This year, Kwai Chai Hong's Chinese New Year installation draws inspiration from festive fish lanterns, a Unesco-recognised tradition from China's Anhui Province. Photo: Shaari Chemat/The Star
At Chinese New Year reunion dinners, it’s tradition to serve a fish dish complete with its head and tail. But have you ever wondered why?
Apparently, it’s because a whole fish reflects the philosophy of carrying something through to its completion, from head to tail.
The practice also pays homage to age-old customs of ushering in the new year, where the word “fish” in Chinese (yu), shares phonetic similarity with the word for “abundance” (yu).
Even the new year greeting “Nian nian you yu”, which translates to “Wishing for abundance year after year” is often interpreted as “Wishing for fish year after year.”
In honour of the significance of fish as an enduring symbol of good fortune and prosperity featured prominently in Chinese New Year customs, heritage lane Kwai Chai Hong in KL's Chinatown has dedicated its annual Chinese New Year art installation to – you guessed it – fish.
Reunion time
The installation, titled Bountiful Blessings, is open daily to visitors from 9am to 12 midnight until Feb 16, and features festive fish lanterns, which have long been part of Chinese cultural heritage, celebrating abundance, resilience, and hope.
“A whole fish at the reunion dinner table represents an abundance of blessings, prosperity, and fortune, shared among loved ones to reflect unity and hope for surplus in the year ahead,” says Zeen Chang, managing partner of Bai Chuan Management, which oversees Kwai Chai Hong.
“The size of the fish is also seen as a reflection of the blessings to come, so the bigger, the better!” she adds.
For those confused as to why a Chinese New Year installation would focus on fish rather than the snake, since it will be the Year of the Snake, Chang says that Kwai Chai Hong’s Chinese New Year installations never followed the yearly theme.
“The snake will be getting plenty of attention elsewhere this season, and honestly, the Chinese zodiac is only one element of Chinese culture. At Kwai Chai Hong, we want to highlight other aspects of the culture that tend to be overlooked or taken for granted,” she explains.
This year’s theme came about from Javier Chor, one of Chang’s fellow managing partners, who wondered why fish had such a central role in reunion dinners, prompting him to dig into the origins of the practice.
The fishy zone
As you walk past Kwai Chai Hong’s gates, you’ll encounter the "Blessing Bridge", a symbolic crossing adorned with dozens of lanterns inscribed with well-wishes and good fortune. Upon entering the alley, you’ll discover a display of 26 glowing fish lanterns, inspired by the traditional fish lanterns of Anhui province in China, which are recognised as a Unesco intangible cultural heritage.
“Javier worked with the artisans in Anhui to figure out how we could adapt the traditional fish lanterns into something a bit more hardy, as we need the lanterns to be able to withstand the elements for weeks, until the end of the installation,” says Chang.
While the fish lanterns of Anhui are made from bamboo and wax paper and lit with kerosene lamps, Kwai Chai Hong’s fish lanterns are handcrafted using intricate metal frames and illuminated with energy-efficient LED lights to help them withstand Malaysia’s tropical heat and heavy rain, as well as to avoid being a fire hazard.
Besides putting them on display in the alley, Kwai Chai Hong also organised a lively fish lantern parade over the past two Saturdays, which circled around the block in Lorong Panggung and attracted an enthusiastic audience. However, being partly made from metal means that the lanterns can weigh between 3-6kg.
"We had to get the professional troupes who usually do lion dances to carry the larger fish lanterns, since they're used to carrying that kind of weight for long periods of time, whereas the smaller lanterns and the ones made from paper, we let visitors joining the parade carry those," says Chang.
The Bountiful Blessings art installation, supported by Bangsar Heights Pavilion, is open daily at Kwai Chai Hong, Lorong Panggung, Kuala Lumpur from 9am-12 midnight until Feb 16. Free admission.