Chap Goh Meh open house

Chap Goh Meh open house promises lots of excitement

GET ready to show off your best nyonya kebaya during the Penang Chap Goh Meh open house at the Esplanade in George Town on Feb 24.

The kebaya contest, open to those aged 12 and above, will be held at 8.30pm. Entry is free.

Contest coordinator Michael Cheah said participants would be asked a few questions when they parade on stage.

“The first prize winner will take home RM1,000, a bouquet and a tiara,” he told a press conference at the State Chinese (Penang) Association in Perak Road.

Cheah said the first and second runners-up would win RM600 and RM300 respectively and a bouquet each.

There will also be two consolation prizes of RM100 each.

He said entry forms could be obtained from the association’s office (Tel: 04-2269560) from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Entries close on Monday.

Association president Datuk Tan Gin Soon said the contest was aimed at encouraging young people to understand the Baba and Nyonya culture.

“There will also be Baba and Nyonya dancing and singing performances at the open house,” he said.

He said a six-member group, The Main Wayang Company, which is Singapore’s first Peranakan cultural arts and theatre company, would be performing at the event.

Penang Tourism Development and Cultural Committee chairman Danny Law Heng Kiang said the Lions Club would be organising the orange tossing ritual at the open house and would be selling 3,500 oranges at RM1 each at the venue.

He said the programme for the open house to be held from 6pm to 11pm also included a giant snake dance, LED dragon dance, lion dance and Chingay performances.

Food lovers are in for a treat. Besides the free food which will be served from 8pm to 9.30pm, food stalls selling popular Penang hawker fare will be set up.

The open house, which is expected to draw 10,000 visitors, will culminate with a 10-minute fireworks display at 11pm.

For details, call the Penang Tourism Development and Culture Committee hotline at 016-4110000 or the office at 04-6505136.

~News courtesy of The Star~

Happy Chinese New Year

Chap Goh Meh merriment

Chap Goh Meh merriment

THE Chinese New Year period in Penang is set to end with a bang on Chap Goh Meh on Feb 24 at the Esplanade.

The state government will hold a Chap Goh Meh open house there from 6pm to 11pm. A 10-minute fireworks display will light up the sky at 11pm.

State Tourism Development and Culture Committee chairman Danny Law said there would be the customary tossing of mandarin oranges and a decorated bus ferrying a dondang sayang troupe.

“Guest can enjoy performances by four lion dance troupes on stilts and a Baba Nyonya group from Singapore.

“Last year’s celebration recorded a participation of about 15,000 people.

“We expect more than 20,000 people to attend this year’s open house,” he told a press conference in Komtar.

Law said there would also be chingay, dragon dance and cultural performances.

Besides free food which will be served from 8pm to 9.30pm, he said there would be more than 20 food stalls selling popular Penang haw-ker fare throughout the duration of the event.

He said the Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce was sponsoring the fireworks display.

~News courtesy of The Star~

Snake temple bracing for huge turnout

Snake temple bracing for huge turnout

Thousands of visitors are expected to throng the snake temple in Bayan Lepas on the sixth day of the first Chinese lunar month to mark the birthday of the resident deity ‘Chor Soo Kong’.

“We expect more visitors for the second day of the Ban Ka Lan Snake Festival.

“There will be snake charmers, a snake dance, cultural dances, chingay and stilt walking,” said organising chairman Cheah Cheng Ean.

The two-day festival begins on Thursday.

The snake dance will feature a 15.5m ‘green serpent’.

Other highlights on Thursday include the Chiah Hoay (flame-watching ceremony) by various Chor Soo Kong temples, lion dance performances and fireworks.

“This is the first time a festival of this kind is being held in Penang,” said state Tourism Development and Cultural Committee chairman Danny Law Heng Kiang at press conference yesterday.

About 60 food stalls will also be set up during the two-day festival.

Proceeds will go to the Mount Miriam Cancer Hospital.

Entrance to the festival is free.

Call Tan Lye Hock at 012-4860211 or Cheah at 012-4331918 for information.

~News courtesy of The Star~

Kek Lok Si Temple adds 200 parking bays

Kek Lok Si Temple adds 200 parking bays for visitors

An additional 200 car park bays are ready to meet the increase in visitors to the Kek Lok Si Temple this Chinese New Year.

The new car park at the foot of the temple in Air Itam can accommodate more than 100 cars and about 20 tour buses while an open space opposite the RHB Bank in the nearby Jalan Pasar can park more than 100 cars.

Temple trustee Datuk Steven Ooi said those who park at both places could use a new trail from the car park at the foot of the temple up to the temple.

He added that visitors could also park at the 600 parking bays in the temple grounds.

Speaking during a brief visit to the new car park at the foot of the temple by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng yesterday, Ooi said visitors would be charged RM3 per entry at the foothill car park.

“The money collected will be used for the upkeep and maintenance of the car park.

“The RM3 daily parking fee is for the 15 days of Chinese New Year,” he said.

Ooi said that on other days, visitors could park at the new car park for free except on weekends and public holidays, when they would be charged RM2 per entry.

