Today is the 7th day of the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Rat and the 7th day is also the common birthday for all humans!

The only CNY-related activity I had today is to watch another movie released in conjunction with Chinese New Year, i.e. Kung Fu Dunk starring Jay Chou, Eric Tsang and Charlene Choi. The theme of the movie is mainly a mixture of the game of basketball, kung fu, love, money and triads.

And the joy of Chinese New Year today has been overtaken by the announcement of the dissolution of the Parliament which stunned the nation when only yesterday the Prime Minister said the Parliament will not be dissolved today. The dates for nomination and voting will be fixed by the Election Commission tomorrow. It is speculated that nomination will be on 21 February (Chap Goh Mei Festival) while voting on 1 or 2 March. We’ll know tomorrow if these dates are correct.

Today is the 7th day of the Chinese Lunar New Year. The 7th day of the New Year is also known as the Common Birthday for everyone. I would like to wish everyone Happy Birthday.

Back to PJ this morning and the only thing today as part of my Chinese New Year celebrations was to watch the movie CJ7 at GSC 1 Utama starring Stephen Chow.

CJ7 is a fantasy tale featuring state of the art visual effects, CJ7 is a comedy about a poor laborer father played by Stephen Chow and his young son. When a fascinating and strange new pet enters their lives, they learn a poignant lesson about the true nature of family and the things money can’t buy.

Day 2 of the Lunar Year of the Rat

The 2nd day of the Chinese New Year celebrations feature visits by relatives in the morning and a dinner gathering with family and relatives at night - buffet style. Not so happening in the afternoon anyway.

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Meanwhile, RTM2 broadcasts their annual Chinese New Year musical program Pesta Ang Pau 2008 at 12.30pm today. I have been a faithful viewer of this program since 1997. The program features Kelvin Lau, Vicky Tan and Angeline Tan as hosts as well as various other local celebrities such as Glen Yu and One In A Million winner Suki Low. For the record, Kelvin Lau is a regular of this TV program, having appear in it without a miss since 1999.

Kelvin Lau in Pesta Ang Pau 2008

Day 1 of the Lunar Year of the Rat.

A happening day for me indeed. The usual routine each year on the first day, woke up early and then go for prayers in the temple. Then back home for breakfast and the usual photography at the living room that I have been doing since 2006.

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Then of course the annual gathering with my primary and secondary schoolmates, some of them with their spouse and children in the early afternoon.

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Another gathering at Seok Leng’s house in the late afternoon, a popular place for those with itchy hands during Chinese New Year. However, some of us would just spend our time there chit chatting.

Finally, dinner with my family and relatives where we have our lao sheng (捞生).