Thomas Tan
In conjunction with the “Duan Wu Jie” or Rice Dumpling Festival, the Rukun Tetangga (RT) Section 21 Sea Park in Petaling Jaya organised a Rice Dumpling Fest allowing the residents to savour the traditional Chinese delicacy according to the Chinese culture.
The event took place on May 31, 2014 from 5 pm to 7.30 pm at its service centre in Jalan 21/19.
It is a tradition to eat rice dumplings during the festival which is celebrated on the 5th day of the 5th month in the Chinese lunar calendar (on June 2 this year)
“We celebrate the festival with eating of rice dumplings to ensure the Chinese traditions would not be forgotten especially by the younger generation.
“We are happy with the good turn out where the young and old gather to enjoy the Rice Dumpling Festival delicacy and forge closer ties among the neighbours,” said RT Section 21 Sea Park chairman Gan Keng.
The residents came to feast on the rice dumplings together with sweetened red bean soup served as dessert, and everyone left with a full and happy stomach.
In all, 800 pieces of the freshly cooked rice dumplings or known as “Bak Chang” were distributed to the residents.
“Bak Chang” is a triangle-shaped dumpling made of sticky glutinous rice stuffed with savoury fillings and wrapped and cooked in bamboo leaves.
The Chinese celebrate the Rice Dumpling Festival or also known as Dragon Boat Festival to commemorate the sacrifice of a patriotic poet Qu Yuan (340 – 278 B.C.) in China, who ended his life by jumping into a river on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month to protest what he saw as injustice and corruption insurmountable in his country.
Qu Yuan was liked by the people for his love and loyalty to his country. The people tried to recover Qu Yuan’s body by throwing rice dumplings in the river to feed the fish with the hope that the fish would not eat his body. They also made loud noises to scare away the fish when rowing the boats up and down the river to search for his body.
It became known as the Rice Dumpling Festival or Dragon Boat Festival and in keeping the tradition alive, the “Bak Chang” or rice dumpling is still eaten and the Dragon Boat Race is held to this day.
The Dragon Boat Race with drum on board symbolise the search for Qu Yuan’s body in the river and the noise from drum beating is thought to scare the fish away.
This year, the just ended Malaysia International Dragon Boat Festival 2014 took place at two cities in Malacca and Putrajaya Water Sports Complex in Precinct 6 from May 31 – June 1 with teams from Australia, China, Germany, England, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Macau, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Spain, South Africa, USA and host Malaysia.
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