Chinese New Year
For CNY, usually we can spot a lot of reds during the festival. Before the Chinese New Year, the Chinese community will clean the house and decorate the house with red paper crafts, red symbolises good luck to them. Elders will also give out red packets to the younger ones, the red packets symbolises lucky money, and usually they will use the money to gamble. During the CNY eve, relatives will gather together and have their reunion dinner together, the more the merrier. Dress code is also one of the sign can be seen during CNY, female will be wearing Cheongsam and Samfu.
Hari Raya
As for Hari Raya Puasa, it is usually signified using green colour. Hari Raya Puasa is the mark of the end of the fasting month. One of the sign during Raya is their dress code, Malay community are often dressed in their traditional cloths baju kurung(ladies) and baju melayu(gents). Besides that, during Raya, the younger Malay community will ask for forgiveness and blessing from the elderly by kissing the elderly's hands. During Raya, a lot of dishes will also be prepared for the relatives to enjoy.
Hari Deepavali
During Deepavali in Malaysia, there would be "Kolam" a colourful floor decorative art drawn using different materials such as turmeric powder and rice grains. The other sign is the oil lamp which fill up the ambience with warm glow. The oil lamp symbolises the triumph of the good over the evil. Similar to CNY and Raya, clothing is one of the signs of Deepavali too, the Indian traditional cloths. The surrounding during Deepavali would be very colouful.
From the above are most of the common sign seen during the traditional festive season. These are all the small little signs which helps us to understand each traditional festive's culture and background.
Parkinson, R. 2013. Chinese New Year. [online] Available at: http://chinesefood.about.com/od/chinesenewyear/a/newyearlegends_2.htm [Accessed: 2 Aug 2013].
Festivals-holidays.com. 2012. Hari Raya Puasa – Malaysia. [online] Available at: http://www.festivals-holidays.com/hari-raya-puasa-malaysia/ [Accessed: 2 Aug 2013].
Festivals-holidays.com. 2012. Deepavali: The Festival of Lights – Malaysia. [online] Available at: http://www.festivals-holidays.com/deepavali-the-festival-of-lights-malaysia/ [Accessed: 2 Aug 2013].
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