See some of the pics that i took
Some news on the "pa tian kong" by The Star newspaper
1. Hokkiens celebrate deity’s birthday
By JADE CHAN and ONG HAN SEAN
AMIDST noisy bursts of fireworks, the Low family went about their final preparations, which included food and prayer paraphernalia, to celebrate the Jade Emperor’s birthday.
The ninth day of the Lunar New Year is the birthday of the Jade Emperor, also known as the Tian Gong. It is also one of the most important events for the Hokkien community.
Businessman Low Peck Sang’s mother Ng Kwee Wah said it was also a time for families to come together and pray to celebrate the emperor’s birthday and seek his blessings for the family.
Important occasion: The Chia family, led by Chia Kong Bong, 71, (3rd from left, in yellow) praying as they seek the Jade Emperor’s blessings for a prosperous, successful and lucky year ahead. According to him, the family spends about RM5,000 for their prayer and food offerings for the Jade Emperor's birthday celebrations.“The food offerings are arranged in a certain order on tables placed facing the main gate - the entrance to the house,” said Ng, 80.
“First comes three cups of Chinese tea and five cups of rice wine; then three large joss sticks flanked by two candles.
“Food offerings would include five types of fruits like apples, oranges and pears, as well as six types of vegetarian items like mushroom, fungus and tofu.
“The meat dishes like chicken, fish and pork are next, and finally sweets like candy, peanuts, ang koo kueh (red tortoise cakes) and kee ya kueh (a Hokkien dessert made from soda ash water, salt and rice flour).
“Hard-boiled eggs dyed in red and mee suah (flour vermicelli) or noodles are must-have items, as these dishes are traditionally served during Chinese people’s birthdays,” said Ng, adding that as per Lunar New Year traditions, family members should wear bright colours, especially red, as it is a happy occasion.
Fiery ritual: Christina Goh Poh Ping, 41 (right) and her family members burning prayer paraphernalia that includes a paper house and paper robe as offerings for the Jade Emperor.“If the family members are vegetarians, they can just have fruits and vegetarian items as offerings. It really depends on their personal beliefs and ancestral rites.”
Her daughter-in-law Ong Pheik Ian, 51, said a pineapple and bananas are also placed on the table of offerings.
“These are placed in such a way that it signifies kean chio (bananas) ong lai (pineapple) - welcoming luck in,” said the general clerk.
“Red stickers are placed on or around the food offerings to convey good wishes like fook (luck), fatt (prosperous) and keat (success).
Ng said that some families also include sugarcane stalks as part of their offerings.
“The prayer paraphernalia would include joss sticks, kim jua (gold prayer paper) and a ‘paper house’ - an offering for the Jade Emperor that can only be burnt on his birthday. It is an important item that is usually bought from temples,” she said.
Special visitor: Dr Wong greeting chief medium of the Yoke Wong Tai Tay Temple Lim Koon Foong on Thursday night.“The ‘paper house’ features designs like dragons, phoenixes, and the Eight Immortals, and Chinese characters like zhao chai jim bo (wealth and prosperity), again to seek the Jade Emperor’s blessing for the family,” said Ong.
She said that the prayer rituals would begin after midnight, which sees family members praying and burning their prayer paraphernalia just outside the house gate.
“Once the offerings are burnt, we’ll perform a simple ceremony with two coins as a means of communication between the Jade Emperor and the family,” said Ong.
“If it shows a head and tail, then it’s OK for us to keep the food and distribute among the family members. If not, we’ll just try again until we get a head and tail.”
Over at the Yoke Wong Tai Tay Temple in Section 21, Petaling Jaya, Thursday night saw hundreds of devotees thronging the place to celebrate Thni Kong Seh or the Jade Emperor's Birthday.
The event was attended incumbent Kampung Tunku assemblyman Datuk Dr Wong Sai Hou and his wife Datin Jennifer who arrived at 8pm to a welcoming party of lion dancers.
Dr Wong then proceeded to hand over donation cheques from the Selangor state government and the PJ Utara MCA division totalling up to RM11,000 to chief medium of the temple Lim Koon Foong.
“The donation is for the renovation and upkeep of the temple as Madam Lim has contributed so much to the public,” said Dr Wong.
As the crowd begins to grow, two crates of mandarin oranges were brought out and thrown to the crowd. Dr Wong also joined in the revelry by tossing oranges together with other devotees.
Worshippers then prayed to the Jade Emperor and received blessings from the temple mediums throughout the night until the next day.
A special tradition of the temple is the che kum practice which literally means “borrowing gold”. Devotees can take any amount of mandarin oranges that symbolise gold for good luck and prosperity. They can then return the “gold” next year by donating oranges to the temple.
“It is a very unique tradition as other temples don't practice this,” said president of the temple committee Richard Sha.
