KUALA LUMPUR: The Chinese New Year (CNY) celebration today is made colourful with various cultural activities held by the Chinese community, including hosting open houses to foster closer relations among the multi-racial community in the country.
With the Chinese community ushering in the Year of the Rat, Malaysians of other races and cultural background also took advantage of the public holiday to visit their Chinese relatives and friends, making the celebration merrier.
In the federal capital, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his wife, Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, attended a CNY open house hosted by Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) at Menara PGRM here.
The couple was greeted on arrival at the venue by Gerakan president Datuk Dr Dominic Lau and then entertained a lion dance, cultural performances and singing of patriotic songs before joining other guests for the CNY prosperity toss, the “yee sang”.
Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali and his wife, Datin Seri Shamsidar Taharin, were among the more than 1,000 guests present.
In SELANGOR, the Chinese community in Jalan Raya Baray, Klang, started the day by going to the Kwan Imm Temple to perform their prayers before going to visit relatives and friends.
Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari was among the guests at Pandamaran State Assemblyman Leong Tuck Chee’s house in Bandar Bukit Tinggi, Klang, to wish him and his family a happy new year.
At 8 pm tonight, the i-City theme park at Section 7 in Shah Alam, will be the place to bring the family out to enjoy the weekend as various activities will be held in conjunction with the CNY celebration.
The public can look forward to watching the acrobatic lion dance, dragon dance, drum performance and fireworks.
The state-level CNY celebration in Selangor will be held on Feb 1 at Dataran Petaling Jaya.
