DEC 25 — Christmas Day in Malaysia is a public holiday. Offices are closed. Traffic is lighter (in the city, not on the highways!). Many families are already on the road, taking advantage of the school holidays to squeeze in a year-end break. Hotels and homestays are full. RnRs (rest stops on highways) are busy. Airports hum with quiet excitement. It does feel festive, even for those who are not celebrating Christmas itself.

And yet, in many ways, it is also just another day.

Some people are still at work. Hospital staff, security guards, retail workers. And at universities, students are still attending classes. At Universiti Malaya, this week is Week 10, falling squarely in the final third of the semester. Assignments are due. Labs must be completed. Lectures go on, although some may be conducted online. While much of the country slows down, students still show up, notebooks and tablets open, minds trying to stay focused.

Life, uneven as it always is, continues.

We often associate meaning with special days. Celebrations. Milestones. Events that deserve to be circled on calendars. But most of life does not happen on those days. Most of life happens on ordinary mornings, routine afternoons, and evenings that do not announce themselves.

This year, in particular, has moved very fast. It was turbulent in many ways, though we have already begun to describe it as “normal”. Headlines came and went. Difficult things happened. Sad things too. And yet, somehow, we adapted. We learned to move on quickly.  Perhaps too quickly at times. In our rush to keep up, we sometimes forgot to pause long enough to notice where we were standing.

Yes, moving on is important. It has always been one of my recurring themes. Life does not wait, and neither should we. But moving on too fast, without gratitude for the present, risks making everything feel weightless. If every day is treated as something to be endured until the next big moment, then we miss the quiet meaning that holds everything together.  That is why I find myself appreciating normal days more now.  

A normal day means things are working well enough.

Electricity is on. Water runs when you turn the tap. People go about their routines. Children complain about homework, and not enough gadget times. University students attend class even when they would rather be anywhere else. Parents juggle schedules. Friends send short WhatsApp messages instead of long updates. Nothing dramatic happens, and that is precisely the point.  

In a country like ours, where people of different faiths and backgrounds live side by side, Christmas Day does not disrupt the rhythm of daily life. It fits into it. Muslims do not suddenly become someone else. Christians celebrate quietly and meaningfully. Everyone else continues living, resting, travelling, studying.

There is no announcement needed. No performance required. Coexistence has become unremarkable, and that may be the truest sign of maturity.

The miracle is not that we celebrate loudly. The miracle is that life continues gently.

You see, not every meaningful day will feel ‘special’. Not every important moment will look like one. Some days matter simply because they hold everything together. They allow us to rest without collapsing, to celebrate without forgetting, to move forward without rushing.  

As 2026 approaches, I do not wish for grand transformations or dramatic breakthroughs.  Those may come, or they may not. And both are totally fine. What I do hope for is the ability to continue noticing. To remain grateful for days that do not demand attention. To find meaning not only in celebrations, but in continuity.

So today, whether you are celebrating Christmas, travelling for the holidays, attending class, or simply enjoying a slower morning with a roti canai and teh tarik kurang manis, I hope you allow yourself to appreciate the ordinary. The routines. The quiet progress. Because in times like these, a normal day is not nothing.

It is a small miracle.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.