Mid Autumn Festival

Wikipedia Notes that : The Mid-Autumn Festival also known as the Moon Festival, is a popular Asian celebration of abundance and togetherness, dating back over 3,000 years. In Malaysia and Singapore, it is also sometimes referred to as the Lantern Festival, it is also celebrated in Vietnam and Korea.

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The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese calendar (usually around mid- or late- September in the Normal Calendar), a date that parallels the Autumn Equinox of the solar calendar. This is the ideal time, when the moon is at its fullest and brightest, to celebrate the abundance of the summer's harvest. The traditional food of this festival is the moon cake, of which there are many different varieties.

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The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the two most important holidays in the Chinese calendar. Farmers celebrate the end of the summer harvesting season on this date. Traditionally, on this day, Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon, and eat moon cakes and pomelo together.

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Accompanying the celebration, there are additional cultural or regional customs, such as:

• Eating moon cakes outside under the moon
• Putting pomelo rinds on one's head
• Carrying brightly lit lanterns
• Burning incense in reverence to deities including Chang’e
• Planting Mid-Autumn trees
• Lighting lanterns on towers
• Fire Dragon Dances

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Well to me a Malaysian Urban boy , my memories of the Mid Autumn festivals is eating the Mooncake at home, and running around the house compound with lanterns. Mooncake in those days come in a few verities, Lotus Seed, Red Bean etc, now a days a staggering verities are available such as tiramisu, cheese cake, and even BBQ Chicken with yam.

This year staying in a country side housing estate, the local resident association organize a big dinner as well as a procession of lanterns, I found this out by accident due to the Music blaring out at high volume. The Residents started to gather at the central padang (field) at around 6.30, the children were given paper lanterns with candles, at around 7pm they lighted the candles and escorted by a few 4 wheel drives, they walk around the Housing area, returning to the padang at around 7.30pm, where by they have their dinner and were entertain by music performance, and lucky draw were held till around 10pm.

After staying here for close to a year nor my immediate neighbor (3 years) , I nor my neighbor still have no contact with the local resident association, nor are we in any way inform of the goings on, the functions etc. It is because we are the “New” guys in town? We am not interested in the resident association going on?

Yes, I admit that I do not make the effort to look for this ppls, and that I am rarely at home as I work during week ends and in the evenings but my wife is at home, my daughter attend the neighborhood vernacular school.

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Information on the going on can be given out via a banner or buy flyers distrituted. Or is the resident association just for a group of 4 wheel owners?