Goddess of Mercy Temple, Georgetown, Penang - Lion Dances

Wushi, or the lion dance, mimics a lion's movements by two hidden but agile and strong acrobats, usually trained in a martial arts (or wushu) school. The lion costume has a red sash across its horn at the front. A popular cultural icon in East Asia, stretching from Korea and Japan to Indonesia and Thailand, they are present at festivals like the Lunar New Year and the Mooncake Festival to enhance good luck, good business and positive vibes. I captured these images here at the Goddess of Mercy temple (Kuan Im Teng in Fujian, one of the main dialects in Penang) in the colonial quarter of Georgetown, Penang, a venerable Taoist-Buddhist-Confucian institution of more than a hundred years popular with Western tourists and sitting in the midst of the declared UNESCO heritage belt.

Northern Chinese lions, originally from Ninghai in Ningbo in northern China, in such dances can be compared to a pair of Pekingese or Fu dogs, and they have shaggy orange and yellow fur, with a red bow to indicate the male an a green one to represent the female. Southern Chinese lions started their tradition in Guangzhou (old Canton), the bustling metropolis of the south, and have a variety of schools, ranging from Buddha Mountain to Crane Style and Green Lion. Watch the details of the lion heads and one appreciates the differences in requirement, meaning and colour. Korean and Japanese lion costumes depart significantly from those on the China mainland.

The lion dances are accompanied by the beating of cymbals, drums and gongs, which often require such a musician's group to follow behind the prancing lions. Businesses engage such troupes as well to amplify prosperity luck and invite such lions to pluck a leafy vegetable like lettuce, often tied at the top of a pole, as part of the procedure - once the lion successfully does that, a red packet containing the relevant currency of the day is provided as a reward. Dance competitions are held in most of east and south-east Asia to find the most talented young people to animate such lion dances; in the UK, Australia, New Zealand the United States, such talent can come from Europeans who have passion to seriously learn up wushu.

Selegie, Singapore

A stroll through Selegie Road in Singapore reveals a host of architecture, lifestyles and sights.

Maybe predominantly Indian, with touch of colonialism, but soaking in influences from this multi-cultural island. Selegie provides interesting footpath heritage, with impressions harking back to the fifties or seventies in the last century and is accessible from the Bugis Junction MRT and the Bras Basah Road precincts. It also provides a link to Singapore's Little India - Serangoon.

Albert Street Markets, Singapore

Steamed sweet cakes (picture above) using grounded glutinous rice flour, golden syrup and brown sugar, are traditionally made to celebrate the Lunar New Year. This traditional concoction is chewy-sticky and best eaten with grated coconut. Referred to as nain gao in Mandarin or tnee kueh in Singapore/Malaysian Fujian dialect, they can be consumed soft or hard, depending on personal preferences. They are steamed on low heat for up to eight hours and so are a product of patience and love. The symbolic act of eating this nian gao is to imply that one elevates one's prospects to a higher level for the new year ahead.

Two street food snacks that caught my eye along Albert Street were the kueh koci (above) and the pancake creation, the ban chien kueh. (below)

Notice that they are all served on strips of banana leaves. The koci is essentially a miniature pyramid-shaped glutinous rice flour wrap filled with sweet peanut paste and/or grated coconut mix, to be served as snacks at teatime. The pancakes below have aromatic roasted peanuts, sesame seeds and corn inside.

The whole spectrum of tropical fruits are on display above, ranging from different types of bananas, yellow and pink-tinged mangoes, hairy skinned red coloured rambutans and brown skinned longans.

Pongal Festival, Serangoon - Singapore

Pongal or Sankaranthi is a thanksgiving festival for a good harvest, celebrated originally in Tamil Nadu, South India. It also heralds the auspicious month of Thai in the Hindu calendar. Boiling of milk in clay pots (pictured above) is one of the significant rituals carried out to celebrate abundance for a household. Notice that the pots all have painted mango leaves on their sides.

I had the opportunity to observe this festival in Singapore's Little India - Serangoon - one January week day.

Fresh ginger shoots are seen in a stall, perhaps reflecting the agricultural roots of this festival.

Purple coloured sugar cane are also made available amidst the varied produce and wares on offer. (above) The sugar cane is valued by the Fujian community of South China in celebrating the Lunar New Year, which often coincides with the Pongal Festival in Malaysia and Singapore.

Coconuts hold a very special place in an Hindu festival. Above image captures a display of young coconuts in their shell and some smeared with festive colourings. There are many stalls along Campbell Lane for the duration of this festival and it can be a sight to behold and discover.

Cattle symbolically honoured as acknowledgement for their toil on fields to help humans reap the benefits of a harvest. In Campbell Lane, Serangoon in Singapore, they are washed and had their horns painted. They were also garlanded with flowers, tinkling bells and multi-coloured beads.

Flower garlands, made from fresh blooms, are a requirement in any Indian festivals, together with fresh limes (picture above). Below, the main strip of Serangoon Road gets festive with colourful decorations hung overhead.

Waterloo Street, Singapore

Street walks are one of my fav past times, whether in a bustling metropolis, quiet village or heritage area. Recently I had an  opportunity to explore Waterloo Street in the city state of Singapore - the stretch between Bras Basah and Rochor Roads. The road was renamed, by the colonial British administration, from Church Street to its currently used label, in 1858 to commemorate the Duke of Wellington's victory in the famous battle in far away Europe.

The northern side of Waterloo Street is the site of flower markets, shopping centres, dry produce shops with five-foot ways, the well patronised Kuan Im Hood Cho Temple (picture above), the Maghain Aboth Synagogue and the busy Sri Krishnan Temple. For the visitor, it offers a microcosm of what Singapore is all about - trading, the mingling of various immigrant groups and shared values. Recent developments in this precinct include the campus of the Singapore Management University.

Painted wall murals (above) and feeding pigeons (below) add to the variety seen in the pedestrian mall section of Waterloo Street. Tamils refer to this road with emphasis on the Hindu temple, whilst the Fujian community in Singapore describe it as the street in Bencoolen where the vegetarian hall is. The Teochews refer to Waterloo Street as the road of horse carriages.

Below image, a typical back packer's hostel places the guest in the centre of much colour, activity and access to street food. I visited Waterloo Street during the busy preparations leading to the arrival of the Lunar New Year of the Water Dragon.