A greeting by any other name is just as sweet

Happy Diwali or Happy Deepavali? What is more important is that we always celebrate together as Malaysians. — KAMARUL ARIFFIN/YAP CHEE HONG/The Star

FOR a long time, we have wished our Indian friends “Happy Deepavali”, our Malay friends “Selamat Hari Raya” and our Chinese friends “Kong Hei Fatt Choy” in Cantonese or “Keong Hee Huat Chye” in Hokkien.

It was that simple. Everyone understood the goodwill behind the greetings. Nobody needed a dictionary, a cultural seminar, or a social media debate to explain what we meant.

[ continue... ]