A Brief Overview of our Host Country
It is always interesting to live overseas. One not only learns more about oneself (as highlighted in the Harvard Business Review article entitled, How Living Abroad Helps You Develop a Clearer Sense of Self), but also much about the culture of the host country.
Known around the world for being, inter alia, a multicultural society, Malaysia has the iconic Petronas Towers, beautiful beaches, wonderful rainforests, endangered turtles and orangutans and is home to both the Batu Caves (where Thaipusam happens every year) and Mount Kinabalu (the highest mountain in South East Asia). On the streets, one hears a wide range of languages spoken by Malaysians (Tamil, Hokkien, Punjabi, Mandarin, Bahasa, Cantonese; Indigenous languages spoken by the Orang Asli are heard in specific parts of the country) and by migrant workers (Bangla, Tagalog, Burmese). English is the lingua franca (hence one of the reasons Malaysia is frequently described as Asia-lite). One often hears the ubiquitous “lah” (used to emphasize) and “boleh” (literally meaning can as in the expression, “Malaysia boleh” [Malaysia can] and/or used in informal conversations to indicate agreement).
In the last few years, Malaysia has been in the news. The disappearance of MH 370 (March 8-9, 2014) and the shooting down of MH 17 (July 17, 2014) propelled Malaysia into the spotlight and this year Malaysia made worldwide headlines as the political drama saw Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad elected as Prime Minister (a position this now 93 year old previously held from July 1981 to October 2003) making him both the fourth and seventh PM of Malaysia.
Malaysia is quite unique in many ways. This is perhaps most evident in the vast number of public holidays which honour the predominant cultural groups, a variety of national holidays as well as at least one specific day for individual states. For specific details regarding the variation from state to state, please refer to Public Holidays in Malaysia. While many countries around the world have four to five public holidays which impact the school year, ie. ANZAC Day (commemorated on April 25 to remember the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) soldiers who landed at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I), Canada’s Victoria Day (celebrated on the last Monday preceding May 25, in honour of Queen Victoria's birthday), the UK’s Spring Bank Holiday (the last Monday in May), France’s Toussaint (November 1), America’s Thanksgiving (celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November and rendering a four day weekend), Malaysia has a multitude. To illustrate this point, public holidays for Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur [the state in which my school is] for this school year (August 7 - June 13) are as follows:
Wednesday August 22 ~ Hari Raya Haji [Eid - Haj pilgrimage]. Muslim holiday - changeable date.
Friday August 31 ~ Hari Merdeka or Hari Kebangsaan [Independence Day]. National holiday - fixed date.
Celebrates the day in 1957 when the Federation of Malaya officially declared independence from the British.
Monday* September 10 ~ Agong’s Birthday [King’s Birthday]. Holiday - fixed date of September 9, observed in all regions except Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu.
This date changes every five years since this is an elective monarchy and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (“King”) changes every five years. It is interesting to note that Sultan Abdul Halim of Kedah was Agong from September 1965 to September 1970 and again December 2006 to December 2016. More details about the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, can be found here.
Tuesday September 11 ~ Awal Muharram [Islamic New Year]. National holiday - changeable date.
Monday* September 17 ~ Hari Malaysia [Malaysia Day]. National holiday - fixed date of September 16.
A holiday introduced in 2010. Hari Malaysia, September 16, celebrates the joining together of Malaya, North Borneo (now known as Sabah) and Sarawak to form Malaysia.
Tuesday November 6 ~ Deepavali [Diwali]. Hindu/Sikh holiday observed in all regions except Sarawak - changeable date.
Tuesday November 20 ~ Nabi Miwlaud [Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday] ... Muslim holiday - changeable date.
Tuesday December 25 ~ Christmas Day. National holiday.
Tuesday January 1~ New Year’s Day. Holiday observed in all regions except Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis, Terengganu.
Monday January 21 ~ Thaipusam. Hindu holiday observed only in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Perak, Penang, and Selangor - moveable date.
An Introduction to the Hindu Tamil Festival of Thaipusam can be found at What Is Thaipusam?
Friday February 1 ~ Federal Territory Day. Holiday only in Labuan, Kuala Lumpur, and Putrajaya
Tuesday February 5 ~ Chinese New Year. Chinese holiday - changeable date.
