It’s back!: One of the five deities is taken out of the Xing Gong Temple for the procession;
JOHOR BARU: Hundreds of thousands of people flocked to the city here to witness the return of the Chingay Festival to its former glory after three years of subdued celebrations.
The Chingay procession began at 7pm yesterday, with scores of devotees leading the parade along a 7.8km stretch, blessing the city with the deities of the five major dialect groups – the Teochew, Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese and Hainanese.
The procession started from the Xing Gong Temple at Jalan Ulu Air Molek and passed through several roads in Johor Baru including Jalan Yahya Awal, Jalan Ibrahim, Jalan Wong Ah Fook, Jalan Gereja, Jalan Ngee Heng and Jalan Tun Abdul Razak.
Chants of “Heng Ah!” (prosperity) and “Huat Ah!” (good fortune) filled the air throughout the procession, especially when deities carried on palanquins passed by the main stage at Jalan Wong Ah Fook.
Devotees were seen waiting eagerly near the main stage here as early as 5pm.
The sea of people were treated to a variety of traditional performances, including lion and dragon dances and the iconic 24 Festive Drums performance.
Dozens of decorated floats were also visible, adding colour to the much-anticipated festival.
Sultan Ibrahim officiating the Chingay Festival at Jalan Wong Ah Fook. — THOMAS YONG/The Star
The festival was officiated by Johor Ruler Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar, who arrived to loud cheers at the main stage set up in front of the JBCC mall at about 8.35pm.
Also present on the stage were Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi, Johor state secretary Tan Sri Dr Azmi Rohani, International Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Liew Chin Tong, state tourism, environment, and culture committee chairman K. Raven Kumar, state health and unity committee chairman Ling Tian Soon, state investment, trade and consumer affairs committee chairman Lee Ting Han, and state youth, sports, entrepreneur development, cooperatives and human resources committee chairman Mohd Hairi Mad Shah.
Johor Baru Tiong Hua Association president Ho Sow Tong said he was hopeful that the over 100-year-old Johor Baru Chingay Festival would be recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).
“The festival was recognised as an intangible cultural heritage by the National Heritage Department in 2012.
“We hope that the department could speed off efforts to nominate the festival to the Unesco World Heritage,” he said in his address to the crowd.
He also said that the state’s many different races working together has helped it reach new heights while keeping peace and prosperity.
The four-day Chingay festival falls on Feb 9 to Feb 12 this year, and for Johoreans, the festival marks the end of the Chinese New Year celebration.
The Chingay festival returned to its pre-pandemic scale this year after being observed without fanfare since 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