In Penang, thousands of people from the Hokkien community in Penang celebrated Thni Kong She (Jade Emperor God’s Birthday) Thanksgiving Day at midnight on Friday.
Preparations had earlier took off long after sun-down on Thursday evening with Hokkein families around George Town setting up communal altars at their homes to pay homage to the deity.
The grandest celebration was at Weld Quay’s Chew Jetty with residents putting together a grand feast for the deity.
Baskets and trays of food and fruits were laid out on long tables. The offerings to the Jade Emperor God included roast pigs and the usual must-haves such as the ang koo (red tortoise buns), mee koo (red-coloured buns), huat kuih (prosperous cakes) and mee sua (longevity noodles).
By JADE CHAN and ONG HAN SEAN
AMIDST noisy bursts of fireworks, the Low family went about their final preparations, which included food and prayer paraphernalia, to celebrate the Jade Emperor’s birthday.
The ninth day of the Lunar New Year is the birthday of the Jade Emperor, also known as the Tian Gong. It is also one of the most important events for the Hokkien community.
Businessman Low Peck Sang’s mother Ng Kwee Wah said it was also a time for families to come together and pray to celebrate the emperor’s birthday and seek his blessings for the family.
Important occasion: The Chia family, led by Chia Kong Bong, 71, (3rd from left, in yellow) praying as they seek the Jade Emperor’s blessings for a prosperous, successful and lucky year ahead. According to him, the family spends about RM5,000 for their prayer and food offerings for the Jade Emperor's birthday celebrations.“The food offerings are arranged in a certain order on tables placed facing the main gate - the entrance to the house,” said Ng, 80.
“First comes three cups of Chinese tea and five cups of rice wine; then three large joss sticks flanked by two candles.
“Food offerings would include five types of fruits like apples, oranges and pears, as well as six types of vegetarian items like mushroom, fungus and tofu.
“The meat dishes like chicken, fish and pork are next, and finally sweets like candy, peanuts, ang koo kueh (red tortoise cakes) and kee ya kueh (a Hokkien dessert made from soda ash water, salt and rice flour).
“Hard-boiled eggs dyed in red and mee suah (flour vermicelli) or noodles are must-have items, as these dishes are traditionally served during Chinese people’s birthdays,” said Ng, adding that as per Lunar New Year traditions, family members should wear bright colours, especially red, as it is a happy occasion.
Fiery ritual: Christina Goh Poh Ping, 41 (right) and her family members burning prayer paraphernalia that includes a paper house and paper robe as offerings for the Jade Emperor.“If the family members are vegetarians, they can just have fruits and vegetarian items as offerings. It really depends on their personal beliefs and ancestral rites.”
Her daughter-in-law Ong Pheik Ian, 51, said a pineapple and bananas are also placed on the table of offerings.
“These are placed in such a way that it signifies kean chio (bananas) ong lai (pineapple) - welcoming luck in,” said the general clerk.
“Red stickers are placed on or around the food offerings to convey good wishes like fook (luck), fatt (prosperous) and keat (success).
Ng said that some families also include sugarcane stalks as part of their offerings.
“The prayer paraphernalia would include joss sticks, kim jua (gold prayer paper) and a ‘paper house’ - an offering for the Jade Emperor that can only be burnt on his birthday. It is an important item that is usually bought from temples,” she said.
Special visitor: Dr Wong greeting chief medium of the Yoke Wong Tai Tay Temple Lim Koon Foong on Thursday night.“The ‘paper house’ features designs like dragons, phoenixes, and the Eight Immortals, and Chinese characters like zhao chai jim bo (wealth and prosperity), again to seek the Jade Emperor’s blessing for the family,” said Ong.
She said that the prayer rituals would begin after midnight, which sees family members praying and burning their prayer paraphernalia just outside the house gate.
“Once the offerings are burnt, we’ll perform a simple ceremony with two coins as a means of communication between the Jade Emperor and the family,” said Ong.
“If it shows a head and tail, then it’s OK for us to keep the food and distribute among the family members. If not, we’ll just try again until we get a head and tail.”
Over at the Yoke Wong Tai Tay Temple in Section 21, Petaling Jaya, Thursday night saw hundreds of devotees thronging the place to celebrate Thni Kong Seh or the Jade Emperor's Birthday.
The event was attended incumbent Kampung Tunku assemblyman Datuk Dr Wong Sai Hou and his wife Datin Jennifer who arrived at 8pm to a welcoming party of lion dancers.
Dr Wong then proceeded to hand over donation cheques from the Selangor state government and the PJ Utara MCA division totalling up to RM11,000 to chief medium of the temple Lim Koon Foong.
“The donation is for the renovation and upkeep of the temple as Madam Lim has contributed so much to the public,” said Dr Wong.
