Melaka Christmas
ByFestivals are very popular here. When we arrived we were quickly into Ramadan and Hari Raya. We were invited into the homes of our Muslim friends to celebrate. Not long afterwards the Hindu community celebrated Divali and we were entertained by marvellous Indian dancing and absolutely delicious lamb curry dished up free to everyone.
No sooner had the decorations for Divali come down than Santa Claus, reindeer and Christmas Trees appeared. The shops were full of Christmas cheer, ho ho ho. Then in the shopping malls the whole community came together to sing Christmas carols led by the choir of the St Xaviour church. No one really appreciated snow lying deep and crisp and even but it was interesting to sing ‘Come all ye faithful’ with the Muslim folks.
We live about ten minutes walk from Portuguese settlement. These descendants of the original traders still speak 500 year old Portuguese, are still fervent Catholics and do Christmas with energy. Whole streets are bedecked with thousands of twinkling lights, nativity scenes and Joy to the World plaques.
In the spirit of cultural and religious integration and tolerance the government showcases a local festival. This year it was the turn of the Portuguese Settlement and huge amounts of government money was poured into a Christmas Extravaganza. Between speeches from the Prime Minister and the State governor we had nationally famous pop stars, massed choirs, dancing reindeers and jovial Santas throwing sweets to the enthralled crowd of thousands.
