Chinese New Year is just around the corner, with this festive season, Maybank has come out with a CNY Facebook App for everyone to send e-cards and understand the CNY Facts and Zodiac.

It’s easy and fun to use! You can customized your Chinese New Year e-cards easily and with your own custom wishes to your friends and family.

All you need to do is head to this CNY with Maybank Facebook App and start enjoying the features provided.

Golden Lion

Send Golden Lion to dance and wish your friends and family “Happy Chinese New Year”. Stand a chance to be picked as our daily favourite to win RM250 Ang Pau. At the end of the campaign, if your Golden Lion’s greeting get picked as one of the best 3, we’ll send a real lion dance to your house + more Ang Pows!

Just follow some simple steps below and you may send out your customized CNY e-Cards right away!

1) Choose a background music.
2) Drag and drop the movements into the frame.
3) Type your message to go with the dance.

Click “Yes”

Select a friend that you want to send the custom e-cards that you just created to.

Type a message and post to your friend’s wall.

After that you able to send the same e-card to another friend or create a new e-card or view the sent out e-card.

Zodiac Mash-Up

Find out what the Western and Chinese Zodia Mash-Up says about your traits and receive a virtual fortune cookie with your reading. If you’re lucky the fortune cookie will reward you with a RM50 Petrol Card.

CNY Facts

Setal the show at your family re-union dinner this year. Here are some interesting facts about Chinese New Year that you can share with your family and friends.

I hereby wishing you have a blast and Happy “Chinese New Year”!! Gong Hei Fatt Choy! 恭喜发财！

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Have you planned your Chinese New Year leaves? When are you resuming work after the Chinese New Year break? Which day do you start work this year after Chinese New Year Holidays? Start on Monday? Tuesday? or Wednesday?

Do you believe in Feng Shui? If yes then you may follow the chart below to choose a good day to start work after CNY by your 生肖. Check out which date is best for you to start work and get the best out of the year ahead! Auspicious day to start work? 开工吉日？ Plan your holidays. =)

Happy Chinese New Year and Gong Xi Fatt Chai.

Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake

Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig

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Great news! Apple will be holding a 1 day sale Today, Friday (6th January 2012), in celebration of the Lunar Chinese New Year!

There were Black Friday Sales and now we have Red Friday Sales by Apple!

There’s not a moment to lose. Today only, Apple offering special pricing on Apple gifts including Macs, iPads, and iPods, as well as accessories. Shop at the Apple Online Store and find the perfect gifts now.

Apple iPad 2 Sale for CNY

Starting at RM 1,378.00
Was RM 1,499.00
Save RM 121.00

Apple iPod Touch Sale for CNY

Now starting at RM 628.00
Was RM 699.00
Save RM 71.00

Apple iPod Nano Sale for CNY

From RM 414.00
Was RM 449.00
Save RM 35.00

Apple MacBook Air Sale for CNY

Starting at RM 2,788.00
Was RM 3,099.00
Save RM 311.00

Apple MacBook Pro Sale for CNY

Starting at RM 3,388.00
Was RM 3,699.00
Save RM 311.00

Apple iMac Sale for CNY

Starting at RM 3,488.00
Was RM 3,799.00
Save RM 311.00

Magic Trackpad

RM 184.00
Was RM 219.00
Save RM 35.00

Apple Magic Mouse

RM 194.00
Was RM 229.00
Save RM 35.00

Time Capsule – 2 TB

RM 928.00
Was RM 999.00
Save RM 71.00

Apple Wireless Keyboard

RM 194.00
Was RM 229.00
Save RM 35.00

The Red Friday deals will be offered through Apple’s online stores in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.

Should I get a MacBook Air now or wait for the new release of MacBook Air later of the year?? Hmm…

Shop for Year of the Dragon surprises. So let’s shop shop shop on the Apple ONLINE Store now!

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Chinese New Year just ended! 15 days of laziness and slackness, now have to back to work and suffer for another year… How did you celebrate your Chap Goh Meh? I went to Taman Jaya.

Chap Goh Meh celebration at the Taman Jaya Lake, Petaling Jaya, went off smoothly despite an earlier thunderstorm that knocked down several trees and billboards and threatened to delay the event. The celebration was organised by six councillors from the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ), namely Tiew Way Keng, Terence Tan, A. Jeyaseelan, Mak Khuin Weng, Tiong Boon Keong and Tony Cheong.

Chap Goh Meh, which is held on the 15th day of the Lunar New Year, it’s last day of Chinese New Year, is also known as the Chinese Valentine’s Day.

Check out the crowd at Taman Jaya. It’s really people mountain people sea! 人山人海。

Single ladies would gather and throw mandarin oranges and single men throw bananas that have their contact details written into a lake or river in hopes of getting good partners. I went there just to check out and wishing that I could grab myself a mandarin orange but failed, no luck for me! =(

Some chose to write their wishes and hopes on lanterns (Kong Ming Deng 孔明燈/孔明灯) before releasing them into the sky. Somehow I found it ridiculous as “Transport Ministry warns against releasing sky lanterns” and it’s banned and it’s stated in the news “that Upon conviction, they can be jailed up to six months or fined RM2,000 under the Penal Code, or jailed five years and fined RM10,000 under the Explosives Act.“ How come in this event there’s no one bother about this??

