On the 28th February 2025, Channel News Asia has a Visual Stories article, an article told through photos, titled, “Connecting with ancestral spirits, Malaysia’s indigenous Mah Meri tribe keeps 200-year-old tradition alive”, an article by Fadza Ishak
When I was young, I enjoyed reading the National Geographic. But when I say read, I mean looking at the photographs. In a world before Google, YouTube, Instagram, the National Geographic photos was the rare doorway into another world. So today’s article, with all the photos that accompany the text, brings back a big dose of nostalgia.
The 200 year old tradition is the Hari Moyang or Ancestor’s Day.
And today in the Daily Monsoon, I, Terence, will have a look at what Hari Moyang, a tradition practised by non-Christians, can mean for Christians. I know people can get very sensitive when people talk about other people’s religion. My aim is to talk about this in a respectful way. Respectful does not mean agreeing with everything another believes.
So, I will not say all religions are true. It’s not logical for anyone to say that. We can say that everyone believes their own religion is true. We cannot say all religions are true. And I am not being mean. If I ask a Muslim, do you think Christianity is true? Of course, he would say no. And no one should expect the Muslim or the Hindu or the Buddhist to say anything but no. The starting premise is we want to know what is true. And in that quest for truth, Christians and everyone else can look at what the Mah Meri people do in their tradition and reflect on our own beliefs.
If you have a sensitive heart, prone to outrage, then just do us all a favour and take this as a trigger warning and go somewhere else.
From the article:
Ancestors’ Day for the Mah Meri community typically occurs after the Chinese New Year.
The interesting line comes after that.
This year, it fell on Feb 2, a date decided by Mr Daiman based on what his ancestors “reveal” to him.
At this point, it would be easy to scoff Mr Daiman. Reveal? How does his ancestors reveal the date to him? And if the ancestors could reveal something to him, wouldn’t it be more beneficial to reveal something more than a date? Say, the winning lottery tickets?
But all religions have some concept of revelation.
When I attend traditional Chinese funerals, they have certain ‘pantangs’ or taboos or practises that everyone must follow. The consequences for not following can be dire, either for the past in the afterlife or for those who are still living. So, everyone fearfully follows the commands to not offend the dead or the spirits or the supernatural realm.
I was struck by the arbitrariness of these fearful ordinances when two elders met.
“The coffin must be 3 inches this way.”
“No, the coffin must be 4 inches that way.”
And the way they decide seems to be based on who can pull rank?
My point is nobody can ask why. Why 3 inches, why 4 inches? We just know if we don’t do it exactly as we are told, literally, there is hell to pay.
Which also begs the question, if the consequences are so catastrophic, then shouldn’t these shamans or elders be a lot more incentified to know what is correct, what is the truth? So many grieving families, following different instructions, possibly breaking how many rules and offending how many spirits, and yet, after the funeral rites are done, everything seems forgotten?
And what about the People of the Book? The Big 3: Judaism, Christianity and Islam? Well, the entire religion is based on revelation. The Torah, Bible and Quran are all claimed to be the Word of God, God’s Revelation to Mankind. And so atheists would attack these religions because they deny divine revelation exists.
They would say something like, “If God is going to reveal something to mankind, would he not reveal something more beneficial like: the cure for cancer, the secret to world peace, or are there aliens in the universe?”
You will note that is not too different a question than the one I posed to the Mah Meri shaman.
The question of revelation, or how do we know what we believe is true, is a serious question for everyone, whether those who believe in a God or those who don’t.
Let’s look at one more aspect of Hari Moyang. From the article:
For the people in Mr Daiman’s community, Ancestors’ Day holds extra significance because they are the only ones who still perform the rituals on the beach, a tradition called puja pantai.
Under the guidance of shamans, participants make their way from the village to the beach, accompanied by music played on a violin and other traditional instruments.
Lo and behold, there is a photo here with the caption:
A shaman in a trance as he made his way to the beach. A man nearby played the violin as part of the procession.
Many in the procession are wearing the traditional outfits. A particular feature of the Mah Meri tribe is they have these huge masks. And the people who wear them are covered in braids? Twine? They look like Rastafarians. That is the most visually striking part of the photo essay. The weird. The different. And if you are jaded, the most tourist attractive. If the Japanese or the Maoris can make their mark in the world with their traditions, why not the Mah Meri?
Then we have the violin. And the Birkenstock slippers. And the football jerseys. To make the procession give an otherworldly feel, we should get rid of all that and have everyone wear giant Rastafarian masks.
But this procession is not targeted for the social media influencer’s Instagram. This is a belief being practised in the modern age. I am not being critical. The church today is different from the church of 2000, 1000, 500, 100, even 50 years ago. Projectors, drums, spotlights, and some churches, have smoke machines. And the people come in to worship God with whatever they wear in the world. Pastors don’t wear the clergyman’s frock. They can wear a tie, or not. Some in the more ‘edgy’ churches, even wear torn jeans. And they speak to cameras livestreaming the service to any part of the world.
In that sense, there is no religion that is ‘pure’ or ‘authentic’ to how it was practised in the past. Somehow there is some aspect of the faith that adapts to the times because the people living in the now, not in some recreation of the past.
But what part of the tradition or the practise remains true to the faith? And who or how do we decide that?
Did someone ask the shaman, “Can I play my violin in the procession?”
It’s a question that is asked in different ways to every religion.
I wonder, how does he answer when someone says, “No. No violins because that is not the way it is done.”
And that is the start of a discussion that every religion I am sure is familiar with.
Just in closing, since we care about what is correct and what is true, all of us should ask ourselves, “Why do I believe what I believe?” and “Why do I practise my belief in this way?”
This is the Daily Monsoon, a podcast where I connect current events to matters of faith. Thanks for listening. Bye bye.