Gracebee's Diary: August 2015

22-August 2015

Remembrance Day 9 November 2014
World War II Memorial, Labuan (formerly Victoria Town )

I read about the news and the notice of this event in the newspaper and I went to witness the ceremony on the 9th November 2014. It was raining heavily the night before .Luckily the rain stopped before the ceremony started. This memorial Park on the island of Labuan was a popular place where visitors loved taking photos while walking around the compound.When we were young ,we used to bring our friends from afar to visit this beautiful Memorial.Writing about this Memorial really brings back lots of memories of my school days.

Remembrance Day is an annual event organised by Labuan Tourism Council to commemorate the fallen heroes during the World War II . On that day, many High Commissioner representatives from Commonwealth countries attended the event to offer tribute. Below are some of the photos taken before and during the Prayer service.

(6th August 2015)
My grand daughter,Silvia Lee was one month old on the 4th of August (the 20th day of the 5th month in the Chinese lunar calender). So,the actual full month (20th day of the 6th month) fell on the 4th of August.
According to Chinese traditional culture ,different dialect has its own way of celebration to mark this important 1st full month of the baby's life. I would choose a simple and meaningful "package" to follow. We prepared many eggs dyed red..300 red eggs and red ang ku kueh ,some roasted pork for very close relatives. The eggs were boiled in three different big pots. These hard boiled eggs were dyed red.This was done one day earlier, from afternoon to late at night. We made order for the ang ku kueh as we did not know how to make. We wrapped 6 red eggs and 6 ang ku kueh (in separate plastic bags) with pink paper.

On the very day ie 4th August, first thing to do was to cut a little bit of baby.s hair to keep in a red packet. Later my cousin sister accompanied me to two temples to pray for the little girl. We placed the some red eggs and the kueh on the alter as offerings to Gods and Goddess. I prayed for my grand daughter's happiness,good luck,good health and safe and sound in her growing up.

After coming back from the temples, we started to distribute those packets of red eggs and kueh to relatives and friends. In return ,they would give red packets called ang paws or jewelry to the baby with blessings and luck.

That was the simplest celebration we had for the baby. We wish all the best for her as she grows up. That is enough. Some of the photos taken during the one month.....................

Silvia on day 4...