Event

Penang Chingay, Lion & Dragon Dance Parade

Date: 14 December 2014
Time: 7.30pm – 11.00pm
Venue: Padang Brown to Esplanade

The Chingay Lion and Dragon Dance Parade will be strolling through the streets of Georgetown this weekend.  Colorful dancers will be doing the traditional lion and dragon dances.  Meanwhile, other dancers will be balancing long poles on fingers, foreheads, and whatnot.  There will be 30 dance troupes represented this year, as well as a float.

The Chingay Parade will start at Padang Brown, and wind its way down Datuk Keramat Road, Carnavron Road, Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling and Light Street.  The grand finale will be on the Esplanade.

Visit DaveRayPhoto.com for a write up from a past Chingay event and  an impressive gallery of Chingay flagpole catching.

What’s the difference between Independence Day and Malaysia Day

Every year, there are two public holidays in Malaysia that confuse me every year.  I look it up every year because, every year, I forget what I learned the year before.  In fact just two days ago, I told a friend the wrong information!  That’s how confused I get  There’s National Day, or Independence Day, in August.  Two weeks later there’s Malaysia Day in September. Both are public holidays, so what’s the difference?

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Hungry Ghost Festival Penang

Well the gates of hell are about to break open and hordes of demons will need to be appeased with song dance and food for the 7^th month of the Chinese Lunar calendar.  Yes it is the Hungry Ghost Festival, widely observed (celebrated) here in Penang, Malaysia.  This year (2014) the festival starts on the 27^th of July and will run for a whole lunar month, til the next full moon on the 24^th of August.

This year the start of the festival will coincide with the end of the Muslim month of fasting, Ramadan.  The big holiday, Hari Raya, marking the end of fasting, is going to be the second day of the Hungry Ghost festival.  It should be interesting to see how the two cultures work together, or work around each other during these days.

Traditional observance of the Hungry Ghost Festival

The story is that the gates of hell open up for the souls of Chinese ancestors to come to earth to wander, to bother, and to eat.  The living honor the dead, and appease them, by burning joss-paper, and paper maché material goods, like houses and clothes.

Chinese opera stages are set up and loud performances run through the night for the hungry ghosts.  For many a foreigner trying to sleep near these monstrosities, this highlights the hell-on-earth aspect of the festival.

Special Hungry Ghost Festival foods

The Hungry Ghost Festival is an opportunity to find some Chinese delicacies that only become available during this month.  Look around for a colorful sweet dessert called si koh th’ng.  You can find grilled cuttle fish and Jellyfish satay. 

Where to go in Penang

The Tourism Board has a facebook event page.  Follow the Living in Penang facebook page for event announcements as well.

George Town Heritage Celebrations

In 2008, UNESCO declared the city of George Town, Penang to be a World Heritage Site giving it status as an important cultural nexus.  Every year, 7 July is a Public Holiday in Penang State to celebrate the anniversary of the declaraion.  There is an organization called the George Town World Heritage Inc that organizes events throughout the year promoting and preserving  the culture and the history of George Town.  The pinnacle of the year is the Heritage Day celebrations which will be on the 6th and 7th of July.

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Floating Chariot Procession

Living in Penang, you come to realize every day is a holiday.  Not in the sense that you can kick back and relax, in fact everyone I meet is on the move, working hard.  No I mean every day is some kind of celebration or observance for someone living here.  Right on the heels of Chinese New Year, which ends today with Chap Goh Meh, comes this weekend’s Floating Chariot Procession which will take place in Teluk Bahang.

Click to see a beautiful photoset of this event

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Chap Goh Meh Chinese Valentines Day

Chap Goh Meh (sometimes spelled Chap Goh Mei) marks the last day of the Chinese New Year celebration.  It’s been two weeks of fun food and firecrackers, with Hokkien New Year being the halftime show.  Now it’s time for the unmarried ladies to go down to the Esplanade and throw oranges in the water.  Wait… uh why?
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Hokkien New Year

The story is that long ago, during the Ming Dynasty, the ancestors of the Hokkien were hiding from bandits in the sugarcane fields during Chinese New Year. They prayed to the Jade Emperor, a diety also known as the King of Heaven. For eight days the intruders searched for them and could not find them, eventually giving up. On the ninth day, the Hokkien came out of hiding and celebrated, praising the Jade Emperor for protecting them. They celebrated the Chinese New Year 8 days late.

Here in Penang, the Chinese New Year celebration isn’t one day.  It lasts 15 days.  And the peak of it is today, the ninth day, Hokkien New Year.  The fireworks displays for this particular night outshadow (and out deafen) the ones from 8 nights ago.

Outside many of the temples, and some Buddhist homes are these massive incense sticks that burn for hours.  These are in honor of the Jade Emperor who protected them in the past.  Some also call this day the birthday of the Jade Emperor.

At the markets you can find some specialty foods and knick knacks  like thni kuih (sweet cakes), ang koo (red tortoise buns), mee koo (red-coloured buns), huat kuih (prosperity cakes) and bright pink miniature pagodas.

Sugarcane is everywhere for sale.  I’m told that in the past Perak Road was lined with sugarcane stalks.

2014 Malaysia Public Holidays

Below is a list of the National and State Public Holidays for 2014. National and Penang Holidays are highlighted. Knowing the public holidays in advance can help you plan your time here or time away.

Some dates are subject to change. Replacement holidays are for when the actual holiday lands on a Sunday, the next weekday is given as a replacement holiday.

2014 Malaysia School Holiday

The Ministry of Education released the 2014 Malaysia School Holiday Calendar.  These should be pretty definitive, but please note that these dates can change.  This list plus the public holidays calendar should help you in your travel planning.

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31 days: Thaipusam photo tour announced

I’ve mentioned the Thaipusam festival on the blog before.  It is a Hindu festival that happens every year in January.  It is a very colorful and exotic thing, and while I do not recommend it for younger children, it is something that you might be interested in experiencing.

Well our good friend Dave Ray will be running a photo tour here in Penang during the next Thaipusam Festival.  You will get to see the tour, embedded with the people, trailing the participants.  There will be opportunities to work with the other tour participants to learn new photography techniques, and story telling with photography.

The details can be found at Dave’s tour page.  The tour price includes the hotel and meals plus all the work Dave’s put into getting you into the heart of the festival.

Spaces are limited, so you need to sign up as quickly as possible.

In general, I think photo tours and photo workshops like these are a great way to get into the local culture.  The tour guide has done a lot of the legwork to get you an insider’s perspective, in this case into the Thaipusam festival.  The advantage of a photo tour over a regular tour is that 1) you can see what you’re going to see because the photographer often shows you the images you should be expecting to capture.  and 2) you take home with you all your images to remember what you’ve experienced.  I highly recommend photo tours and will be pointing out other photo tours in Penang as they come up.

[I have not been paid for promoting this tour, I just believe in the product and the photographer.]