Differences between my chinese new year and jess christmas...

My Chinese New Year is a big differences from Jess Christmas.I ate steamboat on Chinese New Year,but Jess family do not eat steamboat during Christmas. I received lots of Hong Bao ,but during Jess's christmas,he only received a box of water color from leslie and a dollar from his parents.
In Christmas,there is a believe that christmas would come in the midnight to give away presents ,but in Chinese we do not have such a believe and just gets Hong Bao.Also during chinese new year ,only married couples give out Hong Bao but during Christmas, people from all ages can exchange presents. Jess parents actually went for shopping just before Christmas,but during chinnese new year the adults would usually cahnge into some new notes and put it in a red packet.These are mostly the reasons about how i celebrate Chinese New Year and how Jess' family celebrate Christmas.

Interesting facts of Chinese New Year by Kangwei & junyi

Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later and the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.
New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. - celebrate the onset of the New Year by eating the communal feast called "surrounding the stove" or weilu. It symbolizes family unity and honors the past and present generations.

The first day of the Lunar New Year is "the welcoming of the gods of the heavens and earth."Many people abstain from meat on the first day of the new year because it is believed that this will ensure long and happy lives for them.
On the second day, the Chinese pray to their ancestors as well as to all the gods. They are extra kind to dogs and feed them well as it is believed that the second day is the birthday of all dogs.

The third and fourth days are for the sons-in-laws to pay respect to their parents-in-law.
The fifth day is called Po Woo. On that day people stay home to welcome the God of Wealth. No one visits families and friends on the fifth day because it will bring both parties bad luck.

On the sixth to the 10th day, the Chinese visit their relatives and friends freely. They also visit the temples to pray for good fortune and health.


The seventh day of the New Year is the day for farmers to display their produce. These farmers make a drink from seven types of vegetables to celebrate the occasion. The seventh day is also considered the birthday of human beings. Noodles are eaten to promote longevity and raw fish for success.

On the eighth day, the people have another family reunion dinner, and at midnight they pray to Tian Gong, the God of Heaven.

The ninth day is to make offerings to the Jade Emperor.
The 10th through the 12th are days that friends and relatives should be invited for dinner. After so much rich food, on the 13th day you should have simple rice congee and mustard greens (choi sum) to cleanse the system.

The 14th day should be for preparations to celebrate the Lantern Festival which is to be held on the 15th night.

Facts and opinions about hari raya

Do you know what is hari raya and how and why it is celebrated?

Well lets start off with the meaning of Hari Raya. Hari Raya means day of celebration. The malay term for this muslim festival is called Eid ul-Fitr. The main greeting used by Muslims in Malaysia and Singapore is "Selamat Hari Raya" which means "Happy Eid" in Malay. Another greeting is "maaf zahir dan batin" which translates loosely to "I seek forgiveness (from you) physically and spiritually", for Hari Raya is a time to reconcile and renew relationships with others.

On the eve of Hari Raya, Muslims will recite the takbir, which is held in mosques and surau (smaller place of worship). In some communities, there will be congregations reciting the takbir from house to house.In big cities and towns, shopping malls and commercial centres will hold big promotions and price discounts for festive shoppers as people purchase clothes and supplies. Decorations are hung in public areas and Hari Raya songs will be played in shopping complexes. The media, such as the television will host various programs in conjunction with the celebrations.

Many people also traditionally return to their hometown generally from big metropolitan cities to rural areas. This is known as balik kampung — literally going back to one's home town to celebrate Hari Raya with family and friends. At many times, the flux of vehicles on the roads nationwide increased the number of car accidents, including deadly ones, occurring during the festive season. Road safety campaigns are often launched by the authorities ahead of the festivities in the effort of lowering the discomforting number of accidents.

Days before Hari Raya, house compounds, particularly those in the countryside will be lit up with oil lamps known as pelita or panjut. This display of oil lamps will reach its height on the 27th night of Ramadan, called the Tujuh Likur night. 'Likur' literally meaning a figure between 20 and 30, hence 'tujuh likur' means twenty seven. Originally during the early days of the arrival of Islam among the Malays, the purpose of lighting the oil lamps was to attract spirits and angels to descend to people's homes during the night of Lailatulqadar. However after ages has passed, such misconception is regarded counterfactual as much understanding of Islam were obtained. Nowadays the oil lamps are lit solely for decorational purposes.

