Why Festivals Are About Showing Off, Not Unity

Festivals in Malaysia are marketed as moments of togetherness, harmony, and shared joy. In reality, they’ve quietly evolved into competitive exhibitions of lifestyle performance. Unity is the tagline. Showing off is the main event.

Once upon a time, festivals meant visiting relatives, sharing food, and slowing down. Today, they mean curated outfits, staged homes, and social media documentation so aggressive you’d think the celebration didn’t count unless the internet approved it. Before the greetings come the photos. Before the prayers come the mirror selfies. Before connection comes content.

Every major festival now follows the same script.
New clothes—preferably colour-coordinated.
House makeover—even if the fridge is empty next month.
Food spread large enough to feed a village—half of which will be wasted.
Caption: “Simple celebration.”

Simple? Nothing simple about financial stress wrapped in aesthetic confidence.

Festivals have become visual scoreboards. Who hosted better. Who dressed better. Who travelled further. Who posted earlier. Unity is reduced to matching outfits and forced smiles, while real conversations are postponed because everyone is busy checking views. People sit in the same room scrolling through how other people are celebrating. Together, but separate.

The irony is painful. Festivals were meant to bridge differences, yet they now amplify comparison. Those who can’t afford to perform quietly withdraw. Those who don’t want to participate feel left out. Celebration becomes pressure. Joy becomes obligation.

We still talk about unity, but practice hierarchy—who has more, who looks happier, who appears more successful. The festival ends, the decorations come down, and the emptiness settles in, masked by comments and likes that stop arriving after 48 hours.

Festivals shouldn’t feel like audits. They shouldn’t demand proof. They shouldn’t reward performance over presence.

Until Malaysians remember that celebration is about connection, not competition, festivals will remain beautifully decorated reminders that we gathered—not to unite—but to be seen.