[2][3] For the sake of convenience, Malaysian media took to combining "kongsi" (from the traditional Chinese New Year greeting, gong xi fa cai) and "raya", the Malay word for "celebration", which is often used to denote the Muslim Eid ul-Fitr festival ("Hari Raya Aidilfitri").
As the Hindu festival of Deepavali also occasionally occurs around Eid ul-Fitr, the portmanteau of DeepaRaya has also come into common usage.
Malaysia's national-level Kongsi Raya celebrations are now held in Johor's Danga Bay where they draw up to 300,000 people.
[4] A related portmanteau to Kongsi Raya is kongsi puasa, referring to some non-Muslims who also observe the traditional Muslim fast during Ramadhan.
This includes PAS, a major opposition political party, which has expressed concern that the practice of celebrating Kongsi Raya might negatively affect Muslims' aqidah (faith).