He said the car park would have a landscaped garden, a cable car facility and a tortoise pond once it was fully completed next year.

~News courtesy of The Star~

Kek Lok Si all aglow to greet CNY

Kek Lok Si all aglow to greet CNY

Visitors soaking in the sights of the brightly lit Kek Lok Si Temple in Air Itam, Penang.

The 122-year-old Kek Lok Si Temple in Air Itam turned into an fairyland of sorts as thousands of colourful lanterns set the temple aglow.

An air of festivity pervaded the temple’s official lighting ceremony as thousands of visitors flocked from near and far to witness the annual event aimed at welcoming the Chinese New Year which falls on Sunday.

Red and yellow lanterns as well as multi-coloured LED bulbs at the temple pagoda and its lower station were lit after a chanting ceremony, and the offering of joss sticks and incense to deities, led by temple abbot Rev Datuk Seri Seck Jit Heng.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng officiated the ceremony at 7pm yesterday.

Dark clouds and a drizzle at the start of the ceremony did not deter visitors from witnessing the ceremony to usher in the Year of the Snake.

Visitors were also treated to an exhilarating fireworks display while shutterbugs tried to get the best picture angle for their shots.

Temple trustee Datuk Steven Ooi said the temple will be lit up for a month until March 9.

“Starting from Chinese New Year eve on Saturday until Chap Goh Meh (the last day of Chinese New Year) on Feb 24, the temple will be open to the public from 8.30am until midnight.

“After the 15th day, the temple will be open from 8.30am to 10pm until March 9,” he added.

~News courtesy of The Star~

A touch of old Shanghai

A touch of old Shanghai

One for the album: (From right) Lim Poh Hang, 50, dressed as the God of Wealth, taking a picture of his friends Yang Yi (God of Health), 45, and Tan Aik Hiang (God of Prosperity), 46, at the lighting ceremony.

IT IS all beginning to look very festive in the George Town heritage enclave as work is now under way for the annual Chinese New Year Cultural and Heritage Celebration.

For starters, the over nine-metre high grey and white arch decorated with gold lanterns and a red flowerball in Jalan Mesjid Kapitan Keling is 90% completed.

The streets are also adorned with 1,200 bright red lanterns of various sizes.

Organising committee chairperson Winnie Teh Lay Hong said the decorations, especially on the arch, would reflect a ‘Shanghai style’ to bring people back to the 1950s colonial era.

“We want the young people learn about the history of their grandparents and ancestors.

“We want the young to know how their ancestors came from China to Penang or elsewhere in Malaysia to work and live,” she said during the lighting up ceremony of the arch and lanterns on Wednesday.

Arch of success: Media personnel, organising committee members and onlookers waiting for the lighting ceremony to begin at Jalan Mesjid Kapitan Keling in George Town, Penang.

She added that the lanterns would be lighted daily from 7pm to midnight until Chap Goh Meh.

“The setting up of the decorations will begin on the third day of Chinese New Year,” she said.

The event is jointly organised by the Penang Chinese Clan Council, Penang Clan Associations Youth Committee and the Penang Govern-ment.

It will be held from 3pm to midnight on Feb 16.

Some 10,000 people are expected to attend the celebrations and admission is free.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who was present to officiate at the lighting ceremony, said the event had been held annually for the past five years.

“It is not easy to organise such an event, in terms of financial resources,” he said.

It is learnt that preparations for the event came up to a cost of RM600,000.

Some of the expenses were covered by E & O Hotel, cruise liner operator Star Cruises and the state government.

The Gods of Wealth, Health and Prosperity and a lion dance performance welcomed Lim who later went on a short walkabout in the area.

~News courtesy of The Star~

Magical world of lanterns

Magical world of lanterns

All set up: Rows of lanterns hanging at the Kek Lok Si Temple in Penang.

COME Feb 9, the 122-year-old Kek Lok Si temple in Air Itam will transform into a beautiful fairyland of lights to usher in the Year of the Snake.

Temple trustee Datuk Steven Ooi said the temple would be lit up for a month until March 9.

The lighting up ceremony however, will be held on Feb 6 when the lights at the temple pagoda and the lower station will be switched on.

Ooi said that on Feb 6, the lanterns and LED lamps will be lighted up at 7pm after a chanting ceremony.

“We expect more tourists to flock to the temple this year to witness the spectacular fusion of modern and traditional lighting,” he said.

Festive look: Workers adding the finishing touches to the temple decorations. Work to decorate the temple is expected to be finished by Feb 5.

For the first 15 days of Chinese New Year beginning Feb 10, the temple will be open to the public from 8.30am until midnight.

The sea of lights at the temple will be turned on from dusk until dawn for the first three days (Feb 10 to 12) of Chinese New Year and on the eighth day (Feb 17) to observe the annual Thnee Kong Seh (Jade Emperor’s birthday).

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng will officiate at the lighting up ceremony on Feb 6.

Like in previous years, devotees can donate between RM50 to RM2,000 for the lanterns. The sum will be used the temple’s upkeep.

The public can visit the temple to register for the lighting-up ceremony. For details, call 04-8283317.

~News courtesy of The Star~