PONDERS ISSUE 29
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FESTIVALS IN THE<br />
SPIRIT OF MALAYSIANS …<br />
Two almost in One<br />
Soon after the 15 Days of the Chinese New Year celebration is over,<br />
Malaysians are preparing for Ramadan. Seems like a re-enactment of<br />
‘Kongsi Raya’ but not yet, although the period of proximity of both<br />
festivals this year leaves little room for planning.<br />
The last ‘Kongsi Raya’ was between 1996 and 1998, and the next one will<br />
be between 20<strong>29</strong> and 2031 where both Chinese New Year and Hair Raya<br />
will be celebrated simultaneously. ‘Kongsi Raya’ or more accurately<br />
‘Gongxi Raya’ is a Malaysian portmanteau i.e. a blend of words in which<br />
parts of multiple words are combined into a new word i.e. the Chinese<br />
New Year greeting, “Gong Xi Fa Cai” and “Raya” from Hari Raya. It also<br />
meant “shared celebrations” as kongsi means sharing in Malay while<br />
Raya means to celebrate.<br />
The phenomenon occurs every 33 years, due to the timing of these<br />
festivals fluctuating due to their lunar calendars - the Chinese calendar is<br />
a lunisolar calendar while the Islamic calendar is a purely lunar calendar.<br />
Yes, not yet a ‘Kongsi Raya’ but at Ponderosa we draw parallels to the<br />
celebrations as we offer you more time to plan.
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