Walk into any mall in the month of December and what do you see? Christmas decorations plastered all over the place. Images of Santa Claus with his white fluffy beard and red garment, the sleigh and the reindeers can be seen at just about every corner you turn. The funny thing about Christmas in Malaysia is that, although it’s a tropical climate, malls would often include fake snow in the decorations, invoking a feeling as if we’re experiencing a White Christmas. For people that are unable to experience snow, this gesture done by malls can mark a significant moment in one’s life. You would see kids being ecstatic over the sight of fake snow and playing around with it as if it’s real. Even adults enjoy it as much. After all, it’s not every day that Malaysia snows! Despite the snow being a soap-like substance, nobody minds it and everyone would often have a great time imagining themselves in a foreign country with snow.
One of the things that Malaysians look forward to the most, is the extravagant Christmas tree and decorations that malls put up. Trees as high as 5 or 6 stories tall are displayed, with ornaments as shiny as a new pin, and lights as bright as a star. No, most of the time these aren’t real trees. They’re artificial but they do look like friendly giants greeting you a Merry Holiday! At KLCC, this friendly merry looking giant would often be found at the entrance of the park from the mall. Standing as tall as the mall, it boasts a magnificent sight! If you go for a late-night movie at KLCC right before the Christmas season, you can see the maintenance staff putting up this tree in the wee after hours. It usually takes a few days before the tree is in its final form. After its completion, the big tree would often be the hub spot for foreigners, travellers, and locals to take pictures. I’m sure almost every person living in KL has a picture of them standing by the big Christmas tree at KLCC park.
Not only that, the F&B section in Malaysia would also go all out during the holiday season. Most of the time, restaurants would come up with a special menu for Christmas. Often times, these foods are favourable towards a more Western palate as Christmas in Malaysia is frequently associated to Western culture. So, you would find a lot of traditional Christmas food such as roasted turkey, roasted potatoes, gravy, stuffings, etc, you get the gist. Even Christmas dinners at home would often serve the same type of food. You may think that the idea of Christmas food in Malaysia has been Americanized, but the population that celebrates Christmas in this country is only 10%. Hence, creating a cultural dish unique to only Malaysian Christmas is yet to be created. Cafes and ice cream shops would also participate in coming up with multiple different flavours of coffees or ice creams for the Christmas season. Since Malaysians are known to be a sucker for sweet things, people would line up for the specialties, and the staff with their cute reindeer headbands or Santa hats would greet them cheerfully.
A large percentage do dine out in restaurants or hotels to celebrate Christmas. This time of the year, a lot of companies in Malaysia would often get together and have a year end dinner celebration concurrent with Christmas as a kind gesture to their staff members. Secret Santa events are often held at most workplaces, where colleagues exchange gifts, in which every member of a team demonstrates a spirit of giving, regardless of status, age, or race. The actual Christmas public holiday only falls on Christmas day, which is the 25th of December. However, the state of Sabah has an additional public holiday on Christmas Eve, 24th of December. Be prepared to see the Christmas spirit even in non-Christians as Christmas approaches.
The Christmas holidays are a time for Malaysians to spend with their loved ones. The festive spirit is evident at several Christmas countdowns in selected parts of the world where people wish each other Happy Holidays and a Merry Christmas. Throughout Malaysia, Christmas is not only celebrated by Christians, but also celebrated by all people without disrespecting their own faith. So go ahead and share a joyful loving Christmas with your family and friends. We at Ata Plus hope you have a delightful holiday season filled with love, comfort, and happiness. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
