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The banner was addressed to the dead.
The complaint was about the language.
Ridhuan Tee Abdullah, Muslim convert preacher and Muafakat Nasional deputy president, posted on Threads this week to question why a Hungry Ghost Festival worship banner and two accompanying flags at the Taman Kosas junction in Ampang were not written in Bahasa Melayu.
“Is this China? Where’s the national language position? Doesn’t MPAJ monitor them?” Tee wrote.
Religious freedom is guaranteed, but the country’s agenda must be respected.
The post drew 3,200 likes, 1,200 comments, 508 reposts and 302 shares at the time of writing.
It also drew corrections.
The Flags Were the Same
The Hungry Ghost Festival in 2026 runs from 13 August to 11 September, spanning the seventh lunar month of the Chinese calendar.
The Hungry Ghost Festival — known as Zhong Yuan Jie, when spiritual energies are considered most active — falls on 27 August, marking the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, when spiritual energies and wandering spirits are traditionally believed to be at their peak activity.
The banner at Taman Kosas junction was a notification for that festival.
The flags were the same.
Both are standard public markers used by Chinese communities across Malaysia at this time of year.
Have You Forgotten You Were Chinese?
The response that drew the most attention came from a commenter identifying as Muslim, who informed Tee that the announcement was intended for “the Chinese, not for Melayu celup like himself.”
“It’s intended for the Hungry Ghost Festival,” the commenter wrote.
“Chinese ghosts come out for one month to find the souls of plunderers, rapists, tayar celup… Chinese ghosts want to cleanse the bodies of racists only… Wasalam.”
A second commenter asked whether Ridhuan had forgotten he was Chinese.
Tee converted to Islam at the age of 19, around 1984.
His original Chinese birth name is Tee Chuan Seng, also written in Chinese characters as 郑全行.
A third provided a full translation of the banner — described by the article as a service rendered for the convenience of the presumably Mandarin-illiterate preacher.
His Muslim Brethren
Non-Muslim commenters noted the structural problem with Tee’s complaint.
Written in Chinese means it has nothing to do with other races, one stated.
The message is for the Chinese community. So why on earth should it be written in Malay? Are you expecting the Muslims and Indians to join the hungry ghost festival as well?
Another observed that if the banner had been written in Bahasa Melayu, Tee would likely have accused the organisers of attempting to confuse Muslims.
“Only good at fault-finding,” the commenter wrote.
The most pointed responses, however, came from Muslim commenters.
One person noted that Malays with ordinary cultural literacy recognise the triangle flags as markers of Chinese ritual.
But you’re the one who’s pretending to be confused instead. Have you forgotten how to read Chinese, apek?
A second Muslim commenter stated that deliberately provoking racial and linguistic tension constitutes a sin under Islamic teaching.
A third suggested that, at minimum, Tee could have used Google Translate before posting.
READ MORE: Malaysian Chinese Muslim Convert Calls Non-Muslims “Harbi” And Malay PH Supporters “Barua” After Election
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