| 元宵節 is the fifteen day of Chinese New Year or the last day of Chinese New Year celebration. It is also the Chinese Valentine Day. Year 2009 falls on the Feb 9, 2009. There are many events and celebration on that day but the most notable for me is the Chinese Valentine Day.  Normally at night, all these single guys and ladies with gather at certain places which is organised by some local bodies. It can be at the beach or lakes. They will throw the mandarin orange and banana and then..... all rush to NET the banana or mandarin orange to find their destine live partner. This is a healthy event and how many people ends up to be husband and wife, nobody knows the statistic. |  For all those that are single, there will write their name and phone number on mandarin orange but later become the single ladies writes on the mandarin orange and the single guys write on the banana.  You can try your luck this year if you are still single. For those who had married, please do not participle in the throwing and netting process but you can participle by being the camera man or camera woman for your "single love one". |
Update : Feb 9, 2009. Extracted from theStar Online, a local English Newpaper
TONIGHT, the Chinese community around the country will be celebrating Chap Goh Meh, and one of the highlights of the night will be the tossing of mandarin oranges.
Chap Goh Meh, which means “the fifteenth night” in the Hokkien dialect, marks the last day of the Chinese New Year celebration.
While the Chap Goh Meh celebration may not have started with the Hokkiens, the community nevertheless regards it as an important event to celebrate.
Hokkien Association of Malaysia president Tan Sri Tee Hock Seng said this tradition should not be forgotten as it was traced back to one’s Chinese roots.
“The younger generation today is not aware of how important Chap Goh Meh was, when we used to celebrate it with our grandparents,” Tee said.
| He recalled his home being decorated with lights and lanterns hung along the balcony. The night was celebrated much like the eve of Chinese New Year, with relatives gathering for dinner. A home-made dessert of tang yuen – sweet glutinous rice dumplings in a sweet soup –would be served to all. |  |
“After the feast with our families, my friends and I would visit one another’s houses to celebrate but I didn’t participate in the tossing of oranges as it wasn’t a popular activity back then,” said Tee.
Prayers were also offered to the ancestors while some burnt firecrackers to signify a “send-off” to the New Year.
The Baba-Nonyas, especially in Penang, still observe practices like dressing up in their traditional costumes, with the womenfolk in their elaborate kebaya, participating in Dondang Sayang and savouring Pengat, a sweet dessert featuring colourful sweet potato, yam and banana in rich creamy coconut milk.
However, many among the younger generation know of the celebration only as the night to toss mandarin oranges into the sea.
This tradition, which originated in Penang, was an occasion for unmarried women to leave the confines of their homes to toss the oranges in the hope that the fruits would be picked up by eligible young men who would be their future spouses.
There is a new twist to the practice these days, with women writing their phone numbers and e-mail addresses on the oranges.
However, these days, mandarin oranges are not tossed in a desperate search for love but merely for the fun of getting to know new friends and participating in this much-loved ritual that is synonymous with the Chinese Valentine’s Day, as Chap Goh Meh is often referred to.
And, men now toss bananas with messages written on them, too!
Those who had joined in the fun last year said they simply enjoyed the carnival-like atmosphere at parks like Taman Jaya in Petaling Jaya and Taman Tasik Permaisuri in Cheras.
“We went to the Taman Jaya lake with a bag of oranges on which we had scribbled our numbers, and to my surprise, a guy called me the next day,
“We became friends over the phone but neither of us made the initiative to meet up,” said Ellie Low, 30.
“We became friends over the phone but neither of us made the initiative to meet up,” said Ellie Low, 30.
Meanwhile, Tan Mei Lui, 25, was attracted by various contests and mini-concerts held in the parks.
“I remember there were people singing, orange eating contests, as well as prizes for the men who picked up the most number of oranges,” she said.
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