You know when Chinese New Year is fast coming when you see the town ablazen with the colour RED. 'Red' is 'ang' in Chinese, meaning 'goodluck'. Thus the use of the colour red in everything they use - house decorations, wear apparels, food decorations, greeting cards and the 'ang pows' or money packets. Also another favourite colour is orange, colour like gold, signifying wealth. Hence the popularity of the various types of oranges and qumquats, generally imported from China.
Melaka town is alive and merry because of the colours in the shops mainly owned by Chinese. As you walk along the streets of China-town, you cannot but get attracted to the varied paraphanelia exhibited. On the image to the right you can see a lion marionette even.
Some huge lanterns . . . .
the popular plastic pussy-willows . . .
delicious qumquats hanging at a Malay trader's stall . . .
night scene - lanterns zig-zaging all down the road . . .
a shop 'on fire' . . . .
even the shopping catalogue reminds you that 'it' is coming.
So to all my Chinese friends, here's wishing you GONG XI FA CHOY!
4 comments:
Hi PHLP. You went to paint the town red, didn't you? Over here, only the supermarts are decorated with red and gold. And of course the song "Kong zi, kong zi, kong zi ....' full blast .
Putri, Indeed we are a blessed country where we get to celebrate and enjoy all the great festivals of the year which includes the CNY.
It look like you are anxious to celebrate it. The CNY is in February. Lady it is still January. BTW have you painted your house red as yet. Have a nice day.
Alang,
Ya lah, Kuantan got Raja, so boleh control lah. Melaka kan Bandar Baba-Nyonya, mestilah merah kor . . ya bukan?
Pak Idrus,
Surprise! Thanks for visiting. You're so funny. . Time flies very fast now, don't you realize? With a blink of the eye, it's another month. Anyway, it's nice to see my Melaka bright and happy. No, my house can't be red, otherwise kena attack dek lembu . . .
You're funny too, PHLP.
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