On the morning of Hari raya, Muslims will attend Eid prayer and consecrate together harmoniously while taking the chance to meet and greet each other. Once the prayer is done, it is also common for Muslims in Malaysia to visit the grave of their loved ones. During this visit, they will clean the grave, perform the recital of the Yasin — a chapter (surah) from the Qur'an and also the tahlil or prayers for the deceased. All these are done in hope that their loved ones are blessed by God and they are spared from the punishment in the grave.
The rest of the day is spent visiting relatives or serving visitors. Hari Raya is a very joyous day for children for this is the day where adults are extra generous. Children will be given token sums of money, also known as duit raya from their parents and elders.

During the night, there are often celebrations with sparklers and firecrackers, albeit restrictions on playing firecrackers enforced by the authorities. Most firecracker stocks are purchased and smuggled illegally from black markets. Safety issues, especially among children are raised and alarming cases relating to injuries caused by playing firecrackers are often reported, which initially led to the banning of playing firecrackers. Despite of the enforcement of banning firecrackers, more Malay children turn to home-made firecrackers such as meriam buluh (bamboo cannon) as alternatives to commercial fireworks. Usually the lighting of firecrackers begins a few days before the end of Ramadan, and continues for about a week afterwards.

As a muslim, i enjoy Hari raya because i will be able to receive a lot of money and i will also be able to get rid of any sins i have done by asking for forgiveness from my elders. i also enjpy hari raya because i am able to eat cakes, sweets, biscuits and various delicacies like ketupat or rice cake and a meat cuisine called rendang are among. Some of these delicacies can only be found during Hari Raya so i really enjoy eating during Hari Raya.

Comapre and contrast by Kang Wei

Jess’s Christmas

1) Jess’s parents went to Millsburg Plaza for their last-minute shopping.
2) Jess’s parents gave a dollar to each member of the family.
3) Jess’s parents bought a racing-car set for Jess, bobby socks for Brenda and a pair of panty hose for Ellie.
4) Jess’s good friend, Leslie bought a box of watercolours for him as Christmas present while he gave Leslie a puppy which did not cost any amount.
5) Jess’s younger siblings believe in Santa Claus coming to their house and give them presents.

My Christmas

1) My parents do not do their shopping at the last-minute and instead they did their shopping a few days before Christmas.
2) Unlike Jess’s parents, my parents do not give me money for Christmas.
3) My parents let my brother and I chose the Christmas presents we wanted.
4) Like Jess, I also have good friends who traded Christmas presents with me too. I do not usually expect the presents to be really great.
5) I do not believe that there is Santa Claus and I know that Santa Claus is just a fairytale.

Difference & similarity on how i celebrate chinese new year & jess's celebration of christmas by junyi

I am sure everyone who read this blog want to know more about festival so let me tell you the difference of chinese new year and christmas first...

Normally , Chinese new year last for 15 days but as for Christmas it it last for 12 days . secondly , during Chinese New Year, couple like my parent will give other children red packet and the people who just found their work, will give their red packet to the elderly like my grandmother ONLY . As for Christmas, Christian usually do some exchanging of present with each other like what jess in (Bridge to Terabithia)did by giving a cute dog to leslie while leslie gave him a box of colour pencils. Thirdly, White mean the color of joy, holiness, and light, is the proper liturgical color for the Christmas season. But for CNY , people usually wear red as it mean auspicious and will bring good luck to other .Finally During Chinese New year , we would have lion dancer to get rid of the bad luck but Jess and leslie did not do that and we will eat (wanlu)steamboat as It symbolizes family unity and honors the past and present generations. But jess and his family did not eat steamboat ... =X.

So these are some of the differences I and Jess have when we celebrate our festive seasons.

