A fascinating Chap Goh Meh legend tells the story of a lonely young man who, during an outing on this very significant night, was suddenly enraptured by the most beautiful sight he ever laid eyes on. Who was this exquisitely delicate beauty driving by in all her finery, he wondered. Despite the excitement pounding in his heart, the hopeful young gentleman quickly jotted down the number of her car, lest he forgot. The very next day, he made enquiries as to who the car belonged to, and finally obtained the car owner's address. With great haste, he requested his mother to send a matchmaker to his dream girl's home to arrange the marriage. In his rush, the star-crossed optimist did not realise that the girl he had seen was not the daughter of the house but a visiting niece. And so on his wedding day, the poor groom found that instead of the radiant smiling girl he had expected, he was married to her fat and rather plain cousin. The story does have a rather happy ending though, as his wife was a wealthy woman!
Chap Goh Meh represents the fifteenth and final day of the Lunar New Year period as celebrated by Chinese migrant communities. The term is from the Hokkien dialect and literally means the fifteenth day of the first month.
It is the occasion of the first full moon of the New Year.
The occasion is marked by feasting and various festivities, including the consumption of Tangyuan. In traditional Chinese culture, it is also celebrated as the Lantern Festival or the Shang Yuan Festival. In Southeast Asia, however, it coincides with the Chinese Valentine's Day. It is also when young unmarried women gather to toss tangerines into the sea, in a hope that their future spouse will pick it up - a custom that originated in Penang, Malaysia. In the past, this is also the only day that unmarried ladies can be seen with their partners.
Source: Penang Tourism and Wikipedia
I realized that growing up in Penang and spending school holidays in KL influenced me in myriad ways. Deep down, I'm quite glad it wasn't the other way round, or else I wouldn't learn to appreciate culture as much. Penang, is a vibrant place, never short of celebrations and festivals. Of course, the fireworks there aren't as superb as the ones in KL and Singapore (you need a lot of money for that amount of fireworks, and personally, I sometimes think that the money used on fireworks could be better used elsewhere). However, when it comes to cultural celebrations, I think Penang wins hands down. Despite it being smaller in scale, I think, it's the atmosphere that makes it all genuine. The difference is the people who are there to celebrate, and not to watch. Penangites should hold on to this treasure. I think too many of us are disillusioned by the city life, learning to love clean streets, tall steel buildings, polished glass, and other urban features. It's like trying to Westernize the East. That's quite an oxymoron.
Sometimes, we need to think our actions before we act. One may not make a difference, but a herd of lemmings will. And if we all head for the cliff, who's left to save us? I hope we all do not let go of what we grew up with.
Happy Chap Goh Meh :)
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