MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL IN SINGAPORE

The Mid-Autumn Festival is popularly known as the Moon Festival. It is more of a harvest festival celebrated by Chinese (known as Zhongqiu Jie, 中秋節), Japanese (known as Tsukimi), Koreans (known as Chuseok), and Vietnamese (known as Tết Trung Thu), dated more than 3000 years ago due to the moon worship in China during the Shang Dynasty. It was initially called Zhongqiu Jie (literally "Mid-Autumn Festival") in the Zhou Dynasty. In Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines, it is also at times referred to as the Lantern Festival or the Mooncake Festival.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, which is usually around late September or early October in the Gregorian calendar. It is the date that parallels the autumn and spring Equinoxes of the solar calendar, when the moon is supposed to be at its fullest and roundest, and hence brightest. This year, the Mid-Autumn Festival falls on 3 October, 2009, which is a Saturday, making it more likely to have lots of people engaged in the celebration.

The traditional food of this festival is the mooncake, of which there are many different varieties. Lanterns seem to be inevitable items used in the decorations to ‘heat-up’ the festive mood. There are interesting stories of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Among them are the:

1. Houyi and Chang'e

2. Chang'e and the Hare (Jade Rabbit)

3. Zhu Yuanzhang’s Overthrow of Mongolian Rule

Mid-Autumn Festival celebration has become a universal annual commemoration. Currently, more people are putting greater significance in the history of China in which Zhu Yuanzhang had defeated the Mongolians to form the Ming Dynasty. Subsequently, giving mooncakes to relatives and friends had been developed as an essential part and culture in celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival.

I happened to be in Singapore during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Subsequently, I had the opportunities to snap some photographs of the decorations of Mid-Autumn Festival in certain areas (especially the Chinatown) in Singapore for you to compare the differences in the decorations.

Day Time:

Lin, the salesgirl, told me she applied to put up a stall at the flyover in front of People's Park through the webpage and paid a sum of SGD 70 for two days (3 - 4 Oct 2009).

Night Time: