tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16760936.post2308964393641266051..comments2024-03-28T15:13:45.925+08:00Comments on Good Morning Yesterday: “CHAP GOH MEH” Celebration at Havelock Road in 1958 (by James Seah)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16760936.post-80903956357311327182021-02-28T19:36:50.710+08:002021-02-28T19:36:50.710+08:00Yes CNY will never be what it was for those who ha...Yes CNY will never be what it was for those who had never experienced the thunderous effects of thousands of firecrackers simultanouesly fired on 12 midnight CNY day and on Chap Goh Meh Greg TANnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16760936.post-73933762898005182402015-03-08T21:56:37.164+08:002015-03-08T21:56:37.164+08:00When I was a kid, new shoes and firecrackers were ...When I was a kid, new shoes and firecrackers were the two things I really looked forward to on Chinese New Year. I would buy those packets of mini-sized fire crackers, then separate them into individual pieces and store them in a tin can. On the first day of CNY, after putting on my new clothes and new shoes, I would set off the first cracker with great excitement.<br /><br />I've not seen firecrackers for a long time after the ban, until I visited my relatives in Fujian in 2014. It was then that I realised that worshipers routinely set off firecrackers when visiting the temples. Some temples, however, don't allow that.limhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06443241887721915102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16760936.post-9943124747040586192008-03-03T19:42:00.000+08:002008-03-03T19:42:00.000+08:00Since Zen has owned up to using firecrackers to sc...Since Zen has owned up to using firecrackers to scare dogs I will admit (with great shame) that my friend and I were on the beach at Changi and put firecrackers in the claws of crabs and lit them. the results do not need describing. I am still ashamed of this act!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16760936.post-40346163352383028962008-03-01T17:44:00.000+08:002008-03-01T17:44:00.000+08:00Firing crackers in a kampong was also quite danger...Firing crackers in a kampong was also quite dangerous in the sense that most folks lived in attap huts. Throwing crackers at ferocious dogs was real fun for naughty kids, seeing them fleeing in in all directions as though being struck by lightning out of the blue. I was also guilty of participating in such a cruel and frivolous act. Luckily no SPCA guys were seen around otherwise I would be in trouble. I must say that I had a grudging dislike for unfriendly dogs after being bitten by one without apparent good reason (that was before my fire-cracker attack on them). I did not provoke the dog. It rushed out from its owner house and bit me from behind while I was riding a bicyle along the main road. I truly believed the culprit simply hated me instinctively.Zenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07489706873295639555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16760936.post-32791137436767225622008-03-01T09:56:00.000+08:002008-03-01T09:56:00.000+08:00My brothers and I also did that silly thing that J...My brothers and I also did that silly thing that John and his brother did with the firecracker powder. We were just luckier.Lam Chun Seehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01762020157703342970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16760936.post-77682243908611558072008-03-01T09:52:00.000+08:002008-03-01T09:52:00.000+08:00While I support the ban, I find that Chinese New Y...While I support the ban, I find that Chinese New Year is no longer same without the sounds and the smells, especially of fire crackers.Lam Chun Seehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01762020157703342970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16760936.post-73357692834452418402008-02-29T22:54:00.000+08:002008-02-29T22:54:00.000+08:00It is traditional practice for the Chinese to fire...It is traditional practice for the Chinese to fire crackers on a happy occasion. The problem was the indiscriminate firing of crackers especially during CNY before the ban, causing loss of lives and limbs, not to mention wide spread fires resulted from such irresponsible act. It was a final straw for the then PM Lee to slap down the permanent ban which lasted up to this very day. Just take for example of a notorious area - Chinatown - where people randomly throwing down loads of potent fire crackers from higher buildings, practically causing a 'fire-storm' to dodging vehicles and pedestrians below. Can a forceful, no-nonsense man like PM Lee stomach such senseless act just for the sake of CNY celebration?Zenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07489706873295639555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16760936.post-74301606731579806842008-02-29T20:52:00.000+08:002008-02-29T20:52:00.000+08:00I remember the sound of firecrackers exploding at ...I remember the sound of firecrackers exploding at CNY time in 1958, if I remember correctly it was the year of the dog. We were not allowed out that evening as it was perceived as being too dangerous with all the firecrackers going off. The morning after we went down to Changi village from Wittering Road where we lived at the time. We found the village shops were all closed and the red casings of the firecrackers were inches deep on the ground. Sifting through you could find unexpldoed crackers and we collected up several dozen. We took them home and stripped open the crackers collecting a pile of powder. My younger brother Tom insisted on lighting the pile of powder so I handed him a box of matches. Foolishly he thrust a lit match into the middle of the powder which flared up and burnt his hand. He went into the house wailing and insisting that I had told him to light the powder for which I duly received a sharp clip around the ear from my mother. Fortunately Tom was not badly burnt and returned from a visit to the MO with a bandaged hand which healed within a week. For me though, I still resent that clip round the ear all these years on!JollyGreenPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05829814386239434664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16760936.post-8289595724522746012008-02-29T19:19:00.000+08:002008-02-29T19:19:00.000+08:00I was very surprised to read about the restriction...I was very surprised to read about the restrictions on firecrackers in Singapore. When I arrived from the UK in February 1960 my coach journey during the night from Payar Lebar airport to my hotel was rather boring - most places were in darkness but every now and then the night was lit up by firecrackers going off. They are indelibly written into my memory as one of my first experiences of Singapore.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16760936.post-9361995372564095162008-02-29T14:01:00.000+08:002008-02-29T14:01:00.000+08:00CNY eve (just before midnight) and Chap Goh Meh we...CNY eve (just before midnight) and Chap Goh Meh were the busiest times for letting off firecrackers. I remember some businesses and households burning long strings of firecrackers which were dangled from a few storeys high. After that, the streets would be paved with a red sea of paper bits which were remnants of the exploded firecrackers.Victorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10339178864363140977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16760936.post-40768336281240495502008-02-29T06:15:00.000+08:002008-02-29T06:15:00.000+08:00I wonder whether Soh Beng Tee Construction in stil...I wonder whether Soh Beng Tee Construction in still around. <BR/><BR/>They were one of my first few computer customers from the Building and Construction Industry back in the early 1980s. The other was Archurband Architects. I think they were one of the few "Ah Beng" companies that used IT very early in their business. <BR/><BR/>Still remember we had to teach them how to use speradsheet - I think it was called "Supercal" to compute fo Paroll for workers and Quantity Surveying Cost Estimates, if I still got the term correct.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com