THIS is my sixth Syawal since I began writing for Malaysian newspapers. For Hari Raya Aidilfitri 1429 (Oct 1, 2008), celebrated at my parents’ house in Seremban, I wrote about the variety of headgear (songkoks, kopiahs, serbans, selendangs, tudungs) observed by my foreign friends: sometimes it takes an outsider to point out diversity that we take for granted.
A Race Relations Act had recently been proposed, and I expressed concern about anti-discrimination legislation. Good relations between citizens occur when respect and tolerance are transmitted and internalised at homes and schools, not when the state insists that people belong to groups and forces organisations to abide by rules that determined racists will circumvent anyway.
Unfortunately, incidents of racism and accusations of insults to religion are now so commonplace that many are again advocating the proposed law, but this is the wrong solution to a bigger problem. We should first terminate the state-sponsored segregation of young Malaysians and ensure that our Federal Constitution really is the supreme law of the land.
Ramadan and Aidilfitri 1430 (Sept 20, 2009) were the first since my father became Yang di-Pertuan Besar, and that brought new traditions like performing terawih in mosques throughout the Luak Tanah Mengandong, though other aspects such as visiting relatives’ graves remained unchanged. I was overwhelmed by the open house at Istana Besar – not only in terms of the numbers (4,000) but also the effort people made in travelling long distances to greet their Ruler on the holy day. Every year since, the numbers have increased by a thousand; indeed 8,000 were at the palace last week.
For 1 Syawal 1431 (Sept 10, 2010), I referred to my aunts’ lamentations that recent fireworks displays were pathetic compared to the old days. I attributed this to economic authoritarianism under the guise of safety – for the clampdown on fireworks only created a black market that increased costs, danger, unhappiness and silence. Somehow, there seemed to be significantly more pyrotechnics this year, however.
The valley became an explosive orchestra pit as glissando whistles pierced through staccato bangs that were echoed by ensembles stationed at Terachi, Tanjung Ipoh, Gunung Pasir, Kuala Pilah and Seri Menanti. Even my aunts were impressed this time.
Hari Raya Aidilfitri 1432 coincided with Merdeka Day 2011, and in the khutbah the congregation was asked to internally reflect on the meaning of Merdeka in relation to fellow citizens, the country, and to God. Academic contentions could have been made about the script but it was moderate, conciliatory and helpful at a time when some provocateurs were trying to exploit racial and religious issues.
Quite different to the khutbah prepared by Jakim this year, in which reference was made to “the enemies of Islam undermining the unity of the nation, spreading slander through mass media and cyberspace … a variety of tricks on the basis of the right to freedom of thought and expression, illegal gatherings and street demonstrations … colonial thinking, secularism, pluralism, socialism, feminism, positivism and so on”, and a thinly-veiled judgement on the Arab Spring – it is downloadable in Malay (Jawi and Rumi) and approximate English from Jakim’s website. Congregations in Negeri Sembilan heard a different khutbah that highlighted the permissibility of celebration, the importance of forgiveness, and a reminder for Muslims to be charitable not just during Ramadan but throughout the year.
Finally, for last year (Aug 19, 2012), I wrote about the constitutional importance of the festival. Aidilfitri and Aidiladha were specifically mentioned in the 1898 Agreement between the Yang di-Pertuan Besar and the Undangs, which is why the Ruling Chiefs do not come to the Istana but host events in their own luaks. A later agreement between the Malay Rulers meant that the dates of the celebrations for all states are announced by the Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal.
This year, I witnessed a crucial precursor to the announcement at the Baitul Hilal Observatory in Port Dickson, boasting Southeast Asia’s most sophisticated telescope. Trying to sight the new moon, I recalled sleepless nights with my school’s astronomy club and tried to remember what I learnt about Al-Khwarizmi and Al-Tusi. I was sidetracked by the truth of a quote I had just seen: centuries ago Muslims were world leaders in astronomy, medicine, physics, chemistry, biology, philosophy and poetry – but today, some Muslims in Malaysia fixate on dogs, models and Facebook posts.
I looked around and saw dozens of people wearing tudungs, selendangs, serbans, kopiahs and songkoks looking up to the skies, emulating great Muslims of the past, and thought that maybe, as we hold steadfastly to our uniquely Malaysian traditions of Hari Raya, it is possible for all of us to look up, rather than down, at our fellow Malaysians too.
Tunku Abidin Muhriz is president of Ideas.