It's that time of the year for LION DANCES as the Malaysian Chinese community welcomes the Wood Snake into our new year of 2025. Goodbye to 2024 which personally for me was one full of painful but invaluable lessons learnt. I completed my final subject for my online MBA program which according to my lecturer involved mathematical formulas. It was a nightmare for me since formulas and calculations are not my cup of tea. I studied law and I've been a legal practitioner since I graduated from University and the English Bar. The last subject which involved calculations was Accounting and I took that at A-Levels. It didn't help that I panicked the first time I took this subject whilst maintaining a full-time job. Long story short, I completed this subject, passed my written assignment on the listing of 99 Speedmart in the Bursa Malaysia and now I await the results of my final exams which should be out before the Chinese New Year holidays begin from 29th January 2025 onwards. Back to preparations for Chinese New Year, it is always interesting to know what's in store for my Chinese Zodiac sign which can be read HERE. There's also the July 2025 Lion Dance championships at the Arena of Stars in Genting Highlands to look forward to since I would have missed the National Lion Dance championship 2025 at Pavilion Bukit Jalil that ends on 5th January 2025 (see poster above). Penang is welcoming the Year of the Snake through a grand celebration on 1 February 2025 which is the 4th day of the Lunar New Year. The Penang Miaohui festival website has the Chinese zodiac animal signs from 2020 onwards. One has to bear in mind that Malaysia went into lockdown from 2020 onwards so participants would have probably celebrated the festival online during lockdown phases.
Pudu Ria Florist where I usually buy my potted plants from, has started selling lime and lemon trees, and has an active marketing channel via Xiao Hong Shu (as pictured below). The latter is China's social media rival to Twitter/X and Instagram. Meanwhile, spring is coming to China and the largest exodus of human from cities to their rural hometowns will once again take place soon by end of January 2025. Could not resist watching episodes of A Bite of China documentaries on food and how it reflects our culture and rich heritage. For example, the famous mitten crabs of Yangcheng Lake 阳澄湖 which you can read about at China Daily website HERE. The birdlife from the South Shore of this Lake which is designated as a hotspot in Cornell Lab's eBird portal can be viewed HERE
Shoppers are thronging hypermarkets including Lotus Kepong to stock up for CNY reunion dinners as well as stocking up for the week-long celebration. Interesting pop-up booths include this one from 100 PLUS which has a lion dance costume customized out of cardboard material. Very clever use of materials by F&N indeed.
8TV channel Chinese New Year of the Wood Snake's music video can be viewed below.
