Wednesday 18 February 2015

Chinese New Year in Chinatown...

I don’t like crowds. I am claustrophobic like that. As such, there are certain places that I avoid, generally and Chinatown is one of such places. However, on this occasion, I was invited by my friend to visit the SriMariamman temple at South Bridge Road. It was an auspicious day for prayers to one of the Hindu deities. I agreed to the visit: it was a chance to see the inside of the temple while getting a first hand explanation of the significance of the architecture as well as the deities.


After the prayer session (chanting, offering and receiving blessings), we went to the festival market along the street next to the temple. It was near the Chinese New Year celebrations then. As people prepared to celebrate the festivities, the itinerant shops were more than happy to cater to consumer needs with everything from frills to buntings to scrolls to herald the arrival of spring in an explosion reds, oranges and yellows…

Daniel Smith watercolours on Saunders Waterford rough paper.