Wednesday February 6 ~ Chinese New Year, Day 2. Chinese holiday - changeable date, observed in all regions except Terengganu.
Wednesday May 1 ~ Labour Day. National holiday - fixed holiday
Monday* May 20 ~ Wesak Day [Birth of Buddha]. Buddhist holiday - changeable date, observed on the day of the full moon in May, in all regions except Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu.
Wednesday May 22 ~ Nuzul Al-Quran [Revelation of the Quran to the Prophet]. Muslim holiday - changeable date, observed in all regions except Johor, Kedah, Malacca, Sabah, and Sarawak.
Wednesday June 5 ~ Hari Raya Puasa [Eid - end of Ramadan]. Muslim holiday - changeable date
Thursday June 6 ~ Hari Raya Puasa, Day 2 [Eid - end of Ramadan]. Muslim holiday - changeable date
* If a public holiday falls on a Saturday, there is no replacement holiday. If it falls on a Sunday, the following Monday - for those of us living and working where the working week is Monday through Friday - becomes the public holiday. In the Malaysian states of Johor, Kelantan, Terengganu, and Kedah, the working week is Sunday through Thursday and so public holidays occasionally differ slightly.
As is evident from the list above, the vast majority of public holidays are not fixed. This is due to Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Chinese culture drawing on the lunar calendar. In addition to the above, there are a variety of other dates observed by individual states (ie. Birthday of the Sultan of Negeri Sembilan, Birthday of the Raja of Perlis, Harvest Festival in Sabah or Sarawak etc.,). Further details may be found at Public Holidays in Malaysia.
It seems that every year I have been here there has been an additional public holiday or two added at some point in the school year. The following are some that instantly come to mind:
Coronation of the King - occurred both April 11, 2012 and April 23, 2017.
September 2015 saw the haze return to Kuala Lumpur (KL). As a school we had - as the AQI level increased - implemented our Haze Days policy (This included no outside recess, outside PE, or after school PE for all students and an adjustment in our attendance policy for those students with asthma etc.,) for a number of weeks prior to the official government shutdown as outlined in Malaysia shuts schools as air quality worsens and Malaysia's haze worsens on Sunday, three districts around KL reach 'very unhealthy' level.
Since Malaysia topped its medal haul in the South East Asia Games held here in KL during the last two weeks of August 2017, we had a holiday announced for Monday September 4, 2017. This holiday was much appreciated as it made a four day weekend with Merdeka Day (Thursday August 30) and Hari Raya (Friday September 1) into a five day weekend.
Wednesday May 9 was declared a public holiday so that voters could return to their hometowns to participate in the General Election, known locally as GE14. It was announced by Najib and his Barisan Nasional coalition that were they to win this fourteenth General Election, they would declare Thursday May 10 and Friday May 11 as additional public holidays. The election was won by Pakatan Harapan who declared that Thursday May 10 and Friday May 11 as public holidays (interesting to read the theories as to why the new government did so!). Contemporaneous New York Times articles What Just Happened in Malaysia? and Malaysia’s Election: What Happened, and What’s Next provide a brief summary of events and key characters (some have noted there have been more twists and turns in Malaysian politics in the last year than there are in some popular soap operas!).
As I frequently tell prospective families, we - like most international schools around the world - have 181 student contact days. However, as a result of the multiple public holidays throughout the school year, students have a two month summer holiday rather than almost three months as is frequent in parts of the US. The prevalence of extended weekends and/or odd days off midweek are greatly appreciated, especially for families new to KL and in the process of settling into life here. With KL being a travel hub, it is easy (if you can deal with the inflated prices and the crowds) to travel within SE Asia; or, if you prefer, to have some additional downtime at home. The Malaysian practice of “kampung balik” (which literally, in Bahasa, means "return to village") refers to the mass exodus during the key festivals of Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Deepavali, and Chinese New Year when urban Malaysians return to their hometowns. As a result, KL is much less busy during the major festivals. The prevalence of midweek one day holidays means we have multiple "Fake Fridays" throughout the year when, for example, a Monday can seem to be both the start and the end of the week.
With this being my tenth year here, the day to day reality of living in this culturally diverse city is very familiar. I am grateful for continuing to learn something new every week, be it relating to history, culture, or idiomatic language of my host country.