Foggy evening sky
Crackers snap,
families gather
Usher the dragon
Balqis
Jan22’12
*This Haiku was written on
the eve of Chinese New Year. This year the Chinese are celebrating the Year of
The Dragon (water dragon). According to
the Chinese, the dragon is an auspicious
creature and the year of the dragon
brings power, strength and good luck.
At the time this Haiku was
written, I could hear the loud firecrackers in my neighbourhood. As I am living
in a country of multi-religious, multi-racial and multi-cultural; the sounds of
firecrackers, drums’ beat, dragon dance, lion dance, red lanterns and oranges are very
familiar to me. Apart from that, Malaysians are well -known for the unique culture such as having “open-house” for every celebration meaning to say Malaysians of other ethnics
are warmly welcome to join in the joy of other celebrations and this time we'll join our Chinese friends.
To those celebrating Chinese New Year, I wish you a Happy and Prosperous Year!*
a very good haiku and great wish ! you are now a mini ambassador to our country. i am so glad to hear form you, sharing about the uniqueness we have here and bring our brand to a greater height.
ReplyDeletegreat job Balqis !
Hi Inspector! Thank you so much for your kindness. Mini ambassador?? Hehehe...ok everyone of us can do that by sharing our unique culture. Wait till raya comes, you can write about it. :)
DeleteHappy holidays to you! :)
I always love your haiku, it is always written beautifully... happy holiday to you...
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Will. It's nice to know that. You're also doing a good job at your blog. :)
DeleteHey! I thought you said you were going to take a long rest, lol...kidding my dear, thanks for providing this info.
ReplyDeleteHehehe...it was supposed to be a long rest but the dragon woke me up!!! Saying the same thing to Inspector. Thank you, Miss Lego. :)
DeleteHI!:) Happy to read this post! Happy Chines New Year!:) Thaks for sharing Balqis! :) Hope you had fun! :)Smile! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for feeling happy to read it. Sure, I have lots of fun. It's public holidays here! Hooray! :)
DeleteWonderful haiku as always, dear Balqis! Loved the image too! I enjoyed reading the additional information and it makes me want to move to your country where everyone lives in harmony *big smiles*
ReplyDeleteOhh, and the cat nap was just that ~ short but invigorating he he! Happy Chinese New Year to all! :-)
Dear Fiona, it's always nice hearing your kind words. Thank you for enjoying the additional info. That's what it's like here in Malaysia. We're now having public holidays for two days plus the weekends, it's four whereas for schools, it's a -week-long-holiday! Inspector Saahab is surely having a great time. :)
DeleteOh ya! the cat was having a nap. Supposed to have along, long rest to regain strength and thoughts! ;p But, you know, it's the dragon that woke me up! I have to usher it for the new year. :))
Thanks for all your wishes. :)
Hi, once again a brilliant Haiku. Lovely picture. It's always good to learn new things like this dragon year. Have a great day.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Sam. Your words are too beautiful for my Haiku but I humbly accept them. There are many unique cultures in my country because we're comprising of many ethnics. In the state of Sarawak, where I live, there are more than 40 ethnic groups. Imagine how diverse it is!
DeleteWishing you a great day, too! :)
Malaysia is such an amazing nation. I love to see unity in diversities. I am mesmerized by the multi-cultural co-existence of people there. This country is also the homeland of talented bloggers such as you. Most definitely, Malaysia is a country I would like to visit one day.
ReplyDeleteHappy Chinese New Year to you! May the year of dragon bring prosperity and happiness in your life.
Thank you so much, Sui. That's what it's like here. As you said, there is unity in diversities. Malaysia is also known as truly Asia. Many races, cultures and religions but we live in peace and harmony.
DeleteThank you for the greetings. :)
Thank you for writing this and sharing this haiku to all our Chinese fellows my friend. Nice one really. Here it's declared as the national holiday. Chinese are just a big part of the system here in the Philippines, they are the big boss shall I say.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Malaysia, I love the twin towers, my aunt and uncle had been there last 2007 and they said it's one the best places to visit and travel. They love the spicy foods, they love the coffee, and they love the traditions, they said you are just hospitable as we Filipino are lol...
