Kedah Lunar New Year
by prudence on 25-Jan-2012
Many things characterize Malaysia's celebration of Lunar New Year.
Frantic shopping, of course, with gorgeous arrays of lanterns and mandarins and other red, pink, and orange paraphernalia. And then the shutting of shops, as people go home to be with their families.
Bursts of colourful fireworks to herald in the New Year (this year is the Year of the Dragon). And then the burning of incense and various ritual items the following day, complete with volleys of fire crackers.
And lion dance teams, heading out on little trucks, drumming as they go, ready to put paid to the evil spirits.
All this was in evidence in the Chinese community in Alor Star, way up in the state of Kedah.
But another Lunar New Year phenomenon marked the beginning and end of the four-day break. Traffic...
We'd booked a coach to Sungai Petani. Leaving at 9.30 am, it was supposed to arrive at 2 pm (which we always thought was a tad optimistic, given the distance). In the event, we arrived at Sungai Petani just before 7 pm... At one memorable stage, it took an hour to cover 13 km... On the way back, we were due in at 9.15 pm, and arrived at 11.45 pm...
Now, this was not nearly as traumatic as it could have been. We arrived both ways safe and sound. And at the end of the day, we weren't responsible for the driving, which was shared by two noble bus personnel. We'd taken plentiful supplies of food and drink. I had a good book, and Nigel a phone pre-loaded with music. The scenery was lovely, especially the mountainous section north of Ipoh.
But it did affect our plans. We'd intended to visit the Bujang Valley archaeological park, but just couldn't stomach the thought of more hours on a bus...
What we did experience of Kedah, however, was great.
Sungai Petani is a pretty little town, with some nice old shophouses, a grand colonial bank, and the inevitable clock tower.
The road to Alor Star takes you past rice fields and rice mills and lovely traditional houses. The city itself is wonderfully picturesque. Its padang is encircled by a huge variety of architecture -- a lovely black-domed mosque, some white colonial edifices, a couple of yellowy-tawny towers, and an open-sided, Thai-influenced pavilion in shades of yellow and green. Some of its river banks have been pleasantly set out with paths and benches (admittedly there's a little too much of that faux wood concrete whose popularity seemed to sweep the entire region at some point, but nevertheless, this area is a nice amenity). Here, old men sit, singly or in groups, to smoke and contemplate, or play drafts and put the world to rights; younger men fish or just hang out; families stage their Lunar New Year picnics.
The food was interestingly different. What we had was definitely spicier -- Thai influence, perhaps? We also had a completely new kind of roti, roti jala -- softer, doughier, and full of little holes. And laicikang -- I don't know if I've just not spotted this before, but it was everywhere in Alor Star. It's obviously a cousin of ais kacang, and consists of lychees, beans, and the usual little jujubes floating with a set of ice-bergs in a sea of lychee juice. Very refreshing.
Over the course of two and a half days, we did the rounds of the little art gallery, the royal museum (where we were disappointed to find no gifts -- surely the Sultan has a Dome of the Rock, just like his southern confreres?), the state museum, the large observation tower, and the Pekan Rabu, where there are dozens of little shops selling traditional Malay crafts, clothes, and sweets. (It seems the current Pekan Rabu building was set up with the express purpose of promoting Malay commerce.)
Two sights particularly stand out. One is the birthplace of former Prime Minister Mahathir. The original building -- a pleasant but simple traditional stilt house -- has now been joined by a couple of exhibitions, detailing the early life and local connections of this famously controversial politician. One glass case contains dummies displaying his three trademark outfits -- track suit, "bush suit" (the one with the multi-pocketed, shirt-like jacket), and Malay-design dress shirt. I will not easily forget the moment when a couple of cleaners opened up this cabinet, and while one supervised, the other set about Mahathir's clothes with a heavyweight dust-busting cloth. Whack, whack, whack -- it would have made an excellent photo, but of course, photos are not allowed inside. Next door to the house, in the same compound, is the old ice factory, where ammonia turned water into ice in a process I won't even begin to attempt to describe.
The other very distinctive monument is Wat Siam Nikrodharam -- a very typically Thai temple, but with interesting cultural imports, like a statue of Guan Yin. This is a very obvious reminder of Kedah's longstanding historical connections with Thailand. (In the state museum, we saw replicas of the tree of silver and the tree of gold that the rulers of Kedah had to regularly present to the king of Siam -- and the Japanese handed Kedah over to the Thais at one stage during World War 2.) Here we made the acquaintance of a Thai monk, who is working at the temple, and kindly gave us some New Year oranges.
All in all, I'd thoroughly recommend Alor Star as a destination. (And I completely don't understand why there are so few foreign tourists -- we saw about four others in total, most of them waiting for buses. We were such a curiosity that the guy who served us the roti jala took Nigel's picture.) Maybe don't go at Lunar New Year, though...
Postscript: I have to record that we bought a dragon, George, while in Alor Star. He is appropriately red and yellow. And today, back at work, I got my first ang pow ever. These are little red envelopes containing money, usually given to the single people in a family at Lunar New Year. But the owner of our university gives one to all the staff. Just a small amount -- but a very, very nice gesture.
