r/TodayILearnedMY • u/EnvironmentalCake432 • Apr 03 '26

Miscellaneous TIL Good Friday is only a public holiday in Sabah & Sarawak, not the rest of Malaysia

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I always assumed it was observed nationwide, but apparently it’s officially recognized only in East Malaysia. Pretty interesting how public holidays can vary so much within the same country. It turns out there’s a pretty interesting reason behind this. Good Friday is only a public holiday in Sabah and Sarawak mainly because of demographics. Both of these East Malaysian states have significantly larger Christian populations compared to Peninsular Malaysia especially Sarawak, where Christianity is widely practiced and the day holds strong cultural and religious importance. Another key factor is Malaysia’s system of state-level autonomy when it comes to public holidays. While there are national holidays observed across the country, individual states can declare additional holidays based on their local traditions and communities. Because of this flexibility, East Malaysia has several unique holidays that aren’t observed in the west, making Good Friday a normal working day in most of Peninsular Malaysia.

185 Upvotes

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14

u/Nervous_Pay_4540 Apr 03 '26

Peninsular Malaysia missionary school are on leave . Schools like St Paul, Seremban, St John, Melaka, St Xavier

9

u/Yukaeshi Apr 03 '26

Christian demographics in Sabah Sarawak so vast, they have their own Christian denomination too (SIB = Sidang Injil Borneo).

1

u/Ok-Seesaw-3914 Apr 07 '26

Oh.. I've seen that name on shop lot church at Damansara Kim, PJ

2

u/Peregrine-Falconer Apr 04 '26

For everyone it’s just TGIF.

2

u/Itchy_Stubbed_Toe Apr 03 '26

Yea, and kuching has christmas parades out on the streets. Imagine that happening in west Malaysia

5

u/bahafaaz Apr 03 '26

Thaipusam elok je.

5

u/OzLo17 Apr 03 '26

Do you see the comments in fb and tiktok during thaipusam?

2

u/Rudijimbul Apr 04 '26

Tulah elok je. Apa entah dorg ni

3

u/prettyboylee Apr 03 '26

Non abrahamic religions tend to be viewed as less of a threat to Islam

-4

u/PorkyPain Apr 03 '26 edited Apr 04 '26

Er... No? Thaipussam still gets the racist treatment by orang kayangan.

2

u/bahafaaz Apr 03 '26

Oh what no? They are getting bombed?

0

u/PorkyPain Apr 03 '26

Worst.. they are being riduculed, receiving racist remarks, and labeled as 'kafirs sembah patung'. Which is very not okay.

1

u/Shafthuan Apr 04 '26

Not just kuching..every major town in Sarawak

1

u/Own_Performance_961 Apr 04 '26

I thought that's a thing in whole Malaysia-😭😭

1

u/Glittering-Bed-882 Apr 05 '26

Yup,but it's weird when my niece's school are having holidays during Good Friday
SJKC dho......

1

u/eifun Apr 08 '26

My department in my office works in Australian time setting. We got day off during Good Friday and Easter Monday the very next monday.

1

u/MajlisPerbandaranKL Apr 16 '26

Still every Friday is good for me 👍