CHINESE NEW YEAR

Celebrated on the first day of the Chinese Lunar Calendar, this is the most important annual festival for the Chinese community. Each year is named after one of the 12 animals according to the Chinese Zodiac. Houses are cleaned and decorated to prepare for the big day.

Debts are settled, prayers and offerings are made. New clothes are bought and plenty of food is prepared.

Family members from far come back for the gathering. New year cards are exchanged between friends and relatives. A reunion dinner for the family is held on the eve of the New Year. Bad language and unpleasant topics are discouraged.

There are lion dances and small fire works. Red paper showing Chinese characters of prosperity and wealth are pasted either in front or inside the house. Ang-Pow or red packet containing money is given out to children and elderly. Open house is practiced for visiting relatives and friends with various ethnic races. The New Year is lasted for fifteen days which the concentration is on the first three days. The celebration ends with the Chap Goh Mei on the fifteenth day.