I wish to take issue with some corporate mogul and netizens who complain that Malaysia has too many public holidays.

Aiyaa! Kenapa cakap itu macam? In some ways, these complaints are insulting and I will explain why.

First of all, are we all not proud that we are a country of many races and many faiths?

We always say Malaysia is Truly Asia in some advertisements. Many countries envy our food, our culture and our easy-going lifestyle.

Muslims always remind each other bersyukurlah or be thankful that we live in Malaysia.

I have lived in two other countries and I still say for whatever warts we have in politics, this is still the best place to live in comparison to many others.

I once asked one very rich man who is a friend of mine, why he doesn’t live elsewhere with all his wealth and forego all our handicaps in politics and conflicts.

He simply said, I was born here and this is my homeland, tanah tumpahnya darahku.

At the time that I asked, some terrible things were happening in the country, and I had thought for the first time about relocating.

But luckily I was not wealthy and gave up the idea and I have not regretted it since.

No way am I leaving my three grandchildren and miss them growing up.

My wife and I have five children, two boys and three girls. Do we complain that we have too many birthday celebrations? No.

All three of my daughters are married. Do we complain that we have to celebrate not only birthdays but also wedding anniversaries? No.

Now add on to that the birthdays of three grandchildren, two boys and one precious four-year-old girl who seems friendly with everyone she meets.

She is a favorite among the many Bangladeshi young servers at several mamak restaurants! We always get special treatment when she is around.

So, having many public holidays to commemorate important dates is part of our life.

What the heck is the problem? We inherited the Malay Sultanate and we need to honor that history with a few holidays.

We have two “merdeka” days of August 31 and the September 16 Malaysia Day. So sometimes the prime minister declares a sudden holiday to commemorate a Thomas Cup or football win, so what?

Why so many calculations of ringgit and productivity? Life is about money and output for consumers sajakah?

Honoring a religion, honoring a nation’s date, honoring a ruler’s birthday, and honoring special occasion is what makes us humans and Malaysians!

This is our character. So, the Japanese work 25 hours a day. Itu dia punya pasal-lah! I checked somewhere that that country has a very high suicide rate. Perhaps that country should have many more public holidays?

I read that some netizens complain of civil servants banyak goyang kaki. I was a civil servant myself and I take offense from that statement.

Since 80% or more civil servants are Malays, that statement can sound like an insult. Jaga mulut sikit-lah!

However, much money some arrogant hypermarket mogul will lose with public holidays, his billions will never buy a second of precious time spent with those we love.

For your information I have never shopped at that hypermarket and will never ever want to!

It seems that some people value only money but not relationships or just being still in a timeless joy of drinking teh tarik.

Money we can make, but a moment is something we have to capture and treasure for it will never come again.

When Chinese New Year comes, I would stock up the groceries, make sure my cars are all serviced and buy whatever I need for repairs from the hardware shops.

I do not complain when my mechanic takes a one-week holiday in Seoul and I would always ask him how his holidays go.

We live together with many differences, and we must learn to appreciate them and work around the holidays.

I remember my niece who worked at a Chinese firm that was always good to her. When Chinese New Year comes, my niece would complain that she is forced to take part of her annual leave because the firm closes for a week.

I told her not to complain; just make use of the time as best as you can.

This Raya falls on a weekend. The government of Anwar Ibrahim is not trying to be populist but compassionate.

People like some arrogant hypermarket mogul probably do not know the meaning of that word because his dictionary is full of numbers.

When PH won the election in GE14, Tun M called for a holiday as the country was in shock that the opposition had beaten the ruling party which had governed for six decades.

It was a strategic move to quiet the situation and prevent money from ill-gotten ways to be transferred.

Brilliant. But when Anwar came to power, he went to work as usual wearing sandals and baju Melayu and going to the mosque for prayers.

Anwar is not a curi tulang person to give public holidays. He even asked the civil servants for a meeting on that very Sunday!

We are who we are. Let’s say a prayer for our different ways and faiths and our many public holidays.

Let us also be careful of what we complain about lest we are accused of being a racist or just plain kedekut.

Selamat Hari Raya to all of us celebrating a deserved four-day weekend!

(Prof Dr. Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi is Professor of Architecture at a local university and his writing reflects his own personal opinion entirely.)