I managed to visit Puchong Batu 14 Mariamman Temple for the prayers. Below is a recording of the kummi adithal dance during the prayers.
I’m sure you are aware of the Girivalam at Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu, India which is held during Karthigai Deepam. This is one of the the five holy sites (pancha stalam) whereby Lord Siva is worshiped as an element (in this case, as fire).
Here’s the ad. Have a look and share your thoughts.
Basically the ad is about a Hindu guy who marries a Muslim. The pregnant wife is seen singing Tamil song while cooking muruku (symbolising her acceptance of some of the Indian-Tamil aspects) and later the couple is invited to celebrate Deepavali with the husband’s family.
At the grandmother’s house, the husband’s father and grandma are comfortable with the couple (symbolising that older generation are more forgiving and tolerant?) while the the husband’s siblings ignore the couple (symbolising that younger generation is more intolerant, narrow-minded, ignorant?).
The muslim wife is seen not partaking in the lunch because worried about the food being served. However, a malay neighbor drops by and informs the wife that the food was prepared by her (the malay neighbor) and its safe to eat (here, the muslim is seen worried about halalness of the food).
After the meal, the wife gets labor pain and we see everyone rushing to help her (symbolising that in times of need, the younger and older generation will help regardless of religion, race?).
Finally, the scene cuts to a hospital where everyone is in a joyful mood due to the first grandchildren (twins) being born to the family. Here the meaning may be that our differences (race/religion) can be overcome/forgotten when there’s good thing happening.
The ad can be easily misinterpreted to convey the message that converting is acceptable and the families of the convert will accept the convert. Indirectly, some feels its subtly (or subconsciously) promotes conversion to Islam among Hindus.
The ad doesn’t show any signs that husband has converted (he eats the food without thinking about the halalness nor does he advice his wife to eat), thus giving false impression that he is still a Hindu, but its a known fact that once you want to marry a Muslim, you must convert.
The ad also tells us that we should get a muslim to prepare the food for Deepavali because to cater for muslim. Well, sorry to say, its our open house and we will serve it any which way we like it. We can’t guarantee that the Muslim won’t use same utensils used to cook non-halal item like beef when preparing food for Deepavali. All my life, never did I see food prepared specially for Muslims for Deepavali (not including the Deepavali open house by politicians). I think this is a bad precedent to set.
While the ad doesn’t insult Hinduism (to me), i’ll say its an ad to promote conversion to Islam rather than a Deepavali ad. Its telling “OK to convert because everything will be OK in the end”. Unfortunately, we are leaving in an unequal state, thus we have lesser rights and depend a lot on the interpretation of the authorities on the “rights”. So, I expect nothing to change after this.
Some, like Senator Ramakrishnan questioned the ad, saying its belittling the holy festival. He also questioned why not show a reverse scenario where a person converts from Islam to Hinduism. But I think they forgot that’s a no-no in a unequal-rights country. Silap silap, get caught under ISA!
Finas on their behalf said there’s nothing wrong with the ad:
The Deepavali commercial by the National Film Development Corporation (Finas) has nothing to do with religious conversions and it should not be taken out of context in the way it was conceived and acted out in the commercial.
Finas director-general Mohd Mahyidin Mustakim (right) said that the commercial was aimed at promoting 1Malaysia in the spirit of various races and families celebrating the different Malaysian festivals.
“This commercial is a follow-up to the commercial we had during Hari Raya when Muthu marries the Sarawakian, Rina.
“So we are portraying how Malaysians of different races celebrate their festivals and we will also have another follow-up during Christmas and Chinese New Year.
“This is a work of creativity and should not be mixed with politics.
“The advertisement was certainly not conceived to put down any race and the idea of conversions was not on our minds at all.”
Mahyidin was responding to senator S Ramakrishnan who had questioned the message the commercial’s producers were trying to put across.
The storyline, he added was similar to a Bollywood drama where there is conflict in the beginning and eventually it all ends well with a happy ending. When the commercial ends it shows a positive and happy mood among the two families.
The 30-second film – said to have appeared on RTM and Astro – shows how a male member of a Hindu family faces reluctance on the part of his siblings to accept his marriage to a Muslim girl.
The Muslim girl, on her part, shows reluctance to partake of the meals prepared by her in-laws. She concedes, however, after being assured the food is halal by a friend of the family.
It is only after the Muslim girl has given birth that her in-laws warm up to the fact of their marriage and display affection toward the new-born child.
Ramakrishnan noted that the Finas advertisement showed the hostility of the Hindu family while neglecting to address the compulsion on non-Muslims to convert before marrying Muslims.
Mahyidin said the advertisement was actually projecting tolerance and caring feelings among the different races. It demonstrates the various races showing respect for one another even when food is served and this is visible in the way the halal food is prepared for the visitors.
Hindu Sangam has called a recent television advertisement on Deepavali insensitive and is meeting Finas officials tonight to protest its screening.
The advertisement, produced by Finas, or the National Film Development Corporation, and aired in conjunction with Deepavali, has provoked protests from Hindu politicians and community leaders.
They are unhappy with what they say is the insensitive undertones portrayed in the advertisement.
In the commercial, a Muslim convert and his pregnant Muslim Sarawakian wife visit his Hindu family members for Deepavali. They are treated with hostility by the man’s brother and sister-in-law.
At lunch, the man’s wife is hesitant to eat the food until a Malay guest assures her that it is halal.
The advertisement however ends on a joyous note with the wife giving birth to twins.
“I find this advertisement insensitive. Even some of my Malay friends are unhappy with it,” Hindu Sangam central council member Shanta Venugopal said.
She said the advertisement in no way portrays the spirit of 1 Malaysia, adding that instead an advertisement showing all the races enjoying a Deepavali meal would have served the purpose.
