Posted in Malaysia Today (8/9/10)
The Malay Muslims were up in arms today thanks to the Raya advertisement by TV3. Admittedly I was not free from shock myself but it was a good kind of shock. The shock that said ‘Aha, these guys understand that the spirit of Raya goes beyond traditional Malay elements’. Of course, my good shock didn’t live very long when a friend passed along a link showing TV3’s apology and retraction of the said advertisement.
Of course this would happen in contemporary Malaysia. Of course it would because we are a superficial people. Years ago, Ning Baizura was given hell when her album cover (not music mind you but album cover) resembled a Christmas card! I don’t think her career recovered after that.
What emotes the Malay-Muslims is the presence of elements which they feel are alien to Islam. What are those elements? Perhaps the carriage in which the children ride in? Well to be fair, there were no reindeers pulling the carriage. Even the old man lacked facial hair and more glaringly presents so he couldn’t have been Santa Claus. Maybe the flight itself is the issue. God only knows with these people.
What is obvious to me is, Malays have really confused religion with culture. Think about it for a minute. What is Islamic about Raya? The Quran doesn’t even mention Raya but understandably, Muslims wish to mark the end of Ramadhan by having a celebration. Fine but where do the elements come from which go to make the celebration what it is? Obviously, from surrounding cultures of the time and place.
I guarantee that if you celebrated Raya in Saudi Arabia, you will not be understood if you said ‘selamat hari raya’. You will be hard pressed to find a host who serves you ketupat and rending and please do not try blow any meriam buluhs either! The Saudis may not look too kindly upon that. My point is, these are cultural elements. Culture is dynamic. Was it Malay culture to put money in ang pow packets before? No, we took it from our Chinese countrymen, coloured the packets green and voila! We have a new packaging for duit raya. I didn’t hear any imams or ulamaks complain (particularly when they received some).
So what is the problem with this advertisement? Two kids in a rather dilapidated home are called by a friendly looking man who takes them by a flying beca to an illuminated land where the kids are happy with other kids and are reunited with their parents. Is this unIslamic? What do we pay the Zakat Fitrah for then? That goes for the orphans and the poor.. We pay it so that they may have a better Raya. Isn’t this what the old man in the advertisement was doing, albeit metaphorically? He was shining his magic on those kids lives so that they have some happiness on an auspicious day. How unIslamic is that?
Our Malay-Muslims need to understand the difference between religion and culture. If they were Christianised instead of Islamised centuries ago, we’d be wearing our baju melayus, having our ketupats and rendangs and blowing up our meriams for Christmas instead! No, the religion part of Raya is the spirit of giving to the poor. It has nothing to do with these external cultural elements at all.
Farouk's Being Malaysia 
September 8, 2010 at 3:55 am |
Dear Farouk,
The core problem of the beautiful religion remain that it has been hijacked and held at ransom. By those who wishes to abuse it for personal agenda (extremists/fundamentalists?) and those have been so blinded by these same, that they cannot see or reason beyond even the rational mind.
The saddest and most tragic part is that the majority of the rational muslims choose to remain the silent majority, thereby by silent consent allow those who makes the loudest and most noise dictate their agenda. As they say: The crying baby gets the milk.
September 8, 2010 at 1:02 pm |
agreed….
problem is everything that is going on now can be someone’s else personal agenda.. hard to tell…
September 8, 2010 at 4:03 am |
dear farouk, my reason for opposing the advert is, Eid / Raya will soon be like Christmas, where people forget the true meaning of the celebration.
We can do without such ads. Eid/Raya ads should be focus on religion, praising Allah
September 8, 2010 at 4:10 am |
Unfortunately, the misunderstanding stems from trying to mix religion and culture. Islam is a beautiful religion, there is so much guidance in the Quran for a layman. When we confuse religious festivities with culture, the whole spirit of the festivities is lost. Here are some example:
Chinese New Year – Ang Pow and Fire Crackers, Dragon Dance, Yee Sang, Dinner with family, wine
Deepavali – Lights at night, new clothes,
Hari Raya – Ketupat, rendang, raya cookies, visiting friends
and family, asking forgiveness from the elders,
A few years ago, we had DeepaRaya…I thought this was such a beautiful concept.. such demonstartion of understanding and respect for each other.. where is that now…
Tell me where is religion in there.. we exhibit our happiness through the culture adopted or ingrained into us from childhood.
