SHAH ALAM: Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah said the Bon Odori festival, which has been held in Malaysia for years, is a cultural festival to strengthen the spirit of goodwill between Malaysians and the Japanese community who work and live here.
He said the Bon Odori festival in Malaysia is more of a cultural festival that showcases the traditional cultures of the Japanese people, including dance, drum performances, lantern ornaments, traditional Japanese clothing and food; as well as local food products.
"It is also promoted as a day to reunite family and friends who have not met for a long time," he said in a Facebook posting by the Selangor Royal Office today.
Sultan Sharafuddin said the festival has become popular as many companies from Japan invested and opened their factory branches in Selangor and it has become a platform for introducing Japanese entertainment culture.
He said he himself had attended the celebration in 2016 accompanied by the Japanese Ambassador to Malaysia and through his observation, the Bon Odori festival did not involve religious ceremonies or rituals (shirk) that could distort the faith of those witnessing it.
He ordered the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) Shah Alam City Council officials to attend the event to get a true picture and ensure the celebration does not have any effect on the Muslim faith.
He did not want certain parties, especially politicians, to use issues that touched on religious sensitivities for personal or popularity gains.
Sultan Sharafuddin also urged them not to arbitrarily label something negatively without in-depth research and fairness in making public statements that involves harmony.
At the same time, he also suggested Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Idris Ahmad to attend the Bon Odori festival on July 16 at Shah Alam National Sports Complex (Panasonic) to understand the differences between religion and culture.
He advised the minister not to use the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) to make statements that are misleading and inaccurate and may affect the department's image and reputation.