Loy Krathong 2007

Today is Loy Krathong festival, and since it's a Saturday as well, the celebration for the festival is held on the same day, instead of bringing it forwards or backwards to the next available weekend.<

I have been waiting for this festival for a long time, and though I don't get to float the Krathong in Thailand again, it's at least good to be able to do it at Kallang River. Of course, the atmosphere is less strong over here, since there's so fireworks or performances held in conjunction with this festival. Hopefully I'd be able to do it in Thailand next year!

Thai ladies selling Krathongs outside Golden Mile Complex; the whole stretch of the corridor was filled with Krathong stalls!

The Krathong which I'd bought.

Floating of Krathong in Kallang River

Loy Krathong in Singapore

(A continuation of my previous post...)

To be honest, I was oblivious to the fact that Loy Krathong Festival was approaching until last Friday.

On that afternoon, on my way to work, I decided to drop by a music stall just a stone’s throw away from my office. I noticed that they had got these lotus lanterns on display at their counter, and it was only then I was reminded that Loy Krathong Festival was just around the corner. I asked the sales assistant when Loy Krathong Festival was, and she gave me a surprised look before telling me that it was on Sunday. I then asked her where do the local Thais float their lotus lanterns, and she told me that most of them do it at Kallang River, which is just a traffic light junction away. That was exciting! I didn’t know Kallang River was the venue for floating the lanterns, and if I had known it earlier, I could have celebrated it for the past 2 years. Anyway, I did not buy any lotus lantern from her yesterday, as I didn’t want to buy too early only to have a dented or damaged lantern on the actual day of Loy Krathong. Hence, I promised the sales assistant that I’d return to buy the following day.

On the following afternoon, before I go for my Chinese opera rehearsals, I purposely make a trip down to the stall again to buy lotus lantern. There were a number of colourful lanterns for sale, with price range from $5 to $10. That seemed a bit expensive, but then again, the “labour cost” as well as the cost of the raw materials is not cheap either, so I still decided to get one anyway. The cheaper ones did not appeal to me, as they were only decorated with some ribbons and I felt it looked too plain and not worth the money. I decided to get the $10 one, which was decorated with real fresh flowers and banana leaves. It looked nicer, and what’s more, it’s more environmentally friendly! After buying the lotus lantern, I suddenly remembered something; I had to work the following evening, and I wasn’t sure if I would have time to float the lantern. The sales assistant rest assured me that the floating of lanterns will start as early as 6pm, and would carry on until late in the night.

On the evening of Loy Krathong, I was greeted with bad weather, and I was worried that I might not be able to celebrate the occasion if the weather did not improve. Luckily, the rain stopped as fast it came. I then proceed to Kallang River happily with my lotus lantern. I guess it was still early, as I did not see anyone launching lotus lanterns into the water. I was about to head back to office and come back again later in the night when I saw a group of 4 elderly people carrying lotus lanterns in their hands. They were speaking in Hokkien, and I thought they might be able to help me find a place to launch the lanterns. It turned out that this group of elderly people were fans of my Chinese opera troupe, and one of their nieces was actually a dancer in our dance group too. It seemed that fate had drawn us together, and hence I decided to just follow behind them.

We walked for a short while before coming to a spot where we saw people crowding around. Some people had already launched their lotus lanterns while some were taking pictures with their lotus lanterns. We then decided that this would be the place for us to launch our lanterns into the water. I then realised that I had forgotten to bring out a small paper packet, inside which consist of a few strands of my hair and fingernails. You see, the sales assistant told me that before launching the lotus lantern, what some Thais do is that they would snip off a bit of their hair and clipped their fingernails, and place them on top of their lotus lanterns. As the lotus lantern floats away in the water, whatever bad luck and illness which you had for the previous year would go away with the lantern too. I then quickly searched my bag for my scissors and starts snipping a bit of my hair and fingernails. I guessed it must have a funny sight, as I noticed some Thai people looking at me in a strange manner. Anyway, I managed to get some of my hair and fingernails just in time to launch the lotus lanterns together with the 4 elderly people.

I felt happy and relieved once I saw my lantern floating away in the river, as I had finally realised my wish of celebrating Loy Krathong Festival again. Hopefully, the next time I celebrate this occasion would be in Big Thailand itself and not in “Small Thailand”!

Thai Floating Latern Festival - "Loy Krathong"

It is the fifteenth of the 9th lunar month for us Chinese, but for the Thais, it's the fifteenth of the 12th lunar month for the Thais, a very important day as it coincides with Loy Krathong festival.

Loy Krathong, also known as festival of light or floating latern festival, is the day where the Thais would launch small floating lotus lanterns into the canals and rivers. There were many sayings with regards to the significance of the festival. As this period is the time of the year where the farming cycle for the year comes to an end, the Thai farmers would "loy" (float) their "krathong" (lotus lantern) to thank the River Goddess for the good year they've had, as well as to seek forgiveness for polluting her waterways. Another saying was that this act of floating the lotus lanterns is to pay homage to Lord Buddha's footprint which He had left at the bank of River Narmada in India. There is another Hindus interpretation that this lotus lanterns were offerings to Lord Vishnu, who meditates in the center of the ocean. Whatever the real significance it is, this festival is nevertheless a beautiful one comparable to the Chinese mid-autumn and Yuan Xiao festivals, as the candle-litted lotus lanterns filled up the canals and rivers on this full-moon night, complimented by fireworks in the air. In northern Thailand, Loy Krathong festival is also celebrated with beauty pageants as well as the rising of "Kome Loy" lanterns (similar to the Chinese Kongming lantern) into the night sky.

In 2003, I had the chance to experience this festival on my own in Bangkok. On the night of the celebration, I headed out to Lumpini Park after the sunset, and along the way, I saw stalls selling Krathongs. Some were very simple lanters, with just a styrofoam base and some shredded ribbons and lace on top of the base as a decoration. There were others which uses real banana leaves and decorated with real flowers, and these were of course more expensive. I bought one from a stall at the park's entrance and proceeded inside. There were already people launching their lantern vessels into the pond. I walked up to the pond and choose an ideal place to float my own lantern. However, as the banks of the pond were wet and slippery, and that I was wearing slippers at that time, I almost lost my balance and fell into the pond. If I fell, I'd have become a gigantic krathong myself! Anyway, it was a beautiful sight to see so many lanters floating in the pond. I tried taking photographs of the scenery, but alas my digital camera just could not take photographs in such low lighting, and most of my photographs turned out blurred or grainy.

As I was about the leave the park after floating my krathong, the sky was suddenly lit with fireworks. It was indeed magnificant; lights in the sky as well as on the water surface! I quickly bring out my camera again to try snap some pictures, and though the quality was not very good, it was much better than the earlier pictures I tried to take of the krathongs in the pond.

Loy Krathong festival is truly a very beautiful festival, and one have to experience it yourself to see it's beauty. I hope I would be able to experience it again in Thailand next year or so. In the meanwhile, I've bought a krathong at my workplace, and I shall be floating it in Kallang River tonight!