September 8, 2010 at 4:24 am |
I like the raya advertisement by TV3. It was modern, creative and refreshing. Others are entitle to their own opinions.
September 8, 2010 at 4:26 am |
who said that celebrating after ramadhan is not in the Quran?
You need to read more before you comment.
We call it raya (meaning celebrate) and we are celebrating Eid after ramadhan.
It is clearly stated in the Quran.
Nice try at degrading muslims and malays. Try harder though
September 8, 2010 at 6:54 am |
i don’t see in any way the writer of this article was trying to degrade muslims and malays. the only thing i could see is that the writer was trying to point out there are differences between religion and culture.
September 8, 2010 at 7:08 am |
and sam, such comments are the reason why the ad was pulled out, the malay muslims are fuming, the whole world is looking at us, and the minorities in the country is thinking ‘so what else we cannot do/say?’
September 8, 2010 at 4:28 am |
The Malay race itself is already very confusing. How do you expect them not to be confused between culture and religion. The Malay race is based on culture and religion not the normal based on genetic makeup. In fact it is man made, not natural. You can have a blonde hair blue eye malay or dark skin curly hair Malay. You can have one that goes back to India to visit his Indian ancestor but still insist that he is a Malay.
September 8, 2010 at 4:39 am |
Java Jive,
Which verse in the Quran are you refering to? Thank you.
September 8, 2010 at 4:40 am |
Have you seen this? What do you think?
http://tafsir-sipenulis.blogspot.com/2010/09/bukti-bergambar-kesesatan-iklan-promo.html
September 8, 2010 at 4:55 am |
The problem start when Muslims sees elements of other religions, which by the way are also not according to the various religious teachings. While other religion can accommodate these practices, Muslims unfortunately cannot because to them Islam is the purest and holiest religion. Even a cross is a taboo to them just because Christians uses it as their symbol. If we lift up both hands, we look like a cross. Maybe we are all Christians? Just a possibility and not a joke.
September 8, 2010 at 5:42 am |
if you say the advert is something new, fresh and original, it is definitely not. one look at it and you could see that it mimics a christmas advert concept which is done countless of times.
it’s not a merdeka advert where you can mix and match elements from other believes.
it’s only an advert anyway… not a very good one regardless whether it’s for raya or not.
September 8, 2010 at 6:06 am |
There is nothing wrong with an old man riding a flying beca. however if you put the jawi in an upside down situation like in the tv3 ad, then there is something fishy about it….that is why I’m very angry.
September 8, 2010 at 6:56 am |
………………………………dude, the simplest thing is that lets just ban all advertisement in every TV channel and we can watch our movies peacefully. No more ads that pop up suddenly when you are halfway through a movie. ISN’T THAT JUST GREAT? WOOHOO!!!
Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir dan Batin. 1 Malaysia
September 8, 2010 at 7:06 am |
Yes you are right. The Holy Book does not mention Raya, but it commands Muslim to fast during Ramadhan from dawn to dusk for one whole lunar month. The majority of Muslim Malays do observe the fasting for a month; but then when it comes to celebrate the end of Ramadhan we also require a whole month to celebrate Raya! Just observe when Syawal comes. There will be ‘open house’ for a whole month–with some spilling over into the month of Zulqaedah (following Syawal). Yes, we Malays are crazy to overindulge in festivities, as if we came to this earth just to eat! I do not see Chinese celebrating their new year for a month, nor Christians celebrating X-mas for a whole month. So what are our Malay leaders going to do about it? Malays need to be told by their leaders as what to do, since most of us cannot think independently!We have been brain-washed by UMNO to just follow what they say.
