During the 2025 Chinese New Year Celebration at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on Saturday (January 25), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, along with officials from the Chinese government, participated in the ‘dotting of the lion’s eyes‘ ceremony.
Traditionally, this ceremony symbolically awakens the lion, instilling them with the power to bring good fortune, health, and prosperity.
Not everyone is happy that PMX participated in this.
Famous local preacher Firdaus Wong Wai Hung took to his Facebook page to explain how the Prime Minister’s involvement in the ‘eye dotting‘ ceremony is considered to be against Islamic teachings.
The preacher started by explaining what the ‘eye dotting‘ ceremony represents, “According to the National Department of Culture and Arts (JKKN), the purpose of eye-dotting the lion is to bring good luck and prevent misfortune from befalling lion dance performances held in conjunction with inaugurations, celebrations and so on.”
“The Lion Eye Dotting Ceremony is a custom to awaken the spirit of the lion, bring good luck, call for prosperity, health, harmony and happiness and ward off evil,” JKKN shared on its official website.
“According to lion dance expert, 郑铭辉 Zhèng Míng Huī with over 30 years of experience, the eye dotting ceremony means that the lion has been endowed with the energy of heaven and earth, can ward off evil auras and bring good luck,” he added.
However, the preacher, who is a Chinese who converted to Islam, claims that the ceremony involves blasphemy, which is forbidden in Islam.
“The lion dance may be seen as a traditional dance of the Chinese community, but the origin of this lion dance still has elements of superstition that are practised to this day,”
“I believe that it is impossible for PMX as a Muslim to be happy and willing to perform a ceremony that clearly has elements of superstition as reported by the National Department of Culture and Arts (JKKN).
Perhaps he was not given the correct information about the ‘eye-dotting’ ceremony,” he added.
You can check out the clip from the ceremony here:
What do you think about this? Do feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.
