Chap Goh Meh takes on a more carnival-like air in 21st century

Bright lights: Lantern display at Thean Hou Temple, Kuala Lumpur.

IT IS common knowledge that Chap Goh Meh (Hokkien for the “15th night”) signifies the last day of the Chinese New Year festivities.

Many may know too that this 15th day of the first month in the lunar calendar is also known as yuan xiao jie or Lantern Festival, and the glutinous rice balls are called yuan xiao in northern China while their southern countrymen call it tang yuan.