It was still several hours before dawn. I was sound asleep in my bed, in the midst of a pleasant dream. All was quiet, with not a soul to be heard (while it would not be too accurate to say that I knew that in my sleep, I think it shouldn't be too far from the truth). Alas, this tranquility was not to last. Without warning, loud explosions pierced through the silence! The loud explosions were followed by machine gunfire and heavy bombing, jolting from my pleasant dream. In the midst of the confusion, my heart pounded quickly, and my veins were filled with the gush of adrenaline. I was still rather confused when I woke up, and imagined that the Japanese had returned. "Are we at war?" I wondered. The bombing continued for several minutes before all was quiet once more. Then it occured to me that it was the first day of the Lunar New Year.

The Lunar New Year in Malaysia

Experiencing the Lunar New Year in Malaysia is not quite the same as that in Singapore. For one thing, fireworks are not banned. In Malaysia, no one would so much as bat an eyelid if you send streams of rockets into the skies. There are many kinds of rockets. Some of these would simply leave a loud bang in the air, some would leave a trail of smoke in their wake. Some would spin in the air, and some would burst into beautiful colours of yellow, green, red, blue, violet etc. Some would explode, leaving flames that explode once again. There were even rockets which fire several times in the air, much like what you get to see during the Singapore National Day celebrations. From a good vantage point, you can see many households firing these rockets into the air simultaneously. It was a truly a beautiful sight.

Firecrackers were permitted until several years ago. During those years, my extended family would always stay up till dawn during New Year's eve to greet the arrival of the new year. When the clock struck twelve, we would light the firecrackers in the compound. All the rest of the households in the vicinity would also do likewise. The ancient Chinese believed that there was an evil beast called Nian, who loved to eat crops and children in the New Year. Lighting firecrackers will scare this creature away. We were simply carrying on this tradition. One who lives in Malaysia should never expect to sleep on the that night, for the cacophony of firecrackers exploding could be heard from several miles away.

Another night that one would not expect to find sleep is the early hours of the ninth day of the Lunar New Year. I am told that this day is called "Hokkien Day". Many years ago, a foreign army (Japanese?) invaded the Hokkien heartland. Many of the villagers fled and hid amongst the bamboo plantations, which saved them from the marauding soldiers. On this night, firecrackers would explode in the neighbourhood, as the Hokkiens celebrate their "special" day. As usual, the best time to light the firecrackers would be midnight, to wake the non-Hokkiens so that they can also "share" in festive joy from their bedrooms. Sadly, that day is not considered a Malaysian holiday (I think most Hokkiens would take leave the following day), and I had to go to school that day with heavy eyebags.

After the firecracker ban, Lunar New Year was never quite the same again. No longer did the households stay up to light firecrackers, although there were still plenty who would still lit fireworks. Although there was peace and quiet now, I would rather suffer the explosions and bangs of the firecrackers than the peace of the night. Of course, there were still the occasional households that, however, they were far fewer than before. Those who dare light firecrackers would most likely get a fine the following day, for the unmistakable red paper of the firecrackers would lie at their doorsteps. It is not considered a good omen for the new year to sweep the red paper away, because you would be sweeping your "wealth" away.

I haven't experienced the first few days of the Lunar New Year in Singapore, so I can only imagine what it is like over there. Alas, it is unlikely I would experience it for quite a while, so I will have to rely on the accounts of witnesses who were at the scene. The fireworks and the firecrackers do help a lot in creating a festive atmosphere, something I would imagine will never be seen in Singapore again. With the ban of fireworks and firecrackers, it is hard to imagine that Singaporeans would take the Lunar New Year as seriously as the Malaysians do.

Uh oh! I am not quite sure why, but apparently the folks at the Straits Times do change their online news articles every now and then. In an earlier article, I had indicated that the Straits Times published an article titled Hundreds turn out for Anita Mui's funeral. For reasons I will probably never know, the very same article at the very same link has been recently changed to Thousands turn out for Anita Mui's funeral. Lest you begin to doubt my credibility, evidence that it was formerly "hundred" remains! For some reason, only the title has been changed. The first sentence in the article still begins with "Hundreds of fans lined the streets ....". So is it a hundred, or a thousand? Hmmm. Perhaps it's time for an online "What it should have been" section.

Tens of thousands turn up for Anita Mui's funeral

So screamed the headlines of a local Chinese tabloid (can't remember whether it's Lianhe Wanbao or Xinming Ribao, but it does not matter) a fellow MRT passenger was carrying. I was impressed by the numbers. What a popular singer Anita Mui must have been, I thought! Hours later at work, during one of my breaks, I dropped by the Straits Times website. An article caught my eye -- Hundreds turn out for Anita Mui's funeral. I blinked my eyes several times, uncertain if I had read the words correctly, but they remained there as they had always been.

I was promptly reminded of a similar article a few years ago, in the aftermath of the Sept 11th incident. It was only a few days after Sept 11th, and rescue workers were still searching for bodies amidst the rubble of the former World Trade Centre. "Fifty thousand dead in the Sept 11th attacks", screamed the headline in the Chinese tabloid. Has anyone stopped to wonder if the World Trade Centre could even hold that many people?? The informant ought to be shot!

Now, I do not normally buy or even read Chinese tabloids. I have to admit however that I am sometimes guilty of peeking at someone else's papers, especially those of people who sit on the opposite side of the MRT (so that it doesn't seem too obvious to the other person that I am peeking). This cannot be helped, as it is quite boring to just sit around in the MRT and do nothing for a long one-hour journey, especially when you do not have your regular reading materials with you.

The extent of exaggeration by the Chinese tabloids is not limited to numbers alone. In 1998 (or was it 1999?), during the NATO bombing of Serbia, the Chinese embassy in Belgrade was mistakenly bombed by US aircraft. This sparked civilian protests in front of the American embassy in Beijing. The local Chinese tabloid screamed, "Beijing residents begin to act! Angry citizens invade the US embassy. The US embassy in shambles." Huh??? One could be forgiven for thinking that the US embassy in Beijing had been burnt to the ground. In actual fact, all the US embassy suffered was just a few broken windows. Nobody was able to enter the embassy grounds at all. How bad can misinformation get?

If these papers had a "What it should have been" section, I am quite certain it would cover at least half the paper. On second thoughts, it is a bad idea. If they continue to spew forth their nonsense in the "What it should have been" section, then they would need to have a "What it should have been for the What it should have been" section, and a "What it should have been for the What it should have been for the What it should have been" section. And so on. Then again, it could make for good filler material that would continue to entertain the billions of Chinese tabloid readers in Singapore for millions of years to come.