TheStar Online (February 03, 2009)
The Hokkien community in the Klang Valley, for example, were busy making preparations yesterday to celebrate the Jade Emperor’s birthday, which falls today, the ninth day of this lunar new year.
The sugarcane, of course, is among the food items bought as prayer offerings.
The proprietor of Teoh Seng Kuen Fruits Trading, who did not want to be identified, said her shop did not normally sell sugarcane but she brought in some in as added convenience for her regular customers.
The shop at Lebuh Gopeng, Klang, also sells items like thni kuih (sweet cakes) and ang koo (red tortoise buns).
“The most popular purchases are the fruits, as some people need at least five fruit items for their offerings, more so those who pray with vegetarian items,” she said.
“Due to the economic slowdown, I brought in just 150 stalks of sugarcane this year, compared with the more than 200 stalks last year,” she said.
Fruitful offering: A customer at Teoh Seng Kuen Fruits Trading in Klang selecting a pair of pineapples for the celebration. She added that the sugarcanes were still sold at RM8 for two stalks at her shop, although she knew of traders who had increased their prices to compensate for the smaller stock they sold this year.
Meanwhile, at the SS2 morning market in Petaling Jaya early yesterday, the Hokkiens were seen busy buying the essential items to be offered to the Jade Emperor at midnight.
“Generations ago, the Hokkiens were spared from an extermination by demons and were saved by the Jade Emperor who fought for them as they sought refuge in the sugarcane plantations,” fruits seller Khiew Yoon Chin said.
“The day the Jade Emperor defeated the demons happened to be his birthday, so the Hokkiens offered sugarcane to him to thank him for their salvation,” retiree Khor Tuan Hong chipped in.
Khor and his wife were choosing a pair of sugarcanes from a pile offered at a stall.
“The roots and the leaves must be attached to the stalks, signifying beginning and ending of all matters. We will decorate the stalks with golden paper called huang qian (literally translated as yellow money),” the 65-year-old said.
Khor from Bandar Utama in Petaling Jaya never missed the celebration and his five children would return home for the annual occasion together.
“Several friends would join us, too, to enjoy the offerings after the prayers. The sugarcanes, which also carry the connotations of tian tian mi mi (sweet and blissful), will be shared,” he said.
A rice cake seller, who only wished to be known as Lim, also cashed in to the occasion by selling sugarcanes at his stall.
“The stalks are freshly harvested and delivered to us early in the morning from Seremban,” the 53-year-old said.
Lim also offered chopped sugarcanes, which are about 30cm long each.
“The chopped ones are snapped up quicker than the long ones, as it is more convenient to carry around. People now stress more on sincerity than the symbolic ritualistic ways of worship,” he said.
For the Hokkien community, the most important time of the 15-day Chinese New Year celebration is the eighth night and ninth day, which is their liberation day.
According to the ancient tradition, hundreds of years ago, people of the Hokkien province in China were under bondage to some demonic forces and didn’t have the opportunity to celebrate the Chinese New Year for years until one year, on the eighth night of the lunar new year, when the Jade Emperor of Heaven came and liberated them.
During the cosmic battle between the Jade Emperor and the demonic forces, the Hokkien hid in the sugarcane plantations.
Following the victory over the demons and their liberation, the Hokkien people came out to celebrate the Chinese New Year for the first time in years.
They wanted to give thanks to the Jade Emperor and also honour him on his birthday on the ninth day of the lunar new year but didn’t have anything to worship with. So, they used sugarcanes as their offering to the Jade Emperor.
From that first worship ceremony, they continued with the tradition of using sugarcanes to thank the Jade Emperor on the eighth night of the lunar new year.
This tradition is closely observed by the Hokkiens of Klang, Petaling Jaya, Penang and elsewhere in Malaysia.
