I have forgotten how nice it is to be back in Penang for the Chinese New Year.
For most of my working life, i have stayed back in PJ while my colleagues fought to go back to their hometowns to celebrate with their parents and relatives.
Among those who put in their leave applications were non-Chinese colleagues who felt they were eligible because their wife or mother was Chinese.
I have a Chinese wife and a Chinese mother but that did not help my case.
Anyway back to this year's celebrations.
So for the first time in almost 30 years,
1. I get to go back two days before the Chinese New Year and will stay in Penang until the 12th day. That is a whole 2 weeks.
2. I had my first reunion dinner in my hometown
3. I had a reunion dinner on the second day with about 20 of my schoolmates
4. I experienced the excitement of a unique Hokkien celebration -- the birthday of the Jade Emperor God on the 9th day.
The Jade Emperor God's birthday (or Thni Kong Seh in Hokkien) is big in Penang. There are two big venues for this celebration. One is at the foot of Penang Hill and the other at the Chew Jetty in Weld Quay.
This year I decided to opt for Chew Jetty. Maybe I will attend the celebration at Penang Hill next year.
For this night, it would seem that all roads in Penang led to Chew Jetty. Traffic was at a crawl everywhere and it was almost impossible to find a parking spot.
It did not help that Chew Jetty is a popular tourist attraction. So besides the thousands of devotees who converge here, there was also a lot of foreign tourists.
You can imagine what the scene is like. You have firecrackers going off all over the place. Then there are giant joss sticks and the burning of paper money. There's also fireworks going off on both ends of the road. And in the middle of the road there is this very long table with a generous spread of food offerings for the God of Heaven.
It's noisy, crowded, and there's smoke all over the place. But no one was complaining. There was a bit of pushing and shoving too becuase the place was so packed but there was a festive mood in the air.
In fact, there was a bit of excitement when the Chief Minister's car tried to make its way through the crowd. Remember that controversial car? Yes, there were a lot of curious people in the crowd.
Lim Guan Eng was his usual fiery self when he addressed the gathering. And the crowd warmed up to him. However I could sense that he was feeling a bit uneasy when he had to share the stage with Chew Mei Fun of the MCA for the other part of the ceremony.
How did the function end? Food, of course. Many headed to the food court and hawker stalls nearby. That's Penang people for you, I guess.
Keong Hee Huat Chye!