Cultural showcase: A colourful display of tradition captivating the crowd as 80 floats make their way through the streets of Johor Baru during the Chingay festival. — THOMAS YONG/The Star
THE streets of Johor Baru came to life when thousands of people joined in the much-awaited Chingay procession after three years of scaled down celebrations.
Johor Baru Tiong Hua Association president Ho Sow Tong said the estimated number of people at the popular festival was more than in 2019 – the last time a full-scale celebration of the festival took place before the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We expected a crowd of about 300,000 people but we believe the number was much higher based on what we saw on Saturday night.
“Many were excited to take part in the procession as it had been three years since Chingay was celebrated with such fanfare.
“The procession was also on a weekend, making it easier for devotees and visitors to join in.
“And all 200,000 T-shirts prepared for the five main dialect clans sold out.
“This does not include visitors from other races and other countries as well as those who opted to use T-shirts from previous years,” he told StarMetro.
A whimsical parade along Jalan Wong Ah Fook during the celebration.
Ho said hotels around town were fully booked during the four-day festival, indicating that there were many out-of-town visitors as well at the cultural event.
“The return of the festival is a blessing for us, especially Johor Baru’s Chinese community who were unable to take part in the procession when Covid-19 hit the country.
“People had been asking us since months ago if the festival would go on this year, and thankfully it did,” he added.
The four-day Chingay festival was from Feb 9 to Feb 12 and for Johoreans, it marked the end of the Chinese New Year celebration.
On the first day, a street-cleansing ceremony took place where holy water steeped in tea and pomelo leaves was sprinkled along the 7.8km procession route to ward off evil spirits and make way for the deities.
On the second day, five deities of the main dialect clans – Hokkien, Cantonese, Hainan, Hakka and Teochew – underwent a purification process where they were wiped and cleaned before being placed on palanquins and carried from the Johor Ancient Temple in Jalan Trus to the Xing Gong Temple in Jalan Ulu Air Molek.
The festival’s highlight was on the third day when the Chingay procession began.
The street cleansing ceremony on the first day of Chingay where holy water steeped in tea and pomelo leaves are sprinkled along the procession route to ward off evil spirits and make way for the deities.
This was when the five deities were taken on a “tour” to bless the city and her people.
On the final day, the five deities were carried from the Xing Gong Temple back to the Johor Ancient Temple where they would remain until the next Chingay festival.
Ho said the popularity of the Johor Baru Chingay Festival had grown over the years, with people coming from afar to witness the colourful ceremony.
“In the early days, it was only considered a significant event for the Chinese community but today, we have people of other races coming to see the procession and cultural performances.
“The festival has been a symbol of diversity for Johor and we hope that this continues,” he said.
He also hoped that the festival would be recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).
“We are hoping that the National Heritage Department speeds up efforts to nominate the festival to the Unesco.
“We have been pushing this for many years and hope to see this happening soon,” he added.
The Johor Baru Chingay Festival was accorded National Heritage status by the government in 2012.
Ho explained that the festival had been carried out annually for more than 150 years, except on two occasions – in 1942 because of World War II and in 1952 after the death of King George VI.
“Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, Chingay was still observed but it was scaled down significantly.
“In 2020, the deities were taken on a tour around the city on five trucks.
“In 2021, the five clans’ committee members and the Johor Baru Tiong Hua Association observed the festival at the Johor Ancient Temple. No procession was carried out that year.
“Last year, we were able to continue the procession but only 11 floats were allowed. Each float carried 20 association committee members,” he said.
Ho was relieved that the rainy season did not affect the ceremonies planned for this year’s festival.
“There is a belief that rain will never fall during the Chingay procession and this has been the case for years.
“Even if it rains, it falls before or after the procession. On Saturday, it drizzled a little bit before the procession.
“On Sunday, when the five deities were being taken back to the Johor Ancient Temple, it only rained heavily after the whole process was over,” he noted.
The procession kicked off at 7pm on Saturday with scores of devotees joining in.
The colourful parade, involving more than 80 floats, started from the Xing Gong Temple and passed through several roads including Jalan Yahya Awal, Jalan Ibrahim, Jalan Wong Ah Fook, Jalan Gereja, Jalan Ngee Heng and Jalan Tun Abdul Razak before returning to the temple at around 1.30am.
Johor Ruler Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar launched the event at the main stage set up in front of JBCC Mall in Jalan Wong Ah Fook.
Those witnessing the procession were treated to a variety of traditional performances including lion and dragon dances and the 24-season drum performance.
Also present were Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi, Johor state secretary Tan Sri Dr Azmi Rohani as well as several state executive councillors.
