There are two types of holidays in Malaysia, National and state levels. National holidays are normally observed by most governmental and private organizations. 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. Meanwhille in Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu, government agencies are closed every Friday and Saturday.[1]
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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.[2] Some holidays are federally gazetted public holidays and some are public holidays observed by individual states.[3] 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.[4]
The most widespread holiday is the "Hari Kebangsaan" (Independence Day), otherwise known as "Merdeka" (Freedom), 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.[4] Malaysia Day, held on 16 September to commemorate the formation of Malaysia, only takes place in the state of Sabah, but since 2010 is a full nationwide holiday.
Muslim holidays are highly prominent in Malaysia. The most important of these is Hari Raya Puasa (also called Hari Raya Aidilfitri),[5] which is the Malay translation of Eid al-Fitr. It is generally a festival honoured by the Muslims worldwide marking the end of Ramadan, the fasting month. In addition to Hari Raya Puasa, they also celebrate Hari Raya Haji (also called Hari Raya Aidiladha, the translation of Eid ul-Adha), Awal Muharram (Islamic New Year) and Maulidur Rasul (Birthday of the Prophet).[4]
Malaysian Chinese typically hold the same festivals observed by Chinese around the world. Chinese New Year is the most prominent, lasting for 15 days[4] 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.
Hindus in Malaysia celebrate Diwali/Deepavali, the festival of light,[4] while Thaipusam is a celebration in which pilgrims from all over the country meet at the Batu Caves.[6] 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 also hold the thai festival of Loy Kratong.[7]
Wesak (Malay for Vesak), the Buddhist festival commemorating Buddha's birth, is a public holiday.[4] Malaysia's Christian community observes most of the holidays observed by Christians elsewhere, most notably Christmas[4] 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.[3]
New Year's Day, Chinese New Year, and the start of the Islamic calendar are all public holidays.[4]
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.[8]
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.[9] 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.[10]
| Date | Name | JHR | KDH | KTN | KUL | LBN | MLK | NSN | PHG | PNG | PRK | PRS | PJY | SBH | SGR | SRW | TRG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 1 | New Year's Day | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | |||||
| January 11 | Hari Hol Sultan Johor | • | |||||||||||||||
| January 14 | Negeri Sembilan State Ruler's Birthday | • | |||||||||||||||
| January 16 | Kedah State Ruler's Birthday | • | |||||||||||||||
| January 20, 2011 | Thaipusam | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | |||||||||
| February 1, 2011 | Federal Territory Day | • | • | • | |||||||||||||
| February 3, 2011 | Chinese New Year (1st day) | National | |||||||||||||||
| February 4, 2011 | Chinese New Year (2nd day) | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | ||
| February 15, 2011 | Birthday of Prophet Muhammad | National | |||||||||||||||
| March 4, 2011 | Second (2011) Anniversary of Installation of Sultan of Terengganu | • | |||||||||||||||
| March 30 and 31 | Kelantan State Ruler's Birthday | • | |||||||||||||||
| April 15 | Declaration of Malacca City as Historical City | • | |||||||||||||||
| April 19 | Perak State Ruler's Birthday | • | |||||||||||||||
| April 22, 2011 | Good Friday | • | • | ||||||||||||||
| May 1 | Labour Day | National | |||||||||||||||
| May 7 | Hari Hol of Pahang | • | |||||||||||||||
| May 17, 2011 | Wesak Day | National | |||||||||||||||
| May 17 | Perlis State Ruler's Birthday | • | |||||||||||||||
| June 1 and 2 | Gawai Dayak | • | |||||||||||||||
| June 4, 2011 | Malaysia King's Birthday | National | |||||||||||||||
| June 29, 2011 | Israk dan Mikraj | • | • | • | |||||||||||||
| July 7 | Declaration of George Town as World Heritage Site | • | |||||||||||||||
| July 10 | Penang State Governor's Birthday | • | |||||||||||||||
| July 20 | Terengganu State Ruler's Birthday | • | |||||||||||||||
| August 1, 2011 | First day of Ramadan | • | • | • | |||||||||||||
| August 17, 2011 | Day of Nuzul Al-Quran | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | |||||||||
| August 30, 2011 | Hari Raya Puasa | National | |||||||||||||||
| August 31, 2011 | Hari Raya Puasa (2nd Day) | National | |||||||||||||||
| August 31, 2011 | Merdeka Day | National | |||||||||||||||
| September 10, 2011 | Sarawak State Governor's Birthday | • | |||||||||||||||
| September 16 | Malaysia Day | National | |||||||||||||||
| October 1, 2011 | Sabah State Governor's Birthday | • | |||||||||||||||
| October 8, 2011 | Melaka State Governor's Birthday | • | |||||||||||||||
| October 24, 2011 | Pahang State Ruler's Birthday | • | |||||||||||||||
| October 26, 2011 | Deepavali | National | |||||||||||||||
| November 6, 2011 | Hari Raya Qurban | National | |||||||||||||||
| November 7, 2011 | Hari Raya Qurban (2Nd Day) | • | • | ||||||||||||||
| November 22 | Johor State Ruler's Birthday | • | |||||||||||||||
| November 27, 2011 | First day of Muharram | National | |||||||||||||||
| December 11 | Selangor State Ruler's Birthday | • | |||||||||||||||
| December 25 | Christmas Day | National | |||||||||||||||
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