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Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali

As Kuala Lumpur is home to a multi-racial community, events and festivals are a major highlight for the city. The biggest celebrations are the Chinese New Year, Hari Raya and Deepavali with other small, traditional occasions in between.

Chinese New Year

The Chinese New Year is the most important ethnic festival for the Chinese in Kuala Lumpur, as well as the whole of Malaysia. It celebrates the first day of the lunar calendar, and lasts for 15 days. The prelude to the festival is filled with much fan-fare, shopping and events around the city. Chinese around the country will eagerly prepare their homes for the big celebrations and reunions set to take place. As most Chinese in Kuala Lumpur are born in other states, the week before the first day of Chinese New Year is a massive exodus of people from the city to the outstation towns from which they were born ad where their parents still reside.

On the eve of Chinese New Year, the big reunion takes places as relatives gather together in their birthplace locations, usually in their parents’ or grandparents’ homes to catch up and have a feast. The whole house becomes a din of laughter and chatter from adults and children alike. During this time, red is an auspicious colour, symbolising prosperity and luck. This is birthed from an ancient Chinese legend of a monster that terrorised ancient China, which was finally scared away by the colour red and loud noises. Hence, homes will be decorated with red items such as lanterns and firecrackers while the Chinese will deck themselves in traditional red costumes.

Firecrackers are also an important part of the celebrations as it was used to scare away the mythological creature in ancient China. When the clock strikes past midnight, traditional Chinese firecrackers, which are shaped like a massive string of dynamite-like crackers, are lit and the extremely loud explosions are an auspicious start to the New Year! This is also a time where married folks will give ‘Ang Pows’, red packets filled with money, to their own and other children of their relatives and friends.

Many corporations and shopping malls as well as rich homes will hold ‘Lion Dances’ to usher in the celebration during the week that ensues. Lion Dances are a traditional Chinese dance using men clad in a colourful ‘Lion’ costume who will dance to the tune of huge, loud drums and climb poles to pluck an Ang Pow from a high spot.

Finally, the 15th day of the Chinese New Year is called Chap Goh Meh. This is a traditional Chinese form of Valentine’s Day, where unmarried Chinese women will toss tangerines into lakes, rivers and seas in the hopes of finding good partners. While this practice is most famous in Penang, Kuala Lumpur does have its fair share of lakes where Chinese women frequent to toss tangerines. Over time, it has even grown to become a contest where men in boats will try to scoop as many tangerines as they can as the women toss them from above into the waters.

Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival is also known as the Moon Cake or Lantern Festival, originating from a time of conflict in 14th-Century China. While Chinese in different countries celebrate it with distinct traditions and practices, all agree that the festival commemorates the summer harvest season of their ancestors, and also the fall of Mongolian rulers in China after a successful rebellion. On the day of the uprising, the rebel leaders delivered thousands of moon cakes to homes scattered around the city, each containing a letter stating the time and date to rise up. On the night of the Moon Festival, the rebellion began and succeeded in driving off the Manchurian oppressors.

In Malaysia, the Chinese celebrate this festival by purchasing and consuming moon cakes with different flavours, including some outrageous ones like durian and coffee! So popular are these moon cakes that many hotels, if not all, stock their own freshly-made pieces for guests to savour. Hotels and resorts around the country take this opportunity to outdo each other with quality moon cakes using creative and innovative flavours and designs.

From the traditional red bean or lotus paste to the innovative ice cream versions, moon cakes are a once-a-year delight. At night on the actual festival, children take to the streets walking around with paper lanterns shaped like animals, vehicles or the traditional Chinese ‘Tan Lok’ foldable lanterns.

Deepavali

The Indians in Malaysia, predominantly Hindus, celebrate this festival which is also called ‘Diwali’ or Festival of Lights. During this day, Hindus offer prayers of thanksgiving and conduct cleansing rituals in temples and household altars. To prepare for the celebration, Hindus conduct a massive spring-cleaning of their homes, adding decorative designs made out of coloured rice and placing them on walls and floors. Their homes will also be lit with oil lamps, place strategically around different areas especially on the porch and balcony.

Temples, on the other hand, will be lavishly coated in flowers and offerings of fruit and coconut milk are placed at altars by devotees. Some devotees prepare for this festival by going on a fast or vegetarian diet.
Deepavali is also a time to sample delicious Indian delicacies such as sweetmeats, rice puddings and the ever-popular murukku, a type of fried flour cookie.

On the morning of Deepavali, many Hindus take an oil bath before heading to the temples for prayers and ceremonial rites. The rest of the day, they usually open their houses to guests and call friends or neighbours to feast on delicious Indian food.

Hari Raya
Muslims around the world celebrate Hari Raya, which literally translates to ‘Celebration Day, after a month of holy fasting, which is referred to as Ramadhan month. During the fasting period, many bazaars which are a form of night market called ‘pasar malam’ will be held each evening in different places around the country. These bazaars sell mostly traditional Malay delicacies, as the Muslims come here to purchase and prepare food for the breaking of fast at 7pm each day in October. Besides these bazaars, many hotels will provide great dining opportunities to feast on Malay cuisine for the breaking of fast.

When the month of fasting ends and Hari Raya finally begins, it is a time of reunion and celebration among the Malay Muslim kinfolk. Families will visit graves and children will seek forgiveness from elders. Many of them hold ‘Open Houses’ to welcome guests and friend to enjoy their celebration with food and cheer. The Hari Raya celebrations last well into the end of the month, giving visitors a fascinating insight into the Malay culture and the imprint of the Muslim religion upon it.

Malaysia’s National Day

On August 31, 1957, the Union Jack was lowered and the Malayan flag hoisted up the flagpole at Dataran Merdeka field in Kuala Lumpur, signalling the birth of a new nation. After centuries of internal strife between warring states, Portuguese, Dutch and British colonisation as well as World War II, Malaya, as Malaysia was known then, received her independence from the British. About six years later, Malaysia was created when Sabah and Sarawak joined in the coalition.

During the eve of National Day, the city becomes a riot of colours. Local celebrities and singers take stage in various parts of Kuala Lumpur with free open-air concerts. And when midnight ticks by, fireworks shoot up the sky to mark National Day, carpeting the city sky in explosions of light and sound. In the morning, a parade used to take place past the Sultan Abdul Samad building each year, but now every state takes turns to host the parade.

Christmas

The Christmas Celebration is not about shopping, snowmen, jingle bells, pine trees, presents and most certainly not Santa Claus. It is actually to remember the birth of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the world as the Bible states. On the eve, Christians around the city and across Malaysia will gather together to have close-knit dinners. Some church groups will organise carolling and sings songs to their neighbourhood while on Christmas Day, they will visit their churches to have praise and worship.

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