Chinese New Year Decorations Welcome Residents, Visitors and Passers-By - Symbolizing what?

 

Chinese New Year. 

Chinese New Year decorations in Cashew Road in January 2022. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

This figure is seen at the entrance to Cashew Heights on Cashew Road, Singapore. 

How jolly. Like Santa, a personification of the holiday. His mouth is smiling.

A resident told me, "He is the God of Good Luck."

He has Chinese symbols, Chinese writing, on his hat. More are on his chest. What do they mean?

Some symbols are displayed upside down. She told me, "That is because the good luck of the future is not yet here but on its way."

If you notice nothing else, you are uplifted by the vibrant red.

Useful Websites

Wikipedia Chinese New Year

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year

About the Author Angela Lansbury

BIOGRAPHY

Angela Lansbury B A Hons ACG ALB PM5 EH5 DL5 VC5 
The Author of several books including  Etiquette For Every Occasion. Wedding Speeches & Toasts. How to be the Best Man. Quick Quotations. Who Said What When.

Blogs travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Speakers Club Vice President Public Relations (VPPR), Previous President

Join BHA 1st Wednesday 7pm and 3rd Saturday 2 pm Singapore time 

Vice President Public Relations (VP PR) of Tampines Changkat Advanced;

Secretary of weekly online Singapore International Dynamic Toastmasters Speakers’ Club;

Member and past president of Harrovians toastmasters club, UK; Past member of HOD Toastmasters, London. Past member in Singapore of: Toastmasters Club of Singapore (TCS); Tiarel; and Senja Cashew.

More details from Toastmasters International find a club.

Regular attendee at annual Swanwick Writers’ School, England.

Regular attendee at annual Writers’ Holiday, Wales.

Contributor to poetry readings, and after tea courses on: Speaking On Radio To Promote Books; and Plots And Character.

Winner of many club and area speaking contests in the UK and Singapore.

Language advisor to Empire Toastmasters club in Indonesia.

Language and speech workshops in Singapore.

Speaker on radio and TV in England, Scotland, the USA, and Australia.

Compiler of a school course on public speaking for teachers to prepare pupils for school open days with attending ceremonies before government ministers, Singapore.

Former member of Harrow Writers’ Circle, London, and two writing groups in Singapore.

Angela is on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter. She would be delighted to link up with new friends.

 Please share links to your favourite posts.

Books by Angela Lansbury
How to be the best man. (Ward Lock / Cassell.)
Wedding Speeches and Toasts.(Ward Lock / Cassell.)
Unforgettable British Weekends.
Poetry Workshop Workbook.
The Tailor and the Spy. (Lulu.)
Larry The Talking Labrador. (Lulu.)
Writing Poetry for fun.

Quick Quotations

Who Said What When

 

Chinese New Year 2015 Feb 19 - preparations, planning your flights, hotels and dinners

Book your flights and hotels and dinners early for Chinese New Year when everybody is out celebrating.

Chinese New Year is celebrated in:
China
Hong Kong
Taiwan
Singapore, major shopping malls, hotels, supermarkets and streets especially Chinatown

Picture from Wikipedia. See picture credit and more pictures in Wikipedia under Chinese New Year.

Chinatown, London, England
Chinatown, Manchester, England
Chinatown, New York, NY USA
Chinatown, Vancouver, Canada
Many Chinese restaurants on high streets throughout the UK

Singapore's Traditional Dinner
Wikipedia explains it like this:

Yusheng, yee sang or yuu sahng (Chinese: 鱼生; pinyin: yúshēng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hî-seⁿ or hû-siⁿ), or Prosperity Toss, also known as lo hei(Cantonese for 撈起 or 捞起) is a Teochew-style raw fish salad. It usually consists of strips of raw fish (most commonly salmon), mixed with shredded vegetables and a variety of sauces and condiments, among other ingredients. Yusheng literally means "raw fish" but since "fish (鱼)" is commonly conflated with its homophone "abundance (余)", Yúshēng (鱼生) is interpreted as a homophone for Yúshēng (余升) meaning an increase in abundance. Therefore, yusheng is considered a symbol of abundance, prosperity and vigor.

While versions of it are thought to have existed in China, the contemporary version is created and popularised^{[citation needed]} in the 1960s amongst the ethnic Chinese community and its consumption has been associated with Chinese New Year festivities in Malaysia, Indonesiaand Singapore.

At a family or meal or a table at a Toastmasters' Club  dinner, at a round or square or oblong table, everybody stands around the dish holding their chopsticks in it and on the agreed shout you all pick up food and toss it in the air above the plate.
 In advance practise using chopsticks and tossing noodles. On the night of any club visit or dinner, wear washable clothes or a scarf.


Expect Chinese banquets, Chinese wines, lion dances, flower displays.
In Singapore stock up with oranges for family, friends, colleagues, customers to shops.

Stock up with red packets for presenting gifts of clean banknotes to the young and unmarried. Some banks and restaurants will give you free red packets containing a discount voucher and/or goodwill message from that organisation.

Stock up with Chinese new year cards and postage stamps. Find Chinese New Year borders, signatures to add to your emails.

Chinese Toastmasters International Speakers' Club Dinners
Chinese Toastmasters International Speakers clubs will often have a Chinese New Year dinner. Prepare for a change of venue for club meetings. The meeting might be cancelled because the usual venue such as a hotel is booked for events, or because club members are away on holiday. But often a club dinner is arranged on a meeting night, or at a different venue on another occasion. Prepare your Chinese New Year stories for table topics (impromptu speeches). The lucky colour is red.
Stock up on small gifts so that you can reciprocate.

Flights
Some airports will have long queues because of large numbers of travellers.

Photos
When travelling take your camera or videocamera or smart phone to photograph New Year events.

New Year Greeting
Finally, learn to say Happy New Year in Mandarin, or Cantonese or another language according to your destination.

Useful websites
http://factsanddetails.com/china/cat4/sub17/item120.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wishing_You_Happiness_and_Prosperity