Lavish offerings: A customer lifting prayer paraphernalia sold at a shop in Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling in preparation for the birthday of the Jade Emperor. — CHAN BOON KAI/The Star
GEORGE TOWN: The birthday celebration of Thnee Kong Seh (the Jade Emperor) tomorrow is set to be a grand affair with families hoping that their offerings would usher in a prosperous year.
Car accessory shop owner Ng Chee Way, 36, from Padang Serai, Kedah, travelled two hours to Penang just to purchase a carload of prayer paraphernalia, including a giant pineapple and a “heavenly house” folded using gold joss paper.
Ng, who was accompanied by his wife Tan Jing Yi, 26, said all they wish for is a more prosperous year.
He believes that his offering would be looked upon favourably.
“In the past, my parents only held simple prayers and made simple offerings at home, just like everyone else.
“Since last year, I started celebrating on a larger scale and saw positive feedback from it.
“As I was born in the Year of the Dragon, I hope this year will be good,” he said when met at a prayer paraphernalia shop in Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling yesterday.
The shop owner Jessica Lim, 61, said customers have been shopping for prayer items since before Chinese New Year, and, with this year being the Year of the Dragon, people are keen on celebrating the event on a grander scale.
“The most popular items on sale are shirts and offerings for the Jade Emperor.
“Some items cost up to RM400 each, yet customers are buying them despite the economic slowdown.
“This is a good sign. I hope everyone will recover and do better this year,” said Lim.
Over at the Chew Jetty where the birthday of the Jade Emperor is celebrated on a grand scale annually, preparations were underway for the event that starts 6pm tomorrow.
Chew Jetty Association chairman Chew Choon Seng said this would be the 117th Thnee Kong Seh birthday celebration at the clan jetty.
“We have some 70 families living along the jetty here and most of them would bring out their offerings to be placed on a 20m-long altar in front of the newly-restored Chau Yuan Gong Temple.
“Families from elsewhere would join in and there would be an array of other activities that night,” he said.
Pengkalan Kota assemblyman Wong Yuee Harng said there will be stage performances and prayer ceremonies to mark the celebration.
“There will be about 30 stalls on site. In addition to food stalls, people can also participate in traditional games and various workshops.
“We expect about 20,000 people to turn up for the celebration,” he said of the event, which starts on the night of the eighth day of the Chinese New Year.
The ninth day of the Chinese New Year, beginning at midnight, is the birthday of the Jade Emperor, the number one deity in the Taoist pantheon.
In folklore, the Jade Emperor rescued the ancestors of the Hokkiens from the clutches of an invading army.
Jetty residents in Penang celebrate it by dedicating an elaborate feast for the deity.
Chew Jetty, which is among the few surviving clan jetties, has one of the biggest communities celebrating it.
Houses there will prepare roast pigs, chickens, ducks, thnee kong kuih (peach-shaped cakes), ang koo (red glutinous tortoise cakes) and huat kuih (pink prosperity cakes) and lay them out on the long table.
Chews who are no longer living at the jetty will also return and add more items to the offering table.
