ABSTRACT
Nostalgia is an emotion that has meaning associated to a group or community of people. Similar to other type of emotions, nostalgia is learnt and interpreted through social relationships. Nostalgia is associated with the recollection of the past;often something with special meaning to a person or a group of people. Nostalgia is often associated with past positive experiences that brought joy, pleasure, or happiness. It may bring happiness or sadness, but studies have shown that it brings more positive emotions compared to negative emotions. This article focuses on the nostalgia of participating in Thaipusam prior to the pandemic. Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated mostly in places where there is a large group of Tamil Hindus. In Malaysia, Thaipusam is not merely a Hindu festival, it is attended by people of various religious background and culture. This is a qualitative study with data collected by interviewing five women living in Kedah who have attended Thaipusam in Penang for more than four decades. There was no celebration of Thaipusam in 2021 due to the pandemic. For the first time in their lives they were not part of this important festival. Their experiences shows both collective and individual nostalgia. Sharing nostalgia is seen as a way of going through a lonely period in their lives. They also shared how they used online darshan to go through this difficult period. Their experiences may be expressed as personal, but it is often related to their collective identity as a Malaysian Indian and as a member of a minority community.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 outbreak in late 2019 has impacted all nations, societies, and industries globally due to the closure of international borders and strict travel restrictions. As one of the communitybased tourism activities that have been viewed as a tool to stimulate rural community development, the Malaysian homestay program is no exception. This paper aims to explore the COVID-19 impacts, to examine how the homestay operators strived to be resilient and to understand the sustainability strategies adopted by them in reviving the industry post-COVID-19. By using a resilience-based framework, in-depth interviews with 10 homestay operators, one (1) state tourism official, and three (3) Homestay Chairman of the local homestay tourism association were conducted. Findings revealed that COVID-19 has affected the homestay operators' livelihoods, where they experienced a total loss of incomes due to booking cancellations and the complete halt of tourist arrivals. Operators began to re-visit their business models and mapped out the `new norms of hospitality by leveraging technology and social media to promote their businesses online.' All these innovative strategies need to be undertaken collectively and therefore leadership and the formation of strong human resources proved to be the best solutions. Diversifying and venturing into other businesses as second income generation provides a safety net in sustaining their livelihoods. It is suggested that the creation of new business models and pragmatic community tourism policies will essentially determine the homestay program's chances of survival, particularly during crisis or disaster, by transforming it into a much more sustainable form.