Today is the 5th day of the 5th month of the Chinese lunar calendar, which is the day of the Dragon Boat Festival (端午节).

Wishing everyone a Happy Dragon Boat Festival.

祝大家端午节快乐。

Wishing all Buddhists a Happy Wesak.

Today is the festival of Chitraparuvam for Hindu devotees. Various Hindu temples would organize festivities for devotees to thank Lord Muruga for the triumph of good over evil. Chitraparuvam falls on a full moon day in the month of Chitra, according to the traditional Hindu calendar.

The Sri Subramaniam Temple in Jalan Bandar, Teluk Intan is one of the well-known temples in Malaysia hosting the Chitraparuvam festival. Similar to the Thaipusam festival, devotees carry kavadi and have their body pierced.

In conjunction with the festival, temporary stalls are set up at various streets near the temple. Stalls are set up along Jalan Ah Cheong, Jalan Bandar, Jalan Selat, Jalan Mahkota and the Dataran Menara Condong. Attractions at the stalls include clothings, kitchenware, food and delicacies. One such stall which is my favorite each year, is the delicacy stall by K.V.M. Thulasiraman, offerring various traditional Indian sweets, candies, muruku and much more. A popular manufacturer and retailer of Indian sweets and candies, they are based in Sungai Petani, Kedah.

Tomorrow marks the end of the 1st quarter of the year 2008.

The 1st quarter of 2008 is indeed a happening 3 months! In January 2008, shortly after the ushering of the New Year, the Chinese were busy with preparations to welcome the Lunar Year of the Rat, which fell on 7 February. And mid-way during the 15-day Chinese New Year festivities, the Parliament and all state assemblies (except Sarawak) were dissolved, paving way for the 12th General Election on 8 March which saw a political tsunami with the ruling BN denied their 2/3 majority for the first time since 1969, lost Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor states as well as failed to capture Kelantan.

What is in store in the next quarter? Well, the 12th Parliament shall convene by the end of April. And talk is going on that we might see the 2nd wave of a political tsunami which will result in a new Prime Minister within this year. How far it is true, we just have to observe the happenings in the coming weeks. The recent results of the General Election shown that the impossible did happen after all.

The festivities that began in October last year, starting with Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Deepavali, Christmas and recently Chinese New Year finally came to an end moments ago. The festivities will make a comeback in October, starting again with Hari Raya Aidilfitri expected on 1 October 2008. Deepavali is on 27 October and Christmas is as usual on 25 December.

Chinese New Year will fall again on Monday, 26 January 2009. Till then, have a good year ahead!