Ready, Get Set...for Kew Ong Yeah

The usually quiet Ampang New Village (save for the daily flurry of kids being ferried to and from school) is slowly being transformed into a hive of activity for the coming Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2012. The altars and deity get a makeover or paint over and the grounds are being prepped for the festival’s eve which falls on the 14^th of October this year.

Nine beautifully detailed dragon joss-sticks for the Nine Emperor Gods.

View of the Ampang Kew Ong Yeah Temple. The large zinc roofed extension is erected for the Nine Emperor Gods Festival to accommodate the prayer session and the large volume of incense and candles offered during the celebration.

Work on the various zinc-roofed shed has started since 7^th October, with some of the sheds that will serve as stalls for praying paraphernalia and sheds for the large dragon joss-sticks were done by the next day.

Putting on new fluorescent lights  - there are workmen everywhere. In this picture, you can work out some of the flags used in this festival being aired under the structure.

The shed for the joss-stick stall. This was is stocked and ready to go. The sign says large joss-sticks, dragon joss-sticks and coiled incense for sale; purchase is inclusive of lighting and placing the joss-sticks at the joss-stick stands in front of the temple.

Workmen working on zinc roofed sheds - and they do work fast.

Next to get prepped up for the big day was the lantern pole, the ‘magic wand’ of the celebration, so to speak. The pole is used to hoist up the nine oil lanterns that is a must for this celebration, as a means to inform heaven and earth that the nine emperor gods are being hosted in the temple.

Giving the lantern pole a good undercoat before putting on the red paint.

Like the Energizer Bunny, this painting job goes on and on and on...

Phew, finally reached the end of the pole. Perhaps what he needs to do is to coerce entice a few friends into helping him paint the pole whilst he relaxes in the shade (think of Huckleberry Finn and whitewashing the fence).

This pole was given a new undercoat on the 9^th of October and then a shiny new coat of red paint. The painter did a fine job in the hot sun and the pole ended up being shinier than a brand new fire engine.

Wahh! Looking brand new and super shiny. You can never go wrong with red, especially bright, cherry red.

Besides the pole, workers were busy putting up the flags along the roads leading to the Ampang Nan Tian Gong Temple. The flags were being transported on a lorry to the designated location where the workers would put the flags up.

More make-shift sheds are coming up. Also up were the nine dragon flags that indicate a Nine Emperor Gods Festival will be held in the vicinity.

Also up and in place within the compound of the temple were some spectacular dragon joss-sticks for the Nine Emperor Gods. The dragons on these joss-sticks were very detailed and almost life-like; sad to think that in a few days time, this work of art will all be burnt down to ashes. Ah well, all that adds to the festive mood of the festival.

When I returned from work later in the evening on the 10^th, the stalls beside the Ampang Old Folks Home were already up – they do work fast. Whether your intentions of coming here is to sample various hawker food, or for the carnival-like atmosphere or perhaps for some much needed divine intervention, the place is definitely gearing up to provide a warm welcome for all of its visitors.

My links for the 2012 Nine Emperor Gods Festival @ Ampang Nan Tian Gong

• Pre-festival: The Calm Before Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2012
• Pre-festival: Ready, Get Set for Kew Ong Yeah (this post)
• Pre-festival: There's Just a Few More Hours

• Eve - Raising the Lantern Pole
• Eve - A Royal Invitation
• Day 1 - Wet, Smoky and Crowded
• Day 2 - Invitation of the Finance Minister
• Day 3
• Day 4
• Day 5
• Day 6 - A report on the Feeding of the Heavenly Soldiers
• Day 7
• Day 8 - Crossing the Bridge Ceremony
• Day 9 - Fire Crossing
• Day 9 - Round and Round and the rest
• Day 10 - Sending the Nine Emperor Gods Off
• Day 10 - Taking Down the Lantern Pole

The Calm Before...Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2012

Oh how fast time flies...it is almost time for the Nine Emperor Gods Festival again, after the Mooncake Festival. The calm of Ampang Old Town will soon be shattered by the arrival of the festival, with its carnival-like atmosphere and the incessant droves of devotees and curious visitors. Last year, I took on the task to post the daily on-goings of the festival from my perspective (Nine Emperor Gods 2011 - a series of continuous posts) and had a great time there. So probably this year it will run along the same line, plus a little something else.

All quite at Ampang Nan Tian Gong Temple (安邦南天宮) - the streets are empty at night and the temple all dark. This photo was taken on the night of the Mooncake Festival, 15 days before the Nine Emperor Gods Festival. The last post for last year's festival is here (Taking Down the Lantern Pole Pt. 2).

