They may be 6000 kilometres apart, but both Brunei and Tajikistan have put a halt to widespread Christmas festivities this year.
The small country of Brunei, located on the island of Borneo in southeast Asia, has banned public celebrations of the Christian holiday. Festive greetings, decorations, and even Santa hats are not allowed in public.
Anyone who breaches the ban could face up to five years in jail.
"These enforcement measures are...intended to control the act of celebrating Christmas excessively and openly, which could damage the aqidah (beliefs) of the Muslim community," Brunei’s Ministry of Religious Affairs released in a statement.
The statement also added any public celebrations could “affect" the "Islamic faith” of Muslims in Brunei.
However non-Muslims, who make up almost a third of the 420,000 population, are allowed to celebrate in their own communities – so long as the details are not disclosed to Muslims.
Brunei, which has enforced similar bans in recent year, has seen a backlash from many citizens - who took to social media under the #mytreedom, posting photos of Christmas celebrations.
Meanwhile, Tajikistan has also tightened restrictions around the religious holiday, which have been in place in some forms since the Soviet Union era.
Christmas trees, decorations in schools and universities, and “the use of fireworks, festive meals, gift-giving and raising money” have been scrapped.
While elaborately designed trees have been ropped up on the main squares of the major cities of other ex-Soviet states, a tree will only appear fleetingly before New Year’s in Tajikistan's capital, Dushanbe. It is expected to be removed early in 2016.
Tajikistan is a majority-Muslim, but secular country, which is divided over the benefits of Soviet and Russian influences on daily life.
A man dressed as the Russian equivalent to Santa Claus, “Father Frost”, was stabbed to death three years ago outside his Dushanbe home.
“Father Frost” was also banned from appearing on television screens in 2013.
