Top Ten Things You’ll Likely See on Local TV on Hari Raya

Hari Raya is now in its third day, most folks are still on leave, there’s probably one more day of ‘Raya TV specials’ on air all day. Let’s face it, local TV during Hari Raya hasn’t changed much in the last 20 years. The stars may be younger, and the production slightly better (just slightly) but the staples are still there. Then again it’s the same with Chinese New Year and Christmas too, but anyway. At least they stopped that ‘Rasa Sayang AidilFitri’ kid’s programme in the mornings. And the corresponding ‘Rasa Sayang’ for every other holiday…

Top Ten Things You’ll Likely See on Local TV on Hari Raya

• Last year’s top grossing ‘hit‘ Malaysian movie shown as the ‘blockbuster‘ movie on the first day of Hari Raya (Generally, the word is ‘hit’ and ‘blockbuster’ is used loosely here, even by local standards).
• Some singing and song dedication programme hosted by either Azwan or Aznil. These programmes usually feature stars singing in colourful raya clothes, while doing this like making dodol, lemang, ketupat, or any other Raya-related stuff. And most of the time Aznil or Azwan will be acting like super-annoying brats with their un-funny jibes. God, they’re both like 40 years already, man, and still acting like 18-year olds.
• A slap-stick comedy featuring one or more of the actors from ‘Senario’.
• 15 minutes of our national news dedicated to showing the Hari Raya open houses hosted by our ministers. All with the multi-racial crowd lining up to shake hands with the said minister.
• Another 15 minutes of the news would feature the festive road accidents and accompanying traffic jams on the highways.
• Special ‘konsert Raya‘ at odd times in the day. Usually including special appearances by Indonesian stars.
• Million ringgit heart-warming Raya advertisement by our GLCs. I hope they didn’t increase our tariffs to keep up these ads year after year…
• More singing programs featuring one or more Akademi Fantasia ‘stars’. And / or their former girlfriends / fiancés.
• Special ‘Raya edition’ of the normal TV shows. Doesn’t matter what show it is, there must be a Raya edition for it.
• But don’t worry – the HK and Korean daily serials will still go on. Business as usual, Raya or not. I see they’re showing ‘Winter Sonata’ again.

[tags]Hari Raya, Aidilfitri, TV, Malaysia, Senario[/tags]