Huge Chingay Procession

Finally made it to the huge Chingay Procession this year. There were more than 100,000 people gathered in front of City Square waiting for the procession to reach Jalan Wong Ah Fook. It was amazing to see so many Johoreans gathering in a place which on normal days would be occupied by foreign workers. The procession started off from Jln Ulu Ayer Molek around 7pm as the crowd starts to build in anticipation of its arrival at City Square. Even the Menteri Besar was around to grace the ceremony, and he sat through the entire procession. Just before the procession arrived at 9.30pm, we were feted to a fireworks display and a spectacular lion dance performance by the Muar-based world champion. And now I understood why they were the champions!

It was also incredible to see how religious and devoted Johoreans are the 5 deities from the Old Temple. Many were holding huge joss sticks and everyone clasped their hands in prayer when each deity passes by.

Each deity is proceeded by a long number of floats and performances representing each Chinese group. The 130-year old tradition features numerous cultural performances, lion/dragon/tiger dances, Chinese clowns, beautifully decorated floats, martial arts troupes, huge Chingay flags etc. The 5 deities coming in at different points of time would be welcomed with eagerness. You have to catch the sight of the deities sitting on the carriage being swing in earnest as a sign of good fortune and prosperity. And accompanied each time by shouts of "Huat Ah" and "Heng Ah", which basically means good fortune. The Menteri Besar must have been amused and impressed by such show of devotion. By the time the last deity passes by it was past midnight. It was definitely an eye-opener to the age-old traditions of culture of the JB Chinese community. Definitely an event which should be promoted on Tourism Malaysia's calendar!

One of the deity being paraded. See if you can spot the deity. I took the pic from afar!
A float passing bay

One of the huge Chingay flags. Beware as it is swung around, sweeping just above your heads!

Some other facts about the Chingay procession:

• JB is the only place in the world where CNY is celebrated for 22 days instead of 15 days. And the highlight of this is the Chingay procession to mark the successful completion of the CNY celebrations.
• On the 19th day of CNY, a ceremonial cleaning of the streets would be carried out in preparation for the parading of the deities. The routes to be passed by the deities would be cleaned. It is also said that after completion of the cleaning rituals, the sky has never failed to open up and rain.
• On the 20th day of CNY, the 5 deities would be paraded from the JB Old Temple in the city center to a shrine at Jalan Ulu Ayer Molek where devotees can come to offer their prayers.
• On the 21st day of CNY, the Chingay Procession known as the Parade of the Deities would be the climax of the entire Chingay event. The 5 deities would be paraded from the shrine through the city center of JB before returning to the shrine. The event starts off at 7pm and by the time the procession returns to the shrine, it would be around 1 am.
• On the 22nd day of CNY, the 5 deities would be paraded back to the Old Temple, marking the end of the Chingay procession as well as the CNY celebrations in JB.

For more information on the annual event, check out this web site: http://jboldtemple.blogspot.com/. Pity though the site is only in Chinese.