GEORGE TOWN, Aug 27 ― He may be Australian but writer Keith Hockton probably knows more about the festivals in Malaysia than many Malaysians. After all, he spent three years researching them.
Malaysia ranked seventh for countries with the most public holidays and Hockton's book, Festivals of Malaysia, is a good guide to all these festivals and holidays celebrated by different communities in different states all year long.
The 55-year-old banker-turned-writer moved to Penang under the Malaysia My Second Home programme in 2008 and one of the first things he noticed were the number of festivals here celebrated by different communities.
Next, he noticed how even Malaysians themselves do not know about some of these festivals, particularly if the festival is from a different culture.
This was when the idea for a book on the festivals of Malaysia was conceived together with his friend and business partner Marcus Langdon.
"I met Marcus when we first arrived in Malaysia about five years ago and we conceived the idea of writing the festival book together several years ago. We thought it would be a really cool book to do," he said.
After that, Keith spent three years travelling all over the country, including East Malaysia, and going to various communities to talk to them about their festivals.
"I think, to me, the reason for writing the book was to educate Malaysians more than anything else about each other's festivals in hopes that, in finding out about each other's festivals, that there would be a unity there, that it would actually kind of draw the neighbours back together," he said of the purpose behind his tireless work in putting together the book.
After gathering all the stories and facts on the festivals, he wrote it all down and next, it was another round of going back to the communities to ensure that what he wrote was accurate.
"We have to make sure the facts and details are correct so we go back to the communities and get them to look through it to make sure what I'd written is correct," he said.
What resulted was a complete book of festivals, some still being celebrated while some are in danger of being forgotten, complete with colourful pictures of each festival.
One of the lesser known festivals mentioned in the book is the Pesta Mandi Safar which he said is a Malay festival that is dying out and may be forgotten in future.
"A lot of those Malay festivals that used to take place in the 50s, 60s, 70s, even 80s, they have all disappeared or they are being slowly phased out because they are deemed not Islamic enough," he said.
Therefore, the book is not only to showcase the festivals held in Malaysia but also a record of festivals that may disappear over time.
According to Langdon, it is something that's rightfully Malaysian but it is also for visitors.
“I mean, for example, it’s the Hungry Ghost Festival now and visitors coming here, they don’t know what it’s about so this book is good to inform them what it’s about,” he said, adding that it is also a great historic record of the festivals for locals too.
Festivals of Malaysia, distributed by Hockton and Langdon's business venture Entreport Publishing, is now available for sale in major bookstores.
In conjunction with George Town Festival this month, excerpts from the book are being showcased at the central atrium of Gurney Plaza until September 22.