Frantic shopping, of course, with gorgeous arrays of lanterns and mandarins and other red, pink, and orange paraphernalia. And then the shutting of shops, as people go home to be with their families.
Bursts of colourful fireworks to herald in the New Year (this year is the Year of the Dragon). And then the burning of incense and various ritual items the following day, complete with volleys of fire crackers.
And lion dance teams, heading out on little trucks, drumming as they go, ready to put paid to the evil spirits.
All this was in evidence in the Chinese community in Alor Star, way up in the state of Kedah.
But another Lunar New Year phenomenon marked the beginning and end of the four-day break. Traffic...
We'd booked a coach to Sungai Petani. Leaving at 9.30 am, it was supposed to arrive at 2 pm (which we always thought was a tad optimistic, given the distance). In the event, we arrived at Sungai Petani just before 7 pm... At one memorable stage, it took an hour to cover 13 km... On the way back, we were due in at 9.15 pm, and arrived at 11.45 pm...
Now, this was not nearly as traumatic as it could have been. We arrived both ways safe and sound. And at the end of the day, we weren't responsible for the driving, which was shared by two noble bus personnel. We'd taken plentiful supplies of food and drink. I had a good book, and Nigel a phone pre-loaded with music. The scenery was lovely, especially the mountainous section north of Ipoh.
But it did affect our plans. We'd intended to visit the Bujang Valley archaeological park, but just couldn't stomach the thought of more hours on a bus...
What we did experience of Kedah, however, was great.
Sungai Petani is a pretty little town, with some nice old shophouses, a grand colonial bank, and the inevitable clock tower.
The road to Alor Star takes you past rice fields and rice mills and lovely traditional houses. The city itself is wonderfully picturesque. Its padang is encircled by a huge variety of architecture -- a lovely black-domed mosque, some white colonial edifices, a couple of yellowy-tawny towers, and an open-sided, Thai-influenced pavilion in shades of yellow and green. Some of its river banks have been pleasantly set out with paths and benches (admittedly there's a little too much of that faux wood concrete whose popularity seemed to sweep the entire region at some point, but nevertheless, this area is a nice amenity). Here, old men sit, singly or in groups, to smoke and contemplate, or play drafts and put the world to rights; younger men fish or just hang out; families stage their Lunar New Year picnics.
The food was interestingly different. What we had was definitely spicier -- Thai influence, perhaps? We also had a completely new kind of roti, roti jala -- softer, doughier, and full of little holes. And laicikang -- I don't know if I've just not spotted this before, but it was everywhere in Alor Star. It's obviously a cousin of ais kacang, and consists of lychees, beans, and the usual little jujubes floating with a set of ice-bergs in a sea of lychee juice. Very refreshing.
Over the course of two and a half days, we did the rounds of the little art gallery, the royal museum (where we were disappointed to find no gifts -- surely the Sultan has a Dome of the Rock, just like his southern confreres?), the state museum, the large observation tower, and the Pekan Rabu, where there are dozens of little shops selling traditional Malay crafts, clothes, and sweets. (It seems the current Pekan Rabu building was set up with the express purpose of promoting Malay commerce.)
Two sights particularly stand out. One is the birthplace of former Prime Minister Mahathir. The original building -- a pleasant but simple traditional stilt house -- has now been joined by a couple of exhibitions, detailing the early life and local connections of this famously controversial politician. One glass case contains dummies displaying his three trademark outfits -- track suit, "bush suit" (the one with the multi-pocketed, shirt-like jacket), and Malay-design dress shirt. I will not easily forget the moment when a couple of cleaners opened up this cabinet, and while one supervised, the other set about Mahathir's clothes with a heavyweight dust-busting cloth. Whack, whack, whack -- it would have made an excellent photo, but of course, photos are not allowed inside. Next door to the house, in the same compound, is the old ice factory, where ammonia turned water into ice in a process I won't even begin to attempt to describe.
The other very distinctive monument is Wat Siam Nikrodharam -- a very typically Thai temple, but with interesting cultural imports, like a statue of Guan Yin. This is a very obvious reminder of Kedah's longstanding historical connections with Thailand. (In the state museum, we saw replicas of the tree of silver and the tree of gold that the rulers of Kedah had to regularly present to the king of Siam -- and the Japanese handed Kedah over to the Thais at one stage during World War 2.) Here we made the acquaintance of a Thai monk, who is working at the temple, and kindly gave us some New Year oranges.
All in all, I'd thoroughly recommend Alor Star as a destination. (And I completely don't understand why there are so few foreign tourists -- we saw about four others in total, most of them waiting for buses. We were such a curiosity that the guy who served us the roti jala took Nigel's picture.) Maybe don't go at Lunar New Year, though...
Postscript: I have to record that we bought a dragon, George, while in Alor Star. He is appropriately red and yellow. And today, back at work, I got my first ang pow ever. These are little red envelopes containing money, usually given to the single people in a family at Lunar New Year. But the owner of our university gives one to all the staff. Just a small amount -- but a very, very nice gesture.