Jakim To Hold Cny Celebration In Klang This Weekend

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A yee sang tossing ceremony will be among the events held during Jakim’s Chinese New Year celebration at the Klang Hokkien Association headquarters on Sunday.
PETALING JAYA: The Islamic development department (Jakim) will be organising a two-day Chinese New Year celebration at the Klang Hokkien Association headquarters this weekend.
A media invitation from Jakim states that the event will start with a visit to an old folks home to distribute hampers tomorrow, with prayers to be recited in three languages during the event’s opening ceremony on Sunday.
Sunday’s event will also feature a forum, a yee sang tossing ceremony, a cooking demonstration, a lucky draw, and a speech by religious affairs minister Na’im Mokhtar.
A Jakim spokesman told FMT that the Chinese New Year celebration is an annual event, with Klang chosen for its large Chinese community.
“⁠Jakim only celebrates cultural festivities, not religious ones,” she said, adding that the event is aimed at encouraging goodwill.
Jakim said the two-day event, organised in collaboration with the Selangor Islamic religious department (Jais) and Islamic NGOs, is a Madani Harmony initiative.
The national unity ministry launched the Madani Harmony programme last April to improve the people’s understanding of the country’s diverse religions, cultures and customs.
In a Bernama report, national unity minister Aaron Ago Dagang said the initiative includes forums centred on understanding, respect, and acceptance.
It also includes visits to houses of worship such as mosques, temples, shrines and churches.
Last week, Na’im said Jakim was finalising guidelines regarding the involvement of Muslims in non-Muslim festivities and funerals, as well as events at non-Muslim houses of worship.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim later said the guidelines were unnecessary and would cause anxiety, after the proposed guidelines drew backlash from civil society, non-Muslim religious leaders, and politicians.
The sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, had also expressed his disapproval about the proposal, saying the Quran and Sunnah already provide the best guidelines for Muslims. - FMT

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