Ohh…is it? Let me take a look at the calendar, the small chinese words at side of the date today. Ahh, yes..it is! It’s the 15th day of the Chinese New Year, which is the last day of the celebration every year. Can’t believe Chinese New Year is coming to an end. I still haven’t get much angpows yet! For this CNY, I did not visit any of my relatives, but still do get angpows from them due to the major days I’m off for my trip.
Actually, there are many terms referred to this day. For the Malaysians, the most common name for this day is Chap Goh Meh, which is actually originated from Hokkien dialect. Another better term that is accepted all over Chinese world is Yuan Xiao Festival. However, for China, there are two more names for this day; Shang Yuan Festival and Lantern Festival (it’s different with Mid Autumn Festival which is also known as Mooncake Festival and Lantern Festival).
It is a bit unique for Malaysian Chinese as we are celebrating this day like Valentine’s Day in Chinese version. Single women would write their contact number on mandarin oranges and throw it in a river or a lake while single men would collect them and eat the oranges. The taste is an indication of their possible love: sweet represents a good fate while sour represents a bad fate. However, for now, not many people doing this kind of stuff already. It just becomes another typical day in Malaysia! Everyone is already back to work or school much earlier….
Anyway, today still marks the end of Chinese New Year or Spring Festival.
Vincent Loy's Online Journal 