Comparisons between me and Jess by Shahrazaf Khan

Comparisons between Jess and Me

Firstly during hari raya, I would receive packets of money but during Christmas, jess received presents. Also during hari raya only the married, like my parents, will be giving out money while the non-married, like me, will receive the money but during Christmas presents can be given from the old to the young and also from the young to the old, like what Leslie and jess did to each other. During hari raya I would also kneel down in front our parents and elders and ask for forgiveness for all my mistakes that I have done throughout the whole year but jess just thanked his parents for giving him those presents. Little kids like jess’s younger sisters believe in Santa Claus and think they receive presents from him but little Muslim kids know that they receive their money only from married people. During christmas the whole house will be decorated just like hari raya but during christmas people have a christmas tree in their house. So these are some of the differences i and jess have when we celebrate our different festive seasons.

Happy Chinese New Year !!! by JunYi

I'm sure every chinese celebrate chinese new year anually. This is a occasion celebrate in many diiferent way . Let me share with you how i celebrate this occasion.... =X

On the eve of Chinese New Year, i went to the school to celebrate the joyous event . After that , i went home to take a nap . Time sure fly fast when you were sleeping, when i woke up it already 11.30 pm and i were left with half an hour to tidy up then at 11.59pm i and my family count down . At 12 pm sharp ,we went to the corridor to light the electronic firecrackers then we went to eat our reunion dinner =D. It was delicious. soon , my mother placed the "suan"on the cardboard. we stayed up till 4am then we went to sleep as its a traditional that the later we sleep, the longer our parent can live.

The next morning, we woke up at about 9am and i saw my parent were putting money into the red packet (hong bao) and they called me go And take a bathe as we were going out soon. After bathing , we dressed up in our new outfit and they gave my sister , brother and I $28 dollar each . After that at about 10 am i went to my paternal's grandmother house at kallang to collect red packets and chit-chat with my cousin. Then i go to my maternal's mother side at about 1pm it is also located at kallang and we ate alot of tibit and BBQ pork (rou gan).A few hours later we went to my elder sister 's babysitter who babysit her 10 year ago .we had fun playing with her daughter 's son who came from New Zealand and we ate the steamboat cooked by her it was so delicious. After that we went home happily and counted the money in the car and i had about $200 and this is how i spent my Chinese New Year

On the 2nd lunar day , i went to my parent's shop to see the lion dance (chye qing) which mean to bring in good luck then i went to my friend house at 1pm and had alot of fun play uno and "Truth and dare". About 3.30 pm my parent and sister came to fetch me and we went to my uncle 's house to eat and have fun by gambling money ^v^and i lost about 20 dollars but on the 3rd lunar day , there is no activities so i stayed at home to finished those homework that need to be done.

On the 4th lunar day, during the night ,we went to a restuarant near bedokto eat reunion dinner and i sit with my grandmother as you know sometime old people are quite troublesome and complain alot of your behaviour so my cousin and i do not dare to eat alot of food to prevent getting nagged T_T. when i eat the (yu sheng )i knew it was different from the one i ate previous year so i asked the waiter , he told me it a teochew style.after that i felt very dissapointed as the fun is going to end due to school opening the next day.

On the 8th lunar day, which is on friday, my family and I went to jalan bersak to eat dinner with my aunt and cousins and we ate delicacies from (pu tian)found in China. It was delicious.

How i celebrated Chinese New Year by junyu {35}

On the Eve of Chinese New Year,i had steamboat in the afternoon at my mother's mother home .Everybody was there accept for my uncle .He was the only exception as he actually work overseas and is very inconvenien for him to just come back for a few days than go back to work.The steamboat was also very delicious.At that night ,I slept at 1.am as I played game game game through out the night.

The very next day,I woke up early in the morning .The thing I did early in the morning were different from all the usual days.I quickly take two big madrine oranges and pay respect to my mother and my father.Theyall gave me and my brother an Hong Bao each.I was surprised of what i receive when i opened the Hong Bao as all the three Hong Bao contain more money of what i expected,and they each gave me $80.After that ,my father drove me to my father's mother house .When we reached there ,it was quite early because no one else reach there except for my second auntie and uncle.I chat with my cousin there,we had quite a good chat as we had not met up for a very long time.Time flies past ,soon all my father brothers arrive and I receive lots of Hong Bao from them.The lunch came very fast,this year lunch is very special as it is cooked by my grandmother personally.After the lunch i went to my mother's mother house.At there,we played some game played during Chinese New Year called the blackjack,usally called "Ban luck"by us.I earned some money,but not alot because we does not play with lots of money at one time.We went to the Japanese village and eat then went home.

