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Public holidays in Malaysia

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  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]

Date Name Johor
Johor		 Kedah
Kedah		 Kelantan
Kelantan		 Federal Territories of Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur		 Federal Territories of Malaysia
Labuan Territory		 Malacca
Malacca		 Negeri Sembilan
Negeri Sembilan		 Pahang
Pahang		 Penang
Penang		 Perak
Perak		 Perlis
Perlis		 Federal Territories of Malaysia
Putrajaya		 Sabah
Sabah		 Selangor
Selangor		 Sarawak
Sarawak		 Terengganu
Terengganu
1 January New Year's Day • • • • • • • • • • •
14 January Negeri Sembilan State Ruler's Birthday •
14 January Birthday of Prophet Muhammad National
17 January Thaipusam • • • • • • • •
19 January Kedah State Ruler's Birthday •
31 January Chinese New Year (1st day) National
1 February Chinese New Year (2nd day) • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
1 February Federal Territory Day • • •
4 March Anniversary of Installation of the Sultan of Terengganu •
15 April Declaration of Malacca City as Historical City •
18 April Good Friday • •
19 April Perak State Ruler's Birthday •
26 April Terengganu State Ruler's Birthday •
1 May Labour Day National
7 May Hari Hol of Pahang •
3 May Wesak Day National
17 May Perlis State Ruler's Birthday •
27 May Israk dan Mikraj • • •
30 and 31 May Tadau Kaamatan • •
1 and 2 June Gawai Dayak •
7 June King's Birthday National
29 June First day of Ramadan • • •
7 July Declaration of George Town as World Heritage Site •
12 July Penang State Governor's Birthday •
15 July Day of Nuzul Al-Quran • • • • • • • • • •
28 and 29 July Hari Raya Puasa National
31 August Merdeka Day National
13 September Sarawak State Governor's Birthday •
16 September Malaysia Day National
4 October Sabah State Governor's Birthday •
5 October Hari Raya Aidiladha (1st day) National
6 October Hari Raya Aidiladha (2nd day) • •
10 October Melaka State Governor's Birthday •
22 October Deepavali • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
24 October Pahang State Ruler's Birthday •
25 October First day of Muharram National
11 and 12 November Kelantan State Ruler's Birthday •
22 November Johor State Ruler's Birthday •
29 November Hari Hol Sultan Johor •
11 December Selangor State Ruler's Birthday •
25 December Christmas Day National

Public holidays by states and territories

Date English Name Local Name Johor
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 January New Year's Day Hari Tahun Baharu
January Thaipusam Thaipusam
1 February Federal Territory Day Hari Wilayah
January–February Chinese New Year (1st day) Tahun Baru Cina (Hari ke 1) National
January–February Chinese New Year (2nd day) Tahun Baru Cina (Hari ke 2)
4 March Anniversary of Installation of Sultan of Terengganu Hari Ulang Tahun Pertabalan Sultan Terengganu
March–April Good Friday Hari Jumaat Agung
15 April Declaration of Malacca City as Historical City Perisytiharan Bandar Melaka sebagai Bandaraya Bersejarah
1 May Labour Day Hari Pekerja National
7 May (Hari Hol of Pahang) Hari Hol Pahang
May–June Wesak Day Hari Wesak National
May 30&31 Harvest Festival Pesta Menuai
June 1&2 Gawai Dayak Gawai Dayak
1st Sat June Malaysia King's Birthday Hari Keputeraan Yang di-Pertuan Agong National
7 July Declaration of George Town as World Heritage Site Perisytiharan George Town sebagai Tapak Warisan Dunia
31 August Merdeka Day Hari Kebangsaan National
16 September Malaysia Day Hari Malaysia National
October–November Deepavali Deepavali
29 November (Hari Hol Sultan Johor) Hari Hol Sultan Johor
25 December Christmas Day Hari Krismas National
Muharram 1 First day of Muharram Awal Muharram National
Rabi' al-awwal 12 Birthday of Prophet Muhammad Maulidur Rasul National
Rajab 27 Isra and Mi'raj Israk dan Mikraj
Ramadan 1 First day of Ramadan Awal Ramadan
Ramadan 17 Day of Nuzul Al-Quran Nuzul Al-Quran
Shawwal 1&2 Hari Raya Puasa Hari Raya Aidilfitri National
Dhu al-Hijjah 10 Hari Raya Qurban (1st day) Hari Raya Aidiladha (Hari ke 1) National
Dhu al-Hijjah 11 Hari Raya Qurban (2nd day) Hari Raya Aidiladha (Hari ke 2)
Variant State Governor's Birthday Hari Jadi 2nd Sat Oct 2nd Sat July 1st Sat Oct 2nd Sat Sep
Variant State Ruler's Birthday Hari Keputeraan 22 Nov 19 Jan 11 Nov 14 Jan 24 Oct 19 April 17 May 11 Dec 26 April
Total 19 16 16 17 17 18 16 18 20 18 16 17 19 16 18 17

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. ^ a b c d 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. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  6. ^ "Religion". Matic.gov.my. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
  7. ^ "Ripple effect of the festive rush". New Straits Times. 7 September 2010. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
  8. ^ http://www.mef.org.my/PublicHolidays/PH2014.pdf
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