CAP urges devotees to break just one coconut to seek God's grace

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) has told Hindu devotees that it was sufficient to break just one coconut to seek God's grace or thank the Lord for fulfilling their vows during Thaipusam.

Its education officer, N. V. Subbarow noted that many devotees were ill-informed of the reasons behind the coconut-breaking ceremony.

"They think that the more coconuts they break, more luck would be showered upon them.

"They break thousands of coconuts every year, which ultimately end up in landfills and are burned, eventually turning into fumes which pollute the environment," he said in a statement here Friday.

He said the money used to buy thousands of coconuts could be better channeled to fulfill the various needs of a fraction of the communities which lived below poverty-level.

Generally, coconut breaking symbolises the smashing of one's ego, revealing the purity, and for banishing obstacles in life to begin a clearer and brighter future.