And one more things, my teacher in high school is permanently living now in Malaysia as his husband is designated there at work... and she said you have really delicious and nutritious coffee there a lot cheaper than here in the Philippines...
Anyway I took you far with this comment my friend, we talk about the Chinese New Year but here I am sharing you with this thing, lol... see you :)
It's my pleasure, Prime Yes, I watched on tv news this evening how it's celebrated in Chinatown and declared for the first time as a public holiday in your country.
DeletePetronas Twin Towers is as one of the landmarks here. It's really nice to know your aunt and uncle love what they could find here. We do take spicy food. I'm not exaggerating to say we take very spicy food with lots of chillies. But there are many other choices of food that aren't spicy. Oh! I didn't know our coffee is as you said. Thank you! :)
There are many Filipinos here. :)
You're allowed to write long comments, Prime. I love hearing from you. Thanks for sharing. :)
Hello Balqis.
ReplyDeleteHow are you today? I thought you were taking a mini hiatus to get some well-deserved rest, but I see your poet's pen has been busy at work (smile).
It's always interesting to learn how people around the world celebrate the different holidays.
Lovely expressions.
Thanks for sharing. Appreciate all your visits & comments too.
P.S.
Now I know you LOVE your Haiku, so you might be interested in taking part in The Haiku Challenge 2012 hosted by my friend Saravana aka Someone is Special over at his blog Few Miles. The event runs from 1 Feb-29 Feb...that's right...29 whole days of writing Haiku. I can already see the smile on your face! (LOL) The event instructions & prompts are already posted on his blog, so without further ado, go visit him here...
It promises to be an exciting event with surprise giveaways too. Sadly, I won't be participating, but I'll be stopping by every now & then to read some of the entries. Good luck & see you soon, my friend!
Hello Andy!
DeleteI'm fine, thank you. Oh ya! I was supposed to take a mini hiatus but when ideas knocked my mind, I just couldn't help but grabbed my laptop and shared my little thoughts here. :)
Thank you so much for your nice comments. :)
Thank you, too, for telling about the Haiku Challenge. Will drop by his blog. :)
Hi Balqis, A very Happy Chinese new yr to you! :)
ReplyDeleteI hope you must have enjoyed a lot!......And thank you so much for bringing this concept to our knowledge! :) :)
Hi Aakriti!
DeleteThank you for your greeting. I'm only joining in the joy of the new year with my Chinese friends by going to their open-houses. I'm not a Chinese but being a Malaysian it's always having the feeling of being part of it and understanding it for there's the diversity of races, cultures and religions here. :)
Thank you for being here. :)
selamat tahun baru,
ReplyDeletewriting this haiku,
not chinses, not melayu... :P
i think the chinese govt should pay you the royalty that you are giving the dragon year so much publicity :P writing a whole haiku about it... wow... and as i said to dave king, now i say to you that there is nothing in the world about which you cannot write a haiku... and the moment i read your haiku, my fingers itch to comment back in haiku :P
Selamat Baru, Dr! Wow! You amaze me again with your Haiku. This time you added the "Melayu" inside there. *smiles*
DeleteI'm not doing much. Do you think they have to pay royalty? If so, I'll donate it for a good cause. May be for the fund of a Science lab in haiku investigation.:p
I'm surprised when you said "that there is nothing in the world about which you (ME?) cannot write a haiku." Ohh!! Keep saying it, I'll write more!! LOL
It's good to know your fingers become itchy to write a Haiku comment. :p Find out in the lab why is it so. :))
Thank you so much for spending your time reading my Haiku. Let your fingers itch more!! LOL
Ah...You see, my greeting there missing the "tahun". It should be "Selamat Tahun Baru." You're better than me. :p
DeleteThe thinking that i do,
Deletethere is tahun before baru,
i can teach you melayu...
:P :P :P
Your Haiku is perfect and amazing , as usual.
ReplyDeleteHappy new Chinese dragon year.
I am an Ox in Chinese astrology and you know what I am really like an Ox.LOL
You are always very kind complimenting my Haiku. Thank you so much, Izdiher.
DeleteOh! nice to know you're an ox. To me an ox is a very strong animal and very useful in farming. :)