September 8, 2010 at 7:51 am |
Saleha Yusof:
Refer to the following verse:
“He (sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa sallam) forbade fasting on the day of (Eid) al-Fitr and the day of al-Nahr (Eid al-Adha).” (Bukhaari, Muslim).
What is wrong if the Malay race want to celebrate Eid/Raya in their own?
All of you pompous experts and critics of the Malays seems to have acquired a righteous attitude. Please let them be as they wish to, why ‘roast’them if they want to celebrate their own way. As to the comment mixing culture and religion, in Islam culture and religion are intervened. A non Malay Muslim in MALAYSIA will celebrate with rendang and similar stuff too.
The advert was just cheapskate, get original mah!
September 8, 2010 at 8:54 am |
TRACING THE ORIGINS OF THE JAWI SCRIPT
http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t159294.html
They sought to stir up sedition already before, and turned things upside down for you, until the truth came, and God’s command appeared, though they were averse.
… Had God not driven back the people, some by the means of others, there had been destroyed cloisters and churches, oratories and mosques, wherein God’s Name is much mentioned. Assuredly God will help him who helps Him — surely God is All-strong, All-mighty.
September 8, 2010 at 11:15 am |
What make a Malay, Malay?
Their culture? From food, dressing attires, language and “traditional” musical instruments all taken from neighboring cultures: India, Java, Chinese, Siam, Arabs, even Europeans too.
Their religion? Would one Malay embrace another Malay as a brother/sister who convert other religion instead of Islam? They have another M word for it and it’s called MURTAD. These murtads were made as public enemies; sidelined and treated like lepers. So much for freedom of religion and judging a person from his/her character…
Enough for me to bang my own kind on this special season, what i like to highlight here is Malay culture is rich and lenient towards accepting other practices that encourages harmony; physically and spiritually. So why get angry when the ad look like christmas moment thingy? Things like Joget Lambak were once an iconic culture for Malays has cease to exist in this generation. Reason? Needless for me to explain more. Some would argue, “Ini bukan budaya kita.” but yet we Malays love to go rave parties. Ironic isn’t it?
So have a happy, safe and crazy Aidilfitri.
September 8, 2010 at 12:59 pm |
I personally like the article, you reasoned strongly to the issue..
However, the idea of letting christmas-like culture in our already mixed-raya culture is… uncomforting to me. The true meaning of raya has pretty much gone away, lets not make it worst by mixing another ‘exciting,happy’ culture with it.
The purposes and true meanings of raya are fading as much as ramadan…
September 8, 2010 at 1:12 pm |
I see this whole thing as childish rantings. It is true that Islam has been hijacked by a few loud-mouths.
I think it is Muslims’ ego that really was the real reason why the advert was so fiercely opposed. The flying rickshaw looks like Santa’s sleigh and that is a no-no because Christianity is “very inferior” to Islam. Little do these people know that major celebrations here in Malaysia have a lot in common: blinking lights decorations, open houses, family get-togethers …. In fact it is the Malays’s Raya that is getting more and more dynamic than say, Christmas. Christians don’t have red-packets but they do give presents. The Malays copied the red-packets because it is a good thing to give. They also copied from the chinese in that they (the kids?) play fire-crackers. Lately we see artificial bamboos sold in shops …. soon they will put blinking lights there …… Hahahaa….. this will surely give more headaches to these loud-mouths!
September 8, 2010 at 1:19 pm |
I felt the Ad was a refreshing attempt albeit lacking in originality. It was an Ad trying to move away from the normal tried and tested balik kampung and ketupat indulging routine that is portrayed year after year.
While the Ad provided some modern perspective coupled with technological foray with CGI, it was the so called un-Islamic symbolisms that caught the imagination of the detractors. I might also point out that TV3 dishes out countless prime-time black magic and superstition infused programs thats is lapped up as entertainment by many Malays families. Now now, isn’t the symbolism portrayed in these shows Syirik.
