Chinese New Year Celebration
Pictures of the Chinese New Year Parade in Kuala Lumpur and some informationen about this major holiday in Malaysia.
This weekend the celebrations of Chinese New Year come to an end and KL is slowly filling up with people again because as with any major holiday in Malaysia, it means "balik kampung" (back to the village). Well, in this case it's more like back to the home town as the Chinese live tradionally in towns (also thanks to british restructuring in colonial times). It's much easier do trade and make money there anyway. Many move to the big cities for education or working, especially to KL, and the New Year celebration means finally going back home and reunite with the whole family.
Thursday and Friday were public holidays but many Chinese took the whole week off and KL became almost a relaxed place. Chinese make about 24% of the 24 million people living in Malaysia. Some say many chinese traditions are more cultivated in Malaysia than in China itself as the Chinese didn't have to suffer from Mao's cultural revolution here.
The whole city was decorated with the omnipresent slogan "Gong Xi Fa Cai" - which roughly means "may you be prosporous". There were stalls everywhere selling gifts, especially oranges seem to be very popular for this occasion.
A highlight for locals and tourist alike are the Lion Dance acts. There 2 people in the lion costume. Not an easy job, especially for the one at the back 
The modern version of the Lion Dance requires extreme physical skills when the lion jump from poles of various sizes. Interestingly, Malaysian teams won more than 20times already at the Lion Dance World Championships beating teams from Hongkong and China. Further Information about Lion Dance:
The Lion Dancers of Malaysia
The New Year celebration 2008 started the year of the earth rat.
Below find some picture from the CNY parade on Jalan Bukit Bintang.
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BBC article by Jonathan Kent about a new climate in Malaysia after the stepping down of Mahathir Mohamad with funny and interesting observations of malaysian daily life.
Quote:
“They look impressed. “What about durian?” Durian is a fruit the taste of which has been described as like eating cheese off a dead body.
“Aiyoh,” I say “durian cannot,” and screw up my face.
At this point everyone will laugh. “
2008:
1 January (Tues) New Year’s Day
10 January (Thurs) Awal Muharam (Maal Hijrah)
7 & 8 February(Thurs & Fri) Chinese New Year
20 March (Thurs) Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday
1 May (Thurs) Labour Day
19 May (Mon) Wesak Day
7 June (Sat) Birthday of SPB Yang di-Pertuan Agong
31 August (Sun) National/Merdeka Day
1 & 2 October (Wed & Thurs) Hari Raya Puasa *
27 October (Mon) Deepavali *
8 December (Mon) Hari Raya Qurban
25 December (Thurs) Christmas Day
29 December (Mon) Awal Muharram (Maal Hijrah)
* - Subject to confirmation
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Jackfruit or Nangka, as it is locally known in Malay, is the largest tree borne fruit in the world. The jackfruit trees native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Phillipines and Sri Lanka but but also common in Malaysia, probably introduced by humans some time ago.The fruits can reach 36 kg in weight and up to 90 cm long and 50 cm in diameter.
Melaka, Melaka Sentral