The Nine Emperor Festival is a folk culture that is unique to this region (Southern Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and parts of Indonesia). Whilst the festival have the connotation of worshipping of the Northern Dipper Stars (Big Dipper), the practice of vegetarianism, secret invitation of the Nine Emperors and mediums going into trance is not at all a mainstream Taoist practice of honouring the Northern Dipper Stars (禮斗); making this a must see festival for those who want to learn more about local folk culture practices.

The picture on the left was taken on the 2nd October 2012 - the workers were putting up the sheds within the compound  of the temple (by the open bed lorry). The picture on the right was taken the next day - light blue and lilac arrows indicates the whole row of sheds for the joss-stick stalls and the green arrow points to the extensions for the stalls by the walkway.

At the Ampang Nan Tian Gong (南天宮), workers were putting up the shed for the joss-stick stalls withing the temple compound a day after the Mooncake Festival. By the next day (13 days before the festival), the sheds and the extensions on the temple compound were done. This year, the celebration will fall on the 15^th until the 23^rd of October. The actual festivities start on the 14^th, marked by the raising of the lantern pole on  the eve of the celebration  and ends on the 24^th of October with the taking down of the lantern pole (click for a post on taking down of the lantern pole for last year's celebration)

For those who want to visit the Ampang Nan Tian Gong Temple for the Nine Emperor Gods Festival, the tentative program can be viewed at Cheryl Hoffmann's site - Nine Emperor Gods Festival. Last year she was at Penang, another Nine Emperor Gods Festival hotspot, and managed to capture the essence and the emotions of the festival through her wonderful photographs.

My links for the 2012 Nine Emperor Gods Festival @ Ampang Nan Tian Gong

• Pre-festival: The Calm Before Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2012 (this post)
• Pre-festival: Ready, Get Set for Kew Ong Yeah
• Pre-festival: There's Just a Few More Hours

• Eve - Raising the Lantern Pole
• Eve - A Royal Invitation
• Day 1 - Wet, Smoky and Crowded
• Day 2 - Invitation of the Finance Minister
• Day 3
• Day 4
• Day 5
• Day 6 - A report on the Feeding of the Heavenly Soldiers
• Day 7
• Day 8 - Crossing the Bridge Ceremony
• Day 9 - Fire Crossing
• Day 9 - Round and Round and the rest
• Day 10 - Sending the Nine Emperor Gods Off
• Day 10 - Taking Down the Lantern Pole

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival 2012

The Mid-Autumn Festival, better known as the Mooncake Festival, is traditionally a harvest festival in China. With the Chinese diaspora, the celebration of this festival can be found wherever there is a Chinese community. Whilst the celebration is originally meant to mark the end of the harvest season, there are several traditional practices carried out in association with this festival.

Here's my Angry Birds' Bad Piggy lantern wishing all a Happy Mooncake Festival whilst eyeing the Kam Lun Tai mooncakes. Bad Piggy wants mooncakes instead of Angry Bird eggs...

One of them is the worship of Chang-Er, the moon goddess in hopes of being blessed with a flawless complexion like the moon whilst others pray to her for a good husband. The offerings consist of mooncakes, water caltrop (Trapa natans syn. bicornis), mini yams and pomelos (pummelos - Citrus maxima or Citrus grandis); round fruits symbolises the fullness of the moon and of family harmony.

The mini yams (we call it Pinang Or - betelnut yam) and water caltrop (菱角, ling kok a.k.a. Jesuit Nut/Devil's Pod) that is usually only eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Some go to the extent of peeling pomelos and ‘mini’ yams on this full-moon night in hopes of achieving this ‘flawless’ complexion of the moon. Of course with modern science and space exploration, no women in her sound mind would want a complexion like the moon; for the surface of the moon is dry, cracked, and full of craters and blotchy markings.

Cooked and cracked water caltrop, boiled 'mini' yams and mooncake for Mid-Autumn Festival.

The mooncake festival is also a time for family reunion. After all, you get your whole family involved in the harvest in the olden days. So what better reward after the hard work than a family gathering where one can eat, drink and be merry together.

Baker's Cottage mooncakes - had this for an office gathering. Clockwise from top left: Green tea red bean paste, Low sugar lotus paste with one yolk, Precious Black (charcoal powder) and Shanghai mooncake (flaky pastry skin).

The bearing of lanterns during this festival comes from the 14th century revolt by the Chinese against the Mongols whereby the Chinese overthrew the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty in an uprising brilliantly hatched by lantern-bearing messengers who delivered mooncakes with hidden messages.

The usually elaborate and decorative box that you get when you buy mooncakes. Click here for last year's mooncake box from this company.

Nowadays, kids go around bearing lanterns that is made from paper or plastic, lit by candles or by LED lights, traditional or characters of popular cartoons and games e.g. Ben 10, Tweety Bird, Angry Birds, Batman etc.

So Happy Mooncake Festival 2012 to all. Eat and be merry.