Chinese New Year in Malaysia

The Malays’are always up for any festivities and celebrations. These people are warm and amicable and love to bond with others over a cup of tea or any other holy occasions. Going by the Gregorian Calendar the Chinese New Year in Malaysia 2011 falls on February 14th, Sunday. This is also known as the Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year. The day on which it is celebrated in Malaysia is on the second new moon phase post the winter solstice day. The celebration ends in the fifteenth day of the month with Lenten Festival.

Apart from the Malay population significant number of Chinese as well as Indian people can be seen in Malaysia. Thus the celebrations of a number of festivals in the country has got decent amount of influence of these ethnic groups. To celebrate new year in Malaysia huge number of tourists come from distant parts of the world. The streets of Kuala Lampur that is the capital city of Malaysia are decorated with colorful ornaments.

Chinese New Year Celebration in Malaysia

Chinese New Year’s day in Malaysia is a public holiday. Approximately 30 per cent of the population in Malaysia is Chinese. Apart from their traditions and rituals at home, there are festivities outside. You have shows and programs dedicated to it.

The celebration is mostly a communal one. The shopping malls, houses and departmental stores ate decorated well. People use Chinese decors like bright lanterns with Chinese symbols, mandarin oranges and colored wallpapers. The

regional television channels and radio stations would play Chinese songs. There are special programs ushering the New Year.

Chinese New Year Events in Malaysia 2011

The Chinese New Year in Malaysia 2011 is marked by various events. They mostly take place in and around Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia.

The ones who had planned a trip to Malaysia during this time of the year have enjoyed the fun and celebrations. The Pavilion Shopping Mall located centrally at Kuala Lumpur hosts a series of interesting events. Few of the noteworthy includes the acrobatic dance performance. This takes place in the afternoon, at around 3pm between this New Year Eve, between February 14th and 20th.

To add on to the variety, a Chinese martial art performance was also held until the 24th of the month. For a surprise element, there was a God of Fortune whose presence wished everyone a happy and a prosperous New Year. The music lovers had their share of entertainment with the evening musical fusion event.

Chinese New Year Celebration at Penang 2011

Chinese New Year 2011 celebrations in Penang was held in George Town. This marked the 7th day of the New Year. The celebrations took place at the center of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, same as the previous year. The streets here included Armenian Street, Ah Quee Street, Acheen Street, Cannon Street, Chulia Street, Soo Hong Lane and Kg. Kolam.

The celebration this year was based on a theme on moral values. The themes that were covered were Filial Piety, Faithful and Etiquette and Justice. Previous themes included things like 12 zodiac signs having animal motifs.

The celebration site was divided and sub-divided into 10 zones and areas. Each of them represented a social/moral theme or a performance. Few eminent examples would be the Lebuh Ah Quee that was turned into Etiquette Area, Chulia Street into Faithful Area, Penang Youth Centre into Wushu Stage, and Cheah Kongsi into ‘The Old Penang Memory’.