Kueh (second left), her husband Alan Sok (left) and their friends at the Chingay festival in Johor Baru.
WATCHING the annual Chingay festival has been a cherished tradition for three generations of the Low family.
Alex Low, 35, works in Singapore but usually takes time off work to accompany his parents and grandmother to witness the event.
“We usually go on the third day and fourth day, which is when the parade takes place. It is the highlight of the whole festival.
“We check into a hotel the morning of the parade so that my 92-year-old grandmother Ng Muey Kia can view it from the room at night.
“It is safer for her too, as she is a wheelchair user.”
Low said that when he was younger, his grandmother used to share stories about the Chingay parade, which piqued his interest.
“She says it is different now with more young people participating in Chingay today than during her time,” he said.
According to Ng, devotees used to carry candles during the parade in those days.
Low said he was glad to learn that efforts were being made by Malaysia and Singapore to jointly nominate Chingay for the Unesco intangible cultural heritage list next month.
“Johor’s Chingay Festival is more than a century old and I think it is due for international recognition.
Akemi Kueh, 34, has been attending Chingay with her family since she was a Year Three pupil.
“My parents took my siblings and me to the Chingay parade every year.
“This left a strong impression on me and I am very sentimental towards Chingay.
“Now, I am continuing the tradition by making Chingay our family outing,” said the mother of two.
She and her husband have a strategy for securing a good spot to watch the parade – parking their vehicle along Jalan Yahya Awal in the morning of the parade and returning to it in the evening to watch the parade.
Sales assistant Puteri Khairunnazirah Abdul Rahman, 24, said it was her first time watching the Chingay parade in person and she was impressed by the scale of the event.
“Previously, I had only seen the parade on television and had no idea it was so elaborate. I can only imagine the amount of preparations that go into it.”
She said she started queueing near the main stage six hours before the parade was set to pass through, to avoid being barred entry when the road was closed.
Puteri Khairunnazirah had seen the parade on television before.
“I brought along my camera and snapped a lot of beautiful pictures as there were so many things to see, especially the colourful costumes worn by the performers,” she said.
French content creator Sacha Borg, 27, said the festival was unlike anything he had seen before.
“I was about to leave my hotel, located near the temple, when I heard festive sounds outside.
“I was blown away by the vibrant lion and dragon dance costumes.
“It was such a carnival-like celebration that I quickly whipped out my camera and started recording.
“Some of the footage will surely make it into my next YouTube video,” said the Parisian who was on his first trip to Malaysia.
Singaporean Lee Hong Choon, 68, who attended the Chingay festival, said he wanted to soak up the atmosphere after hearing rave reviews from his friends.
“I decided to attend this year with another friend to experience it myself.
“The lively atmosphere made it feel like we were still celebrating Chinese New Year.”
Lee said the traditional ceremonies and performances should be preserved even with the changing times.
