15-year-old Teochews undergo traditional adulthood ceremony

JOHOR BARU: An almost forgotten traditional Teochew custom that signifies the transition of a child to an adult has been revived among the clan’s younger generation here.

The Chu Hua Yuan ritual meaning “leaving the garden” was held for the third time by the Teochew Eight Districts Association here and performed by 17 “young men and women” who began a new phase of their life at the age of 15 (the age of attaining puberty based on Chinese calculation).