DAP’s Senator S. Ramakrishnan said: “This advertisement was done in bad faith. It has a subtle message underlying it.”
Calling it a mockery of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1 Malaysia concept, Ramakrishnan told The Malaysian Insider that the repeated airing of the commercial could “subtly influence gullible and innocent people. They will be more accepting of Hindus converting to Islam. And why are they playing this advertisement during Deepavali?”
“The advertisement seems to be leading the community in one direction. Why does it have to be a Hindu converting to Islam? Why can’t it be the other way around?” Ramakrishnan asked.
Hindu Sangam deputy president Dr M Bala Tharumalingam said 45 Hindu NGOs, including the Hindu Sevai Sangam and the Hindu Youth Organisation, would be attending the meeting at its Petaling Jaya headquarters.
For me, say no to “conversion without proper counseling and information”. Counseling here means the convert-to-be should be counselled by his/her current religion officials/authority to ensure he/she is clear on leaving current religion. Information means the next of kin is made aware of the conversion plan BEFORE converting. Can or not? 🙂
Note: Still waiting for self-proclaimed guardians of Indian community to open mouth. Maybe to tired from all the deepavali open houses.
Deepavali Valthugal to those celebrating this holy festival! May there be bountiful joy, prosperity, peace, enlightment, Almighty’s blessings, n good thoughts all around.
I wish poobalan.com’s readers, Twitter followers, and FB friends a wonderful weekend ahead.
We attended Vinayagar Chaturthi prayers today morning at Klang’s Sree Selva Vinayagar Temple (their website is here), along with about 150 people or so. Many carried paal kudam in the morning. I think we last went to this temple 2 years ago. The prayers ended at around 11am. There was an auction of mangoes which were kept at Lord Vinayagar’s tusk for last two days. Not sure who bought it as we didn’t stay long after the prayers ended.
Quite some time back, there were some issues with the relocation of staff quarters (JKR or KTM, can’t remember).
Today, the temple is surrounded by huge double storey house project. There’s barely space for parking. I wonder how the housing project was approved.
I think it would create unnecessary friction especially when the house occupants are non-Hindus. Yeah, surely they bought the house with full knowledge that the temple exists there (its registered and official temple!), but you know how things work in Bolehland. If some influential people or those from certain race start to make noise, it will be problem regardless who was there first. The housing project should have not be given permission to proceed so close to the temple. I think its the fault of MPK for approving the project.
This is interesting article on celebration of Onam in Malaysia, from the Star. I thought Onam was a festival steeped in religion, but looks like its celebrated by Malayalees of different faith as well. Learnt something new today.
Kerala in southern India celebrates the Onam festival this week. The harvest festival is celebrated by all Keralites regardless of race, religion and creed for over 10 days. This year, in conjunction with the holy month of Ramadan, StarMetro takes a look at the celebrations by the Malayalee Muslims.
MUSLIMS from all over the world are immersed in Ramadan, but for the Muslims of Kerala the added joy of the Onam festival makes celebrating fasting month sweeter.
Onam, is the most celebrated event in Kerala that lasts 10 days and is filled with activities including boat races, floral carpet designs called Pookalam and ends with the Thiruonam day on Aug 23.
The story behind the cultural festival revolves around King Mahabali who once ruled Kerala. The revered king visits Kerala every year during Onam and his subjects organise the celebrations to welcome Mahabali home.
For the Muslim community, the day starts with special prayers in the mosque known as Palli in Malayalam. In Malaysia, there are several Malabar mosques including Kuala Lumpur’s very own Surau Hidhayatul Islam in Selayang Baru. Special prayers for buka puasa are also held in poor homes in the spirit of Onam.
“Since it is the fasting month, there would be no elaborate celebrations. After the night Terawih prayers, a family gathering would be organised without a feast,” said N. R. Nambiar, the honorary general secretary of the All Malaysia Malayalee Association (Amma).
On Thiruonam day, the most important part of the celebrations is the Onasadhya, a complete banana leaf meal with vegetarian dishes.
Malayalee Muslims or better known as Moplahs serve several dishes, including the traditional Pathiri with Chicken Curry or Dum briyani after their Terawih prayers.
Pathiri is a bread similar to naan while Dum Briyani — the briyani rice is wedged between coal fire on the top of the pot and fire at the bottom.
Traditional: A model wearing the costume worn by Muslim women called the Mundu.
Across Kerala, Malayalees all share the “Mundu” a traditional costume of white cloth with broad gold borders but the draping style differs according to the religious background.
The Muslim women wear the “Mundu” with coloured border, blouses with long sleeves called “kuppayam” and a head gear called “thattam”.
In addition to ordinary jewellery, women wear gold or silver waist bands. The men wear their “mundu” and green broad bands around their waste. The men’s head gear is known as Thalapa.
It is a tradition for Hindus to place the Pookalam or floral carpet designs in front of their homes but this is not compulsory for the Muslim community.
“It is not a must, however, it was practised in those days to usher King Mahabali in every house as he was a king for everyone,” added Nambiar.
The Pookalam is a myriad of colours with flowers of every kind and hue and in the centre is the Nila Vilaku (oil lamp).
The lamp can be found in every Malayalee home since early days but the Muslims have a crescent moon and a star on top of the lamp that was introduced for cultural activities.
Malaysian Malayalees rarely get an opportunity to celebrate Onam in a large scale because they do not have holidays for Onam.
Due to this, families may organise a feast and invite their fellow friends and family members to join in the celebrations.
The local Kerala Samajams also organise luncheons and activities for all Malayalees to commemorate the day. Children of the Samajam members are also taught various folk dances including Kaikotti Kalli.
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Traditional: A model wearing the costume worn by Muslim women called the Mundu.
