Malagasy Values: Degree of Realism (One)

Malagasy people believe in God, which is called "Zanahary" meaning the
one who creates. Everything we do we always ask Zanahary's help to
pray and look after us. Malagasy people believe that only God
arranges their destiny to be good or bad. Zanahary sees all of their
actions and can punish them for a bad action.
The ancestors of Malagasy people "Ntaolo" have analyzed life and tried
to avoid problems. They are full of wisdom and can transmit notions
that they found better for them.

Malagasy people believe that they have destiny which God made for them
and they cannot avoid their destiny no matter the effort. For
example, when you take an exam, you can study but you will also think
that for a person who succeeds it is their destiny—even if he didn't
make much effort to learn his lesson he will succeed because it is the
desire of god. People accept their destiny because it should happen
and cannot be controlled. In addition, Malagasy people have gotten
from their ancestors "Ntaolo" that they have to respect and help each
other.

If you do something bad, God will punish you for the bad thing you
have done. There is a Malagasy proverb which says, "Ny tody tsy misy
fa ny atao no miverina" meaning "For fear of bad consequence we help
each other." The aim of the ancestors is to make the society more
stable and secure—to avoid stealing, for example. Malagasy people
are poor so they have to help each other to survive.

As a conclusion, Malagasy people believe in God and rely on him to
solve their destiny that is dictated by God and which cannot be
controlled by him or herself. Malagasy people are helpful and they
believe that God will punish them for their bad actions. These
beliefs make the society stronger, more secure and full of
respect—even if globalization has changed some of the thinking of the
young Malagasy people nowadays.