Festivals in Malaysia

The setting is glorious for this, the 30th annual International Dragon Boat Racing Tournament, in Penang, Malaysia. Surrounded on three sides by bluey-green jungle covered mountains - the fourth side a breathtaking view down to the local resort - the reservoir is as still as anyone could hope for for a rowing competition

Gawai is an annual festival held every June in the longhouses of lowland tribes in Sarawak. It is a national event, promoted by local brews and municipalities, but in reality everyone leaves the cities empty to return home or visit friends. Gawai is a harvest festival, a New Year celebration, religious ritual and family reunion all at the same time.

As an avid attendee of matsuri (traditional festivals) across my adopted home country of Japan, I had thought there was little to touch them in terms of color, vivacity and raw animism. Until I went to Malaysia's Thaipusam festival, that is.