Just over a month and a half after New Year's Eve, most of the New Year's resolutions are likely to have been forgotten. But why not just make new ones or pick up the old ones again? At least here Chinese New Year (CNY) would be a good excuse. In Penang, where the majority of the population is Chinese, this festival is celebrated extensively. This is already clear from the fact that already a month before streets and houses are decorated. Traditional red lanterns are gradually being replaced by brightly flashing LED string lights, which more often convey the impression of kitsch instead of modernity. But honestly, I did not have to wait for the decoration to catch the eye of CNY. Already on my arrival in July I was told about the holidays. Rarely I experience my inhabitants as persistently as on this topic.
The night before CNY (Chinese New Year's Eve?) we met volunteers to attend a Buddhist ceremony in a temple. However, since I am not able to understand Hokkien or Mandarin, I cannot judge whether something was actually prayed about the New Year or not. After that, the temple complex was surrounded with candles by the devotees and us. Everyone put their light on the matching Chinese zodiac sign after three rounds. I was surprised that almost everyone in our group knew his sign of the zodiac.
As said before, CNY is one of the bigger, if not the biggest festival in Penang. Numerous tourists from Malaysia, Singapore or China come to see the festivities. In the foreground is the gathering of the family. Certain rituals and phrases are also practiced in order to have prosperous new year. But thanks to globalization, more and more Western companies are finding their way into CNY's own world. For example, McDonald's offers Prosperity burgers for the New Year, but Ferrero's Rocher is also a bestseller. The round golden balls fit perfectly into the idea of luck with their form and color. Countless mandarins also find their way to the PCH.
Another type of luck is transported in small red envelopes. The Ang-Pows are equipped with small amounts of money and serve as a gift for the family. But not only family members receive Ang-Pows. It is also common to give the envelopes as a kind of donation / gift for needy people and sometimes to those who take care of them. So in the first few days of CNY nearly 150 Ang-Pows have wandered into my possession. That's why from the beginning I was given the advice not to leave the project during my days off. The concern of the residents you could not get a red envelope is quite big. But I am also pleased when we go to open house events, because you also see the Prime Minister and the governor of Penang at such events. In the evening, fireworks are set off that are sometimes bigger and smaller. We spent free time together with a Chinese family on New Year's Eve and the other evening visited the Kek Lok Si Temple, which is brightly lit at this time. Although the disparity between colorful LED fairy lights and traditional lanterns can also be seen here, that is probably just the passage of time. No one wants to take the electricity bill anyway. Maybe reducing the lights would be a good New Year's resolution for the locals.
