Hundreds of thousands of Malaysians thronged temples and churches yesterday to pray for peace and prosperity.

It was a rare occasion this year as the Tamil Hindus and Sinhalese New Year, Vaisakhi and Good Friday were observed on the same day.

Tamil Hindus thronged temples nationwide to usher in the day – called Viya this year. Many of them were there before 5am, to pray on their own and to wait for official prayers by temple priests.

Meanwhile, the Sinhalese Buddhists in Kuala Lumpur went to the Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields to pray.

Sikhs gathered at gurdwaras (temples) throughout the country for Vaisakhi which marks the anniversary of the creation of Khalsa by the 10th Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh.

For the Christians, yesterday was Good Friday – the day Jesus Christ was crucified, before his resurrection on Easter Sunday. Thousands thronged churches for Good Friday services.

And not forgetting the devoted Muslims who went to mosques across the country for their routine Friday afternoon prayers.

It was such a holy day :) It's heartening to see people of different faith and religions celebrating a day by doing religious rituals or gathering for a good cause.

And on this holy day, I was... at work :p !! Hello, if not who will pay my bills ar?! Well at least after that, I did not join the '9 to 5 cult' who chants "TGIF!" then head to clubs in town immediately after work to pay tribute to the oh-so-holy spirits: Scottish whisky Chivas/ J. Walker/ all the Glens, Swedish vodka Absolut, American whiskey J. Daniels, Bacardi from the Bahamas etc. I went home to watch "The Power of Compassion" - His Holiness the Dalai Lama's Public Talk at the SkyDome, Toronto Canada on DVD. It was a good end to the Holy Day for me with the "reinforcement" by a "simple buddhist monk" who believes in religious harmony (including respecting the freethinkers), world peace and a better world & society for ALL of us.

Rejoice for being a Malaysian, staying in a very safe and peaceful country! Pak Lah, make sure you keep it that way ok :D !

"I believe that the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness. That is clear. Whether one believes in religion or not, whether one believes in this religion or that religion, we all are seeking something better in life. So, I think the very motion of our life is towards happiness. "

~ HIS HOLINESS THE XIVth DALAI LAMA ~