Gong Xi Fa Cai and wishing you all have a healthy and wealthy year ahead in this new year!

Sorry for my late wishes as I was too busy with my new year preparation and heavy workload in the office.

As usual, i went back to Malacca to celebrate chinese new year with my family.  The happy moment past very fast, today is already the 6th day of Chinese new year!  I have already get back to my workplace on Friday. 

The heat of chinese new year was not there if compared to last year, this is due to the bad economy downturn in the world which had badly affected us in Malaysia too, especially those in manufacturing industries.   The situation is predicted to be worsen after the celebration of Chinese new year, as more retrenchment can be foreseen, and pay-cut due to reduce production in the factories…

So, a lot of people have to tighten their belt, think wisely before making any purchase for the celebration.   
Nowadays, to save more is viable than to spend more, in order to prepare for any unexpected emergency needs in the near future.

Eventhough with less spending this year, we are able to celebrate this “Ox” year with great happiness and meaningful…it is all depends on how you celebrate it and with whom you celebrate it with!

I truly hope that you too have a great Chinese New Year and wish this Chinese “OX” Year will bring us good luck and full of excitement to all of us in the world!

I hereby present to you these “LUCKY” cute OX in this chinese new year, hoping that they will bring you and your family healthy and wealthy year ahead.  GONG HEY GONG HEY!!!

Hey, it is Christmas again! I am here to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous Happy New Year 2009!

I know most of the European countries are having their Winter holidays now, and i am here to wish them all do enjoy their holidays before entering the New Year 2009! And of course, those who are from Asia like me, also have a remarkable Merry Christmas and Prosperous New Year too!

Once Again, Merry Christmas to all of you!!!

Lantern festival is around the corner.  It is a chinese festival celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth Chinese Lunar Calendar or 14 of August 2008 in western calendar this year!  Lantern festival is also known as Moon cake festival or Mid-autumn festival. 

Like previous year, this meaningful festival is celebrated with different types of mooncakes and lanterns with different design!  I still remembered when i was still a kid, i always look forward for this meaningful festival, as i can eat my favourite mooncakes and played with my neighbour’s friends with my lantern custom-made by my father (hehe…it was my school art project)!!!   We hung our lanterns around the fence of our houses and on the tree outside of houses, and sat on the floor covered with newspaper, sang songs together, and lighted up candles around the fence too!  At the same time, we shared our mooncakes together!  Our parents joined us too to socialise with our neighbour!  I will never forget this happy moment in my life!  My happy childhood with my neighbour friends!

In my memory, i used to have my own lantern with fish design, bird design and even batman design too (eventhough i was a little girl..)!!!  In olden days, there were lanterns made by empty can or tin, puked with holes on the side of the can and tighted with a string so that it can be carried using a stick!  I believe it still can be found nowadays especially in small rural village! 

Today, we can find many types of mooncakes in the market.  Other than tradisional baked mooncakes, there are “ping pei” mooncakes, “jelly mooncakes” ..etc with different types of filling too!  The mooncakes now cost more expensive if compared to olden days (more than RM11 per piece depending on the brand)!  So my mom decided to make her mini “ping pei” mooncakes with coconut filling today (see photo below)!  Yumyum…it is delicious!

Children in urban area nowadays are happier and have “better life”, as they have at least minimum one lantern each!  There are lantern powered by battery which cost more than RM10 for one!  It is for their safety purpose as candles are more dangerous.  Not like children in rural areas, they can only afford to buy a tradisional or handmade themselves their own lanterns.  Therefore, children should learn to appreciate what have been given by their parents!

Other events come along with this festival are informal lantern parades and guessing lantern riddles, which often contain messages of good fortune, family reunion, abundant harvest, prosperity and love.

In short, it is an ideal festival for all of us to reunite with our families and appreciate the elderly effort in bringing us to the world and flourished us with their endless loves and cares, educated us with knowledge, so that we are able to handle our lives confidently in the future and becomes what we are today!  

So now it is our turn to show our loves and cares to them too by spending our time to have dinner with them on this coming Sunday!  Trust me, our parents are happy to see us to visit and spend time with them than other physical things given to them!

I have read through major newspaper today and came across that many couples are rushing to tie their knot today in lieu of the auspicious Triple 8 date.

Why is the number 8 considered lucky in the minds of Chinese people?  Just like the number 7 is best in the mind of Western people. 

The main reason is due to the pronunciation of the word “eight” in Chinese.  In Cantonese, it is pronounced as “ba” and sounds like the word for prosperity and wealth - “fa” in mandarin!

Most chinese are so superstitious and they tends to believe that the number “eight” will bring them good luck and wealth to their lives.  So whenever there are big occasions as in wedding day, any big celebration which needs a date or time selection, it is undeniable the number “eight” will most likely to be chosen, for example in Chinese Lunar Calendar August is the busiest month for wedding planner, restaurant owners, to cater to the needs of these couples who choose to tie their knot in this month! 

Not only that, chinese people are willing to pay more for the number “eight” - Unit No. 8 when purchase a property; 8th floor; Car Number plate with “8″ figure; even buy a lottery also will choose for number “8″.. etc 

Another reason is the number’s perfect symmetrical shape.  If the number “8″ is cut in half vertically or horizontally, and both halves mirror themselves perfectly.  In Chinese astrology, perfect balance is considered the ideal!

You can see the fact how important the number “8″ in chinese people heart, as China has chosen today 08082008 as the first day for Olympic Games in Beijing and the organisers has scheduling the opening ceremony at 8pm.  All these shown that how inffluential is the number “8″ in Chinese people life when come to make important decision.

But i personally believe that each of us born in different geographical location, different time zone, and day… will have our own “lucky” number in our life.  It doesn’t mean that the number “8″ is lucky for everyone.  My lucky number which will bring me prosperity and wealth is “3088″, but yours may be different!  Just find out yourself, your very own unique lucky number which belongs to you and it definitely brings you good luck!!  Don’t you agree with me?

For chinese, all of us know that chinese calendar July is considered as “Hungry Ghost” month!!!  So for this year, it is started from 01-08-2008 to 30-08-2008 (in Western calendar), meaning that the hungry ghost will have the authority to come out from “hell” to “human” earth!!! 

In olden days, my parents will advise us not to come out at night during this period!  Behave wisely when doing our day to day living, like speak nicely, don’t simply spit everywhere, don’t simply throw things and and always ask for “excuse me” when throwing rubbish or anything!  This is to avoid us from offending the hungry ghost unintentionally, or else we will be punished by the hungry ghost in anyways.  Minor punishment like wake up with bruise everywhere on your body, reddish in eyes, small injury like falls down, cut your fingers, etc…to heavy punishment which may get you involve in car accident or any kind of accidents which at the end need to be hospitalised.  Or even worst when you offend an “angry ghost”, your life will be threatened unsafe!!

It is up to you to believe!!!  But sometimes it is no harm to beware and listen to old people warnings than regret ourselves if unexpected incidents happened afterwards because it may be too late already!

But there is another meaning for this period of July, it is a good time (once a year) for those younger generation to show their respect and memory in their heart of their late family members by offering them food and “paper assets” for example: money, laptop, car, house, ship, handphone, maids, etc…made of paper, which believed will be received by their late family members in underworld after burn it during the offerings ceremony!

If you are so curious to know more and need to suggest or have your said on anything on this issue, you are welcome to leave a comment on this post.