilan house sings “Bagai serai kita serumpun/Bagai sirih tersusun” to the dings of cak lempong in the background.

In Anugerah Hati, Suki Low observes “Kasih bersemi sesama insan/Tidak mengira miskin dan kaya” on the grounds of Ideas Autism Centre in Nilai, as I play the piano and attempt to play the joget rhythm on rebana with our wonderful kids!

Yet another heartfelt yet erudite message of enthusiastic participation comes from Douglas Lim in Aidilfitri di Malaysia, where with Murty, he sings lyrics proffering the greeting “Oh Selamat Hari Raya/Dari kami yang tak puasa.”

Sadly, the holy month was marred by some incidents of friction, including a prominent case of an elderly Muslim man slapping a non-Muslim boy for eating during Ramadan.

While the online backlash against the perpetrator showed overwhelming disapproval for such ignorance and violence, the police action and political response was widely seen as too soft.

Another flashpoint concerned a long-standing issue of the construction of a new mosque (Masjid Madani) where a Hindu temple (Dewi Sri Pathrakaliamman) already exists.

Historians and lawyers waded in to argue moral and legal grounds for either place of worship to have priority, but in a classic Malaysian compromise just when things were about to get really heated, it was announced that the temple will be moved a mere 50m, to the apparent satisfaction of all involved. Also in classic Malaysian style, various politicians are keen to take credit for defusing a potentially explosive situation, but are being criticised for that too.

Temples and mosques featured again on the second day of Hari Raya. As guests at an uncle’s open house spoke about the horrendous fire caused by a leaking gas pipeline at Putra Heights, more genuine stories of interfaith cooperation emerged, as places of worship came together to provide shelter and food to those displaced when their houses were destroyed or severely damaged. May this be remembered as representing how Malaysians respond in times of adversity.

The next few weeks will see the family open houses giving way increasingly to the corporate ones, where there will be more food and merriment. These will also be important platforms for attendees to disseminate political, diplomatic and corporate news: another striking feature of how we celebrate Hari Raya compared to the rest of the world.

Tunku Zain Al-‘Abidin is founding president of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas). The views expressed here are the writer’s own.