On lunar Day two,I went to my fifth auntie house.She lives in a terrace house and it was very beautifully decorated.We had buffet there and we had "Lao Yu Sheng"there.I really enjoyed that place as it is big and can allow me to have lots of freedom.

On the third Lunar Day,my father brought my whole family to vivo city and wtch the movie called "Kung Fu Dunk".The show was marvallous and quite hillarious at some part of the show.But i strongly agreed that the show was rather fake and is somehow in the imaginary world.After the fantastic show ,we went to KFC to have our dinner and went home happily.
On the fourth Lunar day we stayed at home and rest before the holiday ended.
Unfortunately ,the holiday ended so quicly, but I am still in the mood of Chinese New Year because the 15 Days still have not pass yet.I really hope that the next Chinese New Year will come soon.

How i celebrate my Hari Raya by Shahrazaf

Hari raya
Until this very moment, I could still remember how I celebrated my last hari raya puasa. On the eve of Hari Raya, my family and i recited the takbir, which is held in mosques and surau (smaller place of worship). The takbīr or takbeer (تَكْبِير) is the Arabic name for the phrase Allāhu Akbar, الله أكبر. Usually translated "God is great" or "God is [the] greatest," it is a common Arabic expression, used as both an informal expression of faith and as a formal declaration. On top of that colourful lights will be lighted outside my house and my mom will be busy preparing food, cakes, sweets, biscuits and various delicacies to be served on the day of Hari Raya. Usually we would order for our delicacies but that year my parents decided to make some of our own. When everything was ready we went to bed.
On the next day was hari raya and everybody was in a happy mood. The boys in my family wore their newly bought baju kurung and my mom and sister wore their baju kebaya. This year my family wore gold coloured clothes. Before any visiting started, I, my brother and father attended the Eid prayer in the morning and consecrate together harmoniously while taking the chance to meet and greet each other Muslims. I went home after that and before I left the house for the last time to go visiting, my siblings and I asked for forgiveness from all the wrong things we have done throughout the year. After that the visiting started.

CHINESE NEW YEAR written by Koh Kang Wei

CHINESE NEW YEAR

On the night of the eve of Chinese New Year, my family and I went to my father's mother house to eat a delicious reunion dinner. All my uncles, aunties and cousins were present too.

The next day was Chinese New Year. The first thing i did when i woke up was to take two big and juicy oranges to pay respect to my parents. And they gave me an Ang Bao each, containing $100. I was not so shocked at the amount of money i received because i received the same amount every year but i did not know why many people were shocked at this amount of money. After that, my father drove us to my great-grandmother house to pay respect to her and to collect many Ang Baos too. Then, our next destination was to proceed to my father's mother's house. I did not see anybody there yet because we were the first to arrive. Few minutes later, my uncles, aunties and cousins started to appear slowly, one family by one family. When my cousins came, we played ''Ban Luck'' which is known as Blackjack in English and we also played ''Dai Di''. I lost some money but still earned some too. Of course i received a lot of Ang Baos from my uncles and aunties so i bet more. And in the evening, we left my father's mother's house because our final destination for the day was my mother's mother's house. We went there to eat dinner and it tasted wonderful.

On the second lunar day, my father drove us to Suntec City to eat lunch in a japanese restaurant and to watch a movie called CJ7. After that funny movie, we proceeded to my father's 4th brother house for dinner. The dinner was heavenly. After the dinner, I gambled with my cousins again. About midnight, my family and I left that place and went home to have a goodnight sleep.

On the third lunar day, my family decided to rest at home so I have nothing much to talk about.

On the fourth lunar day, my parents brought my brother and I to Suntec City to "Lao Yu Sheng", enjoy the scenery and capture some attractive photos which I am going to post them later. We also went for a few minutes walk around Suntec City. Then we went for a game of bowling. Of course i lost to my father because I was a first-timer but I still had a great game of bowling.

Although the Chinese New Year holidays has ended, I am still in the Chinese New Year mood because it will be lasting for 15days in total. Well, this was how i spent my Chinese New Year holidays and I hope to receive more Ang Bao money next year. How did you spent your's?