There are currently around 45 Armenians left in Malaysia and they celebrate Christmas Day on January 6.
The reasons for the different dates go back to the earliest days of Christianity. Back then, the religion was trying to gain converts. One way of doing this was to change the dates of Christian festivals to take over pagan festivals.
Until the fourth century, the birth of Christ was celebrated throughout Christendom on January 6.
Pagans who had not converted to Christianity celebrated the end of each gloomy northern winter and the rebirth of the Sun with a feast called Yul on December 25.
In order to commandeer the date for Christianity, the Roman Catholic Church declared December 25 to be Christ’s official birthday, relegating January 6 to a celebration of the lesser feast of Epiphany.
This usurping of the pagan Yul festival date explains why Christmas is sometimes still referred to as yuletide in English, with tide being related to the Old English word for time.
Most Christian countries quickly adopted December 25 as Christmas Day.
However, in Armenia, Christians felt no obligation to move their Christmas Day and continued to celebrate it on January 6. Over a dozen other Orthodox Christian countries, including Russia, Ukraine, and Egypt, also stuck with the original date.
Armenia is a small, mountainous, landlocked country, yet Armenians have traditionally emigrated in large numbers and established communities all over the world.
Many ethnic Armenians came to Malaya under the British. Particularly numerous in Penang, they were renowned as innovative businessmen.
The Sarkies brothers, who built and ran the luxury Eastern and Oriental Hotel in Penang in 1885 and went on to build the Strand Hotel in Rangoon, and Raffles Hotel in Singapore became rich. Their hotels still stand and are renowned for their deluxe accommodation.
However, by 1945, records suggest there were no Armenians left in Malaya, all of them having moved on.
In the new millennium, a fresh mini wave of Armenians arrived in Malaysia and settled in Kuala Lumpur.
Emil Petrosyan leader of the Armenian community in the city tells FMT that this small diaspora of less than 50 continues to observe Christmas in January.
“Back in Armenia, everyone attends the Armenian Apostolic Church with their families to celebrate the holy Christmas day,” Emil says. “But here in Malaysia, we don’t have a church.”
Despite this, the community found a way to preserve their traditions.
“In 2017, we held a service at the Russian Orthodox Archangel Michael Church in Kuala Lumpur for the first time. Armenians from Indonesia also came to celebrate with us.”
However, the Armenian community in Malaysia is now shrinking once more as youngsters migrate to countries like Australia and New Zealand. Consequently, Christmas celebrations are now smaller and conducted at home.
Although few Armenians remain in Malaysia, that has not stopped them from practising their Christmas traditions within their community.
“A lot of what we eat during the feast is symbolic,” says Emil. “For example, red wine represents the blood of Christ.
“Some Armenians fast, not eating meat for a week, so that on the big day, we receive the feast with a ‘pure’ stomach,” he explains. “We break our fast with a meal of rice pilaf with raisins, which we call chamichov plav.”
Like many of their traditions, this meal is loaded with religious symbolism.
The rice symbolises the people of the world, and the raisins symbolise Christ and the apostles and others who spread Christianity. They also eat fish and bread, and for dessert a delicious Armenian pudding made from mixed nuts.”
This small band of Christians hold their beliefs tight.
“We are spiritual folk, and Christmas holds great significance for us,” says Emil.
“Regardless of where we are, our Armenian traditions and customs help us preserve our culture.”
However, at this time of year, one can’t help wondering whether the community’s younger children aren’t worrying that Santa Claus might not have got the memo this year.
On Christmas Eve, which is January 5 of course, if you meet an Armenian family out making last-minute preparations for the big day, be sure to wish them a Merry Christmas in their own language: “Shnorhavor Surb Tsnund.”