Let’s encourage this form of endeavors with constructive feedback to improve, without being consumed by selective obsession on “un-Islamic Symbolism” Selamat hari Raya dan Maaf Zahir Batin.
September 8, 2010 at 1:44 pm |
I am embarrassed by my fellow Malays who break the fast during Ramadhan with a feast when they are supposed to be eating normal as dictated by Islam.
For some Malay/Muslims, Ramadhan seems to be a season for gluttony.
September 8, 2010 at 2:17 pm |
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
In case you all don’t know, Santa Claus or Christmas is not according to the Bible. It is a culture from the west who brought Christmas and Santa Clause stories to the new generation.
So, you all should know think positive about the ads. It is more to 1 Malaysia concept. Hooray!
September 8, 2010 at 2:47 pm |
You are so right bd about Christmas being a traditional culture from the West. It is a good culture anyway. It does not change the core religious rites one bit. It is totally separate from worship. The same can be said of Easter and Easter eggs. The eggs or christmas trees for that matter is never revered, never even mentioned as part of the rites in Mass let alone worshipped at this time of year. In the same way I don’t think such an advert will change the way Muslims pray no or will they be confused by it?
September 8, 2010 at 6:59 pm |
When I first watched the ad……The first thought I had was that TV3 started to move on with time and it is a good change!
This is my observation and I could be wrong. Malays could be very rational until Islam topics are involved.
September 9, 2010 at 3:04 am |
How come the Moslems in Malysia are so weak ?
A little fairy tales for kids will erode their faith ?
September 10, 2010 at 2:41 pm |
If we were to visit Lebanon during the Fasting month of Ramadhan or during Eid you will get to see a lot of muslims TV Personalities impersonating Santa Claus appearing on the Lebanese T.V a replica of celebrating Christmas but the muslim’s way. These people in Malaysia are still backward thinking that EID celebration is only a Malay celebration and culture. Different muslim countries celebrate Eid their own way and with their own culture.
September 11, 2010 at 7:23 am |
The ad shd be pulled off the air not because it offends religion, but because it potrays raya as a poor imitation of christmas. This is purely cultural. We have enough cultural wealth, and really do not need to plagiarise western icons. Pathetic creative director.
September 12, 2010 at 6:38 am |
What the fuss???
Well, Muslims should be blamed in the first place. They had given poor understandings of Aidil Fitri itself for years. Frankly speaking, there is no such thing hari raya kedua or ketiga and so forth. Aidil Fitri is actually a ONE DAY celebration and not the whole month. But, you should celebrate Aidil Adha for 4 days. You could see the differences when it comes to Takbir itself. Takbir for Aidil Fitri last only before Aidil Fitri prayer so you should realize how ‘small’ this celebration should be.
Culturally, we made it a whole month celebration. Nowadays Ramadan and Aidil Fitri are more about sales and bargains. Most of us had lost the true meaning of Ramadan and Aidil Fitri. The ONLY thing that look Islamic when it comes to Aidil Fitri is the Sunat Aidil Fitri Prayer and after that it is more or less like Christmas, CNY, Deepavali or even Gawai so to speak.
The ads is however is lack of originality and I wonder why the creator need to add flying trishaw or cooking rendang or dodol in the lotus. I do agree that Santa or even Christmas tree are not really linked to Christmas actually. It is a birthday celebration of Jesus and I don’t see the connection between the pagan belief of the tree and poor representation of St Nicholas as Santa Claus.
Personally, we all have lost true meaning of our religious celebrations regardless of your cultures or religions. I think that is why I still prefer Aidil Adha because it is less commercial and more about Islamic significances of the Eid.
Let’s stop being hypocrites, if we are really eager to ‘ban’ such ads then we should ban the artistes from singing unIslamically on First of Syawal.
October 21, 2011 at 2:52 pm |
Flying with Baby…
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Religion and Culture: The Case of TV3’s Raya Advertisement | Farouk