As the crowd begins to grow, two crates of mandarin oranges were brought out and thrown to the crowd. Dr Wong also joined in the revelry by tossing oranges together with other devotees.
Worshippers then prayed to the Jade Emperor and received blessings from the temple mediums throughout the night until the next day.
A special tradition of the temple is the che kum practice which literally means “borrowing gold”. Devotees can take any amount of mandarin oranges that symbolise gold for good luck and prosperity. They can then return the “gold” next year by donating oranges to the temple.
“It is a very unique tradition as other temples don't practice this,” said president of the temple committee Richard Sha.
In Penang, thousands of people from the Hokkien community in Penang celebrated Thni Kong She (Jade Emperor God’s Birthday) Thanksgiving Day at midnight on Friday.
Preparations had earlier took off long after sun-down on Thursday evening with Hokkein families around George Town setting up communal altars at their homes to pay homage to the deity.
The grandest celebration was at Weld Quay’s Chew Jetty with residents putting together a grand feast for the deity.
Baskets and trays of food and fruits were laid out on long tables. The offerings to the Jade Emperor God included roast pigs and the usual must-haves such as the ang koo (red tortoise buns), mee koo (red-coloured buns), huat kuih (prosperous cakes) and mee sua (longevity noodles).
2. Hokkiens eager for celebration
By ANN TAN
GEORGE TOWN: The economic slowdown has not deterred Hokkiens here from preparing for the Thni Kong Seh (Jade Emperor God’s birthday) celebration which falls on the ninth day of the Chinese lunar calendar.
At the Air Itam market, hailers blared in Hokkien “kamchia, kamchia lai” (Come and get your sugarcane) while thousands of sugarcane stalks lined the road.
Sweet offering: Seng (left) buying the sugarcane stalks from Leong at the Air Itam market yesterday.
People have been crowding the market’s narrow road since 6am yesterday to buy food and fruits as offering to the Jade Emperor God. The celebrations begin tonight.
Among the “must-have” items sold were thni kuih (sweet cakes), ang koo (red tortoise buns), mee koo (red-coloured buns), huat kuih (prosperity cakes) and bright pink miniature pagodas.
Factory worker Seng Lay Hoon, 31, said she tried her best to fulfil the offerings because it was a must to thank the Jade Emperor God.
“We were asked to go on leave or unpaid leave by our factory. But I feel guilty if I was to cut down on the offerings,” she said, adding that she was also offering 300 pieces of josspapers.
Roadside peddler Leong Meng Khing, 38, who sells sugarcanes in the market, said he reduced his stock from about 500 stalks to only 200 this year.
“Business is slightly affected but sugarcane is a necessity for the Hokkien community,” he said.
“The stalk is like a ladder that symbolises bu bu gao sheng (rise higher and higher).”
Legend has it that the Hokkiens escaped persecution by a cruel general in ancient China by seeking refuge in a sugarcane plantation. They emerged unharmed on the birthday of the Jade Emperor.
At the Chew jetty, preparations were also under way with organising committee members busily fixing decorative bulbs onto a red arch in preparation for the celebration.
By ANN TAN
GEORGE TOWN: The economic slowdown has not deterred Hokkiens here from preparing for the Thni Kong Seh (Jade Emperor God’s birthday) celebration which falls on the ninth day of the Chinese lunar calendar.
At the Air Itam market, hailers blared in Hokkien “kamchia, kamchia lai” (Come and get your sugarcane) while thousands of sugarcane stalks lined the road.
Sweet offering: Seng (left) buying the sugarcane stalks from Leong at the Air Itam market yesterday.
People have been crowding the market’s narrow road since 6am yesterday to buy food and fruits as offering to the Jade Emperor God. The celebrations begin tonight.
Among the “must-have” items sold were thni kuih (sweet cakes), ang koo (red tortoise buns), mee koo (red-coloured buns), huat kuih (prosperity cakes) and bright pink miniature pagodas.
Factory worker Seng Lay Hoon, 31, said she tried her best to fulfil the offerings because it was a must to thank the Jade Emperor God.
“We were asked to go on leave or unpaid leave by our factory. But I feel guilty if I was to cut down on the offerings,” she said, adding that she was also offering 300 pieces of josspapers.
Roadside peddler Leong Meng Khing, 38, who sells sugarcanes in the market, said he reduced his stock from about 500 stalks to only 200 this year.
“Business is slightly affected but sugarcane is a necessity for the Hokkien community,” he said.
“The stalk is like a ladder that symbolises bu bu gao sheng (rise higher and higher).”
Legend has it that the Hokkiens escaped persecution by a cruel general in ancient China by seeking refuge in a sugarcane plantation. They emerged unharmed on the birthday of the Jade Emperor.
At the Chew jetty, preparations were also under way with organising committee members busily fixing decorative bulbs onto a red arch in preparation for the celebration.
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