KUALA LUMPUR: A woman has taken to social media to voice frustration over purported double standards in shopping malls for not showcasing Deepavali decorations.
In a Facebook post by user @Ashley Pang on the Malaysia Education Info (And Homeschooling too) group page, she questioned why a nearby mall had no Deepavali related items on sale while Christmas items were already available.
In her post, she said: "Went for grocery shopping at a local mall nearby my house. Saw Christmas items on sale. But nothing for Deepavali, not even any deco. Something is not right! Our society is too commercialised! Christmas items on sale in Nov but nothing for Deepavali!"
She also said that Halloween decorations and events were being planned for October, but no similar arrangements were made for Deepavali.
In the comments section, many individuals pointed out that this issue is not new and occurs every year, despite numerous reports to mall management.
User @Jeet Grewal commented: "Nothing new, it's the same every year. We are 3rd class citizens in our own country."
Another Facebook user, @Mimi Rahim said that Halloween is not an official celebration in Malaysia like Hari Raya or Chinese New Year, and she expressed her disappointment that the nearby mall had not yet displayed any Deepavali decorations.
However, there were some comments saying that malls they frequent have consistently displayed Deepavali decorations for years. Some even provided recent photos of these decorations.
"Cheras Leisure Mall has Deepavali decorations every year. We were there yesterday, and my son loved the decoration so much that he wanted a photo of himself with it," said user @Yee Ying Tan.
User @Benjamin Wong said: "One or two weeks ago I went to Jaya Shopping Centre in Section 14 (Petaling Jaya) and they had an event and were selling a lot of Deepavali clothes and stuff. I think it depends on which mall also."