Second Assignment: The Spring Festival

In every corners of our world , celebrations and festivals are a common part of our life. We have festivals, ceremonies and celebrations to commemorate some big events in our life (or in the lifes of our forefathers). We also celebrate to remember our endeavours and efforts in facing hardship. We,too celebrate for our future success. All in all, we celebrate festivals mainly for our own pleasures and desire, besides breaking the daily routine of our life.

As a Chinese living in Malaysia, it is indeed the time of the year for me. Same goes to the other Chinese as well. It is during this time of the year that my whole family is able to gather together and and have a long list of exciting activities. This includes having a Reunion Dinner during the eve of Chinese New Year. The night before the new year, all the family members will gather and and have a great feast which includes more than 5 dishes . The dishes must not leave out fish, chickens and ducks. These dishes symbolise the properity that had been enjoyed by the whole family throughout the year and the better years ahead.

Besides the younger generations will recieve "ang pau" from the older ones. The giving and recieving of the "ang pau" depend on the status of an individual. If that individual is married even at a very young age, "ang pau" must also be given to the children. On the other hand, the elderly are not expected to give any "ang pau" but recieve it from their sons and daughters.

The next event will be visiting my friends and relatives. This is mostly done on the first 5 day of the new year celebration. Besides there common practices like Lion Dances and playing firecrackers are still very popular practices in Kuching.
Other events like ancestral worship are practices that are being forgotten. Most Chinese here are Buddhist or Christian and this practiceis already not common.

Another country that celebrate Chinese New Year is the United Kingdom. The celebration there is as vigorious as in Kuching. The Chinatown will be specially decorated and there are cultural stalls, food and lion dance displays. Shaftesbury Avenue will become 'Hong Kong in London Chinatown' with a stage featuring performances by local Chinese artists. The official opening ceremony is at 12 noon in Trafalgar Square. This is followed by performances by artists from the Qinghai and Kunming provinces in China, as well as Chinese dragons, lions and Chinese acrobatics. It all ends back in Trafalgar Square with a firework display. The atmosphere is only filled with a mild air of the celebration but the celebration onlyu lasted for a day where asa in Kuching, it lasted for 15 days. However it is enough to remind the residents there that the Spring Festival is in the air.