Friday January 20, 2012

Greetings with a personal touch

ENTER THE DRAGON
By THO XIN YI
thoxinyi@thestar.com.my

WHAT better way than sending festive greetings with personalised cards? They are unique, special and make very interesting topic of conversation.

Not satisfied with just mass-produced Chinese New Year cards, politicians designed and custom-made their very own greeting cards to spread the festive cheer.

Symbolic: Dr Chua’s Chinese New Year card highlights the power of unity through the depiction of ants at work.

MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek’s Chinese New Year card emphasises on an important virtue — togetherness. Through the depiction of ants carrying a tree branch, he highlights the importance of unity to steer the country to greater success.

A golden Chinese character, long (dragon), takes centre stage on Health Ministry Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai’s Chinese New Year card.

It also comes with a detachable bookmark featuring a Chinese painting of peony flowers.

Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Donald Lim’s tri-fold card has an eyecatching 1Malaysia logo filled with adorable cartoons of Malaysians of different races.

It opens out to a photo of Lim conveying his Chinese New Year greetings.

A black-and-gold round motif of dragon is accompanied by greetings in three languages on the greeting card of Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatim.

It says on the inside: “May the good fortune around and wealth increase in your new year.”

Interesting pieces: Liow’s card (right) comes with a detachable bookmark while Dr Kow’s card is adorned with Mickey Mouse cartoon character.

Besides a pocket-sized 2012 calendar, Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen shared her ministerial duties on the card through a montage of photos of her attending official functions.

A family photo is also printed in the card to add a personal touch.

Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Datuk Chua Tee Yong sends his festive greetings along with an image of a golden paddy field under a bright sky to signify a great year.

As with previous years, iconic Disney character Mickey Mouse makes an appearance on Selangor MCA Youth chief Dr Kow Cheong Wei’s card.

There is also a photo of him wearing a red scarf that features a Mickey Mouse plush toy.

“Mickey Mouse is my spiritual leader,” the Mickey Mouse fan said.

Instead of traditional Chinese New Year greetings, Dr Kow intends to send the message of “wisdom and intellect lead to political prosperity” via the card.

Kinrara assemblyman Teresa Kok outdid herself once again with her creative Chinese New Year card.

Her Chinese opera singer look in the 2010 greeting card was still fresh on the people’s mind, but this year’s definitely tops her previous designs.

Modelled after an ancient kung fu manual, the card titled “Clean Politics Manual” has Kok demonstrating five kung fu styles, including “hitting” corupt officers with a stick and “chopping” cronyism with kung fu knife.

She has printed 10,000 copies of the card and would send the cards to those who email her at tkcny2012@yahoo.com with names and addresses.

Other politicians also produced personalised ang pow packets to be distributed during their walkabouts.

Subang Jaya assemblyman Hannah Yeoh’s featured a blooming peony and a Bible verse from the Book of Proverbs on the cover, and her photo and contact details at the back.

Meanwhile, Star Publications gets creative with its Chinese New Year e-greeting card, which bears the image of a snake next to a dragon.

It takes awhile to digest the message — snake is the next sign in the Chinese zodiac, so it symbolises Star Publications’ business philosophy of always looking ahead.

With the spring festival just around the corner, StarMetro wishes its readers a happy and prosperous Chinese New Year!