echo Written by Abhilashah Praba Thiagarajah
Chinese New Year 2018 has finally and officially come to a close. The 2nd of March (Chap Goh Mei) marked the final day of Chinese New Year that began on the 16th of February. So if you haven’t really been feeling the back to school vibe just yet, you’ve had a pretty good excuse until now. Chinese New Year is all about the coming together of friends and family, feasting on foods, firing crackers and is essentially a wonderful time of the year.
Sunway’s very own Chinese New Year Celebration, themed Reunion ‘FUN’ that was held on the 8th of February 2018 Organised by Sunway University’s Chinese Independent School Alumni Club (CISA) truly captured the very essence of Chinese New Year. Here’s a look at how Sunway Kick Started the Lunar New Year.
The 9-hour long event began with the much-loved lion dance performance by CISA, followed by a flash mob that got everyone reaching for their phones and even brought wide smiles on the faces of those bustling from class to class. The foyer was filled with music and people visiting the different Booths that exhibited Chinese cultural activities and games. Other performances included a diabolo performance (Chinese Yo-yo), a magic show and a beat-boxing showcase. To top it all off, was a performance by special guests Geraldine Gan and William Tan from Astro All-Stars. Sunway University’s Ensemble too partook in the day’s activities. They played the classic tango song Por Una Cabeza and the melodious mandarin song Hua Hao Yue Yuan.
A fellow Sunwayian and member of the Sunway University Ensemble, Nina said that “prep for the performance was really tiring, but it was super worth it in the end! I believe we played pretty well. All the prep sessions really did give us an opportunity to strengthen our bonds and understand each other’s playing styles a whole lot better. All in all, It was a great way to reel in the New Year.”
When asked how she celebrated Chinese New Year this year, Nina replied, “I am Indonesian Chinese and sadly we don’t celebrate Chinese New Year due to political issues in the past. My family and I, however, made a short trip to Bangkok and spent Chinese New Year there. It was really interesting to be able to see how differently the festival was celebrated over there.”
Other Sunway-ians, celebrated Chinese New Year in a more typical fashion. When asked, Zi Hui said laughing “I had almost every meal with my family, played with fireworks, went house-hopping and definitely gambled a whole lot!”
Evidently, regardless of ethnicity and cultural background, Chinese New Year definitely had something to offer to everyone. We really will be missing it…….but thankfully, we’ve got two more of these bad boys to look up to !! Hari Raya and Deepavali of course! I suppose that’s the beauty of living in Malaysia.
Happy Year of the Earth Dog Everyone!
