Ironically, although ko-tai performances are founded on religious festivals, the content of the comic sketches and songs is far from sacred. Sketches do not include deities and rarely mention them. Many of the older generation, in fact, see the ko-tai as a crude and meaningless source of amusement, a mere adjunct to a festival and in their own words, “a lot of shouting, joking, and jumping around on stage”.

However, as we have tried to show, the ko-tai is not meaningless. It is also not just a commercial enterprise, as claimed by many of the older generation. In fact, the ko-tai serves many functions. Firstly, it has succeeded in drawing large crowds of the younger Malaysian-born generation to religious festivals. To a certain extent, it has revived interest among the young in these celebrations. As a result, support (in terms of donations) for the festivities have been more extensive since those who come to watch the ko-tai ultimately feel obliged to pray and to contribute in kind to the deity concerned.

Secondly, the ko-tai has provided an opportunity for both the young (who come mainly to watch the ko-tai) and the old (who come to pray as well as to take part in the celebrations) in the community to socialize. On other days, most families gather around the television set. Thus, the ko-tai is not only a means for accomplishing communal celebration of ritual events (as entertainment for the gods) but it is also a means of communication.

Thirdly, the ko-tai serves as an outlet for the younger generation to laugh away their tensions and frustrations through the banters on their families, the authorities, and through ethnic jokes. The audience is also able to release its emotions through verbal responses to the buffoonery on stage.

Fourthly, the ko-tai is didactic and tries to impart morals and standards of behaviour to the younger generation through the sketches based on urban Malaysian settings.