CHINESE NEW YEAR

It is the celebration of Chinese New Year here in Singapore. Here's a bit about it:

Chinese New Year or Spring Festival is one of the most important traditional Chinese holidays. It is often called the Lunar New Year, especially by people inside mainland China. People outside of mainland China and East Asia, especially westerners, call it "Chinese New Year." The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first lunar month in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called Lantern Festival. Chinese New Year's Eve is known as Chúxī. It literally means "Year-pass Eve".

Clothing mainly featuring the color red is commonly worn throughout the Chinese New Year because it is believed that red will scare away evil spirits and bad fortune. In addition, people typically wear new clothes from head to toe to symbolize a new beginning in the new year. Wearing new cloths also symbolizes having more than enough things to use and wear in the new year.

You see these words all over town: GONG XI FA CAI

This means "wishing you to be prosperous in the coming year".


There are mandarin oranges on this sign also. Oranges are given as "respect and good wishes" for the coming year. My apartment complex left a bag with two oranges for me.

Last night I went to Chinatown to take in a bit of what was going on. I can honestly say that it was like the busiest day at the Iowa State Fair, being on the grand concourse and having wall to wall people and you are barely moving...now multiply that by 100. I could not believe all the people. I have been to Chinatown a few times and I can walk down this one street in about 5 minutes or less (if I'm not stopping to look into the shoppes)....last night it took me no less than 45 minutes to one hour...and I couldn't look at the shops. We were packed in like sardines!!!

There was obviously something going to happen on a stage in the area, but I couldn't get close enough to see. I did hear there were going to be singers and then a countdown to the Chinese New Year (just like we do for New Year's Eve in the U.S.).

It was very difficult to get to stand still long enough to take a picture, so these are a bit fuzzy.

Here's the crowd.

And this was a building that was decorated. When I go again after the New Year's celebrations are done, this will have a different decoration on it. It's amazing all the work they go to here.



2009 is the year of the ox. They say it is an auspicious ox...which means a promise of success or favor of fortune.

There was a street vendor that was making name signs. I found him quite interesting...and he was in a lower traffic area. After watching him do a few names, I had him do my full name: Deborah. It is beautiful and now I have a memento of my evening at Chinatown during the Chinese New Year....while it's not "Chinese", it will serve to remind me of my time there!

Here he is starting...He was not using brushes...they were pads of some sort that he would dip each end in a different color. Very unique!

Here he is almost done.

Here is the final product.

When I left to go home I could not believe the long lines at the MRT station. People were standing in line waiting to be let up the escalator to the Chinatown area. I was very glad I had gone earlier in the evening!! I am very impressed with the orderly fashion in which people stood to wait, walked along or went where they were directed. There were many police and auxillary police around to direct the traffic. Such organization!