SIBU: Forty-seven orphans and 12 staff from Sibu Methodist Children’s Home (SMCH) were feted to a joyous three-in-one celebration held at Jaya Lihua Foodcourt here on Saturday.
The simultaneous triple celebration, encompassing Winter Solstice, Christmas and welcoming of the coming New Year 2025, was organised by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Lanang Branch as a charity community project, in collaboration with Persatuan Kebajikan Heng Shan Sibu.
Addressing the event, PKR Lanang branch chairman, Michael Lee Meng Ting said, “Our common ideology or interest to serve for the betterment of our community needs bond us together to make this project a success.
“l would like to thank all donors or sponsors for their generosity and would like to continue working with all of you in near future.” he enthused.
On Winter Solstice or Dong Zhi festival, he explained that In Chinese, the word “Winter” means “Dong” while “Zhi” means “arrival” giving the literal meaning of the festival “the coming of winter”.
He stated that Dong zhi celebrates the winter solstice, usually around Dec 21 to 23, and is observed on the longest night of the year.
Symbolising the victory of light over darkness, he said, Dong Zhi represents that the days will start to grow longer and bring a sense of balance and harmony to people’s lives.
Pointing out that based on Chinese beliefs of yin yang, “Yang” represents positive energy, warmth, and light, he said, following the Dong Zhi Festival, daytime will gradually lengthen, as “Yang” will also increase.
According to him, it was also believed by some that it was the day the Kitchen God went to heaven to report to the Jade Emperor the conduct of a family.
Touching on Christmas, he highighted that it is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on Dec 25 annually as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world.
“In the early fourth century, the church fixed the date as Dec 25, the date of the winter solstice in the Roman Empire. Therefore, we set today for this three-in-one celebration for all of you even though both of the festive are already over but still fall within the month.
“To commemorate this occasion, we teach them how to make “Tang yuan” and we also bring gifts for the children. With these, we hope to educate and remind the youth of the legacy festival to be observed and continue in years to come.
“May our hopeful wishes follow you home and warm you through the new year. Wishing you nothing but good health, wealth, and endless blessings in the New Year ahead,” Lee added.
Among those present were SMCH superintendent, Lau Sie Tung; SMCH deputy superintendent, Tie Ling Ling and PKR Lanang branch deputy chairman, Hung Soon Kieng.
