As Chinese New Year this year falls on Valentine’s Day, many young people may have to forgo candlelight dinners and balik kampung separately. Farmers and florists too may be adversely affected by the double celebration.
FAMILY or romance – that is the “dilemma” many Chinese dating couples are facing this year as Valentine’s Day falls on the first day of Chinese New Year.
Candlelight dinners may be quite impossible especially for the love birds who have to balik kampung separately to celebrate the Year of the Tiger and even delivering a bouquet of roses may be difficult or more expensive as florists and delivery men take their festive holidays.
For married couples who tied the knot on Valentine’s Day, it is going to be a double celebration – Chinese New Year and the wedding anniversary.
Unfortunately, those who plan to register their marriage on that auspicious day may face some difficulty: traditionally, the first day of Chinese New Year is an auspicious day, but not for weddings.
Sinologist Lai Kuan Fook says the first day of Chinese New Year is for reunions and not a day to get married. For sure, your family may join you in the celebration but your close friends will certainly be miles away in their hometown for the reunion dinner.
A check with the Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Hua Zong) and the Klang Hokkien Association shows that the two will not be registering marriages for Chinese couples this Valentine’s Day. The date has been a popular choice in the past.
However, the renowned Thean Hou Temple in Kuala Lumpur will break tradition and remain open on the first day of Chinese New Year to register marriages.
“This is due to the many requests from members of the public,” a staff handling the registration of marriage explains. So far, about 30 couples have signed up.
The number, however, is small compared to last year’s where 236 couples signed their wedding papers on Valentine’s Day.
The Tokong Chee Teong Beow at Jalan Tun Perak in Malacca will also be open on the first day of Chinese New Year to allow couples to register their marriage on Feb 14.
“This is to fulfil the requests of many who want to register on Valentine’s Day. We will have to sacrifice our day off to do the registration,” says Liew, an assistant. However, they will only do the registration and not the ceremony, she adds.
“It is still all right to do the registration as it is not a proper wedding ceremony without the tea-offering ritual and wedding dinner.”
A check with florists and farmers shows that they may have to be content with lower revenue this year as the two seasons when they normally make good money – Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day – are now merged into one.
Flowers for Chinese New Year and those for lovers would have to be sold at the same time and this does not bode well for business.
Yong Leong Meng, the executive secretary of Cameron Highlands Flori-Culturalist Association, predicts a 40% drop in revenue this year due to the 2-in-1 celebration as orders for both occasions have started to come in.
Farmers will have to cope with orders for roses for Valentine’s Day as well as orders for Chinese New Year, such as chrysanthemum, gladiolus and lilium.
“Roses are likely to be even more expensive than in the previous year,” he says.
The ex-farm price for a dozen roses on a normal day is RM6 but it can go up to RM25 during the Valentine’s Day season.
Yong says it may hit RM30 this year, or even more.
Annie Chua from Alice Florist in Malacca says they will still offer delivery service and the shop will remain open on the first day of Chinese New Year, which is unprecedented. After all, Valentine’s Day is celebrated by all races and not only the Chinese.
For the locals, it is still possible to receive a bouquet of flowers on that romantic day.
“The only thing is that we will have to make sure the recipient is present at the address stated for delivery,” Chua says.
For those living in Kuala Lumpur, this would be quite impossible as most people would have left the city either to celebrate the new year in their hometowns or for holidays elsewhere.
The Year of the Tiger symbolises vibrancy, according to Lai. But some Chinese do not think it is a good year as the first day will fall after the start of Spring on Feb 4, which is known as lichun in the Chinese calendar. To them, the Year of the Tiger will be without lichun, which marks the start of spring when farmers plant the seeds.
With that in mind, many Chinese couples are rushing to have their wedding receptions before the Year of the Tiger starts.
But according to Angus Kong, a feng shui and I-Ching scholar, “People planning their wedding date should just look at their time and date of birth and they should be able to find a good day to get married even in the Year of the Tiger.”
