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Celebrated on the 15th day of the Chinese New Year, Chap Goh Mei marks the final day of the Chinese New Year celebration as well as the first full moon of the Lunar New Year. Translated literally, Chap Goh Mei in Hokkien dialect means ‘the 15th night of Chinese New Year’. In Mandarin, the celebration is referred to as Yuan Xiao Jie. This interesting festival is celebrated with a myriad of fascinating rituals and activities.
The end of the auspicious Chinese New Year celebration is usually marked with gaily decorated homes, with red lanterns and bright lights hung around the house. Being part of the Chinese New Year celebration, fireworks and firecrackers are no strangers to Chap Goh Mei. Wherever it is permitted, firecrackers resound through the night and fireworks add splashes of colour to the evening sky. It is indeed a lively celebration.
The 15th night of Chinese New Year is the time for family gatherings. Family members will make their way to gather for a special dinner to conclude the Lunar New Year celebration. It is also the time when prayers are held and offerings set out on a grand scale.
Apart from being known as the last day of Chinese New Year celebration, it is also hailed as the Chinese Valentine’s Day. The activities that take place on Chap Goh Mei add to the gaiety and excitement to the official closure of the festivities that had taken place since the eve of the New Year. In some places, young ladies, donning their best outfits, would flock the temple ground where thanksgiving ceremonies are held, hoping to find prospective suitors. In other places, the orange-throwing ritual takes place.
Originated from Penang towards the end of the 19th century, this interesting ritual involves single women tossing mandarin oranges into the sea. It is commonly believed that the ritual does not only serve to signify the availability of the ladies, but also help them to find good husbands. The belief also holds that if the floating orange is being picked up, the person who threw it would be blessed with a good spouse.
In the past, when community life was still very much bound by tradition, Chap Goh Mei was highly anticipated as it is the only day when the young women could leave the house and the singles are allowed to mingle and socialise. Although this is not the case anymore in today’s world, the unique ritual is still widely practised, adding excitement to the annual festivity.
In Penang, a huge crowd gathers at the Esplanade every year to toss oranges into the sea. The biggest form of the Chinese Valentine’s day this year was held at Taman Tasik Permaisuri in Kuala Lumpur by CHENG PAI EVENTS on February 21, 2008, involving 2,500 participants. The hopeful singles threw their mandarin oranges into the lake, witnessed by 15,000 bystanders.
Chap Goh Mei is graced by cultural performances like lion dances, dragon dances, and musical bands; and in some places like Penang, the Chingay parade becomes the highlight of the festival. The elaborate display of lanterns is hardly missed, since the festival is also celebrated as the Lantern Festival. To those celebrating Chap Goh Mei, the rituals observed have both religious and cultural significance, but to spectators and other community members, it is a vibrant celebration loaded with colours and sounds.