Happy Chap Goh Meh

To the Chinese, it's Chap Goh Meh today. In Hokkien, it means it's the 15th night of the CNY. Families would have dinner together, decorate their houses with lights and lanterns, offer prayers to the ancestors and light fireworks/crackers as a 'send-off' to mark the end of the CNY.

In Penang, Chap Goh Meh is also known as the Chinese Valentine's Day. In the past, it's one of the few occasions where eligible young ladies were allowed out of their homes. They would be dressed prettily and be accompanied by fierce looking aunties and servants. Eager gentlemen would only admire at all the lovely ladies. These young maidens would throw oranges into the sea as a gesture of hope to wed good husbands. The gentlemen would catch the oranges thrown in by the maidens who catch their eyes, and then go on to arrange marriage proposals to them.

Nowadays, the tradition has dwindled into competitions whereby the females will throw oranges into the sea (or lake), and the males will catch as many oranges as they can by boat. The one with the most oranges win.

Personally, I think this is fun. The orange-throwing thing, I mean, not the strangers' marriage proposals part. I've not attended such events in my entire 25 years, though. I wonder if they're gonna have this over at Taman Jaya tonight. Hhm.. Otherwise, I shall just stay at home and watch Lo Ka Leung on Wah Lai Toi's "Golden Faith" series. *wink*