All prepared: Some men came equipped with long fishing nets that were used to catch the mandarin oranges that had been earlier flung into the lake by numerous single women. I did not bring any net so went home empty handed lo. Haha… Next time if you want to try your luck remember to prepare with bigger net!

Other activities at the Chap Goh Meh celebration included free water orb rides, magic shows, performances by college bands and other performers, as well as games and contests.

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What is Ang Pau / Red Packet / 紅包?

In Chinese and other East Asian societies, a red envelope or red packet (known as Hóng Bāo in Mandarin, Ang Pao in Min Nan, Lai See in Cantonese, Sae Bae Don (세뱃돈/歲拜돈) in Korean, and Lì Xì in Vietnamese) is a monetary gift which is given during holidays or special occasions.

Red envelopes are mainly presented at social and family gatherings such as weddings or on holidays such as the Lunar New Year. The red color of the envelope symbolizes good luck and is supposed to ward off evil spirits. The act of requesting for red packets is normally called (Mandarin): 討紅包, 要利是, (Cantonese):逗利是. A married person would not turn down such request as it would mean that he or she would be “out of luck” in the new year. In keeping with Chinese customs, newly wedded couples are also usually expected to be extremely generous with the amount offered in the red packets, so as to receive blessings for a blissful marriage.

The amount of money contained in the envelope usually ends with an even digit, in accordance with Chinese beliefs; for instance 88 and 168 are both lucky numbers, as odd-numbered money gifts are traditionally associated with funerals. But there is a widespread tradition that money should not be given in fours, or the number four should not appear in the amount, such as 40, 400 and 444 as the pronunciation of the word “four” resembles that of the word “death”, and it signifies bad luck for many Chinese. At weddings, the amount offered is usually intended to cover the cost of the attendees as well as a goodwill to the newlyweds. It is considered extremely rude to give a low amount of money on such an occasion.

During the Lunar New Year, mainly in South China, red envelopes (in the North, just money without any cover) are typically given by the married to the unmarried, most of whom are children. The amount of money is usually a single note to avoid heavy coins, and to make it difficult to judge the amount inside before opening. It is traditional to put brand new notes inside red envelopes, as well as to avoid opening the envelopes in front of the relatives out of courtesy. In recent years, some Asian-based banks provide newer-looking notes to reduce the environmental impact of printing new banknotes.

How many Ang Pau did you receive this year? Mine was 70% less than previous year, maybe the economic not too good due to the increasing of petrol and inflation but the salary didn’t increase? Haha…

Ang Pau that I got last year 2010 – Tiger Year.

Ang Pau that I got this year 2011 – Rabbit Year.

See the comparison between last year and this year. So little =(

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Happy Chinese New Year, Gong Xi Fatt Chai, Kong Hei Fatt Choy, Geong Hi Huat Chai… Huatt ahhhh!

So how many ang pauss did you all collected? How’s your reunion dinner and your CNY meal? Have you 捞生 Lou Sang yet? Lou Sang is very meaningful for the Chinese as it resembles of the prosper and the wealth.

Here’s a tips on how to 捞生 Lou Sang… Haha…

Salmon Yee Sang

#Tips no. 1
Order the right Yee Sang…
There’s a lot of different choice of Yee Sang. Abalone Yee Sang, Jelly Fish Yee Sang or Salmon Yee Sang. So order which type most of the ppl like to eat lo.

#Tips no. 2
Order the right Size of Yee Sang…
If you have more ppl then order 1 Mai Yee Sang, if less ppl then order 1/2 Mai Yee Sang… Haha common sense right?

#Tips no. 3
Before Lou Sang, prepare a clean unused chop stick then only hygiene ma…

#Tips no. 4
This is the most important tips! Put all your empty plate next to the Yee Sang plate so that the mess will be end up in your plate and not on the table and it will be wasted! Haha…

#Tips no. 5
When you Lou Sang that time, remember to say some good words…

“捞到风生水起”, “身体健康”, “万事如意”, “一本万利”

…

#Tips no. 6
Do not finish all the Yee Sang, leave some leftover, “年年有余”…

It’s only my personal opinion ya! So try it! Gong Hei Gong Hei! Huattt ah!

Yusheng , yee sang or yuu sahng (simplified Chinese: 鱼生; pinyin: yúshēng), also known as lo hei (Cantonese for 撈起 or 捞起) is a Teochew-style raw fish salad. It usually consists of strips of raw fish (most commonly salmon), mixed with shredded vegetables and a variety of sauces and condiments, among other ingredients. Yusheng literally means “raw fish” but since “fish (鱼)” is commonly conflated with its homophone “abundance (余)”, Yúshēng (鱼生) is interpreted as a homophone for Yúshēng (余升) meaning an increase in abundance. Therefore, yusheng is considered a symbol of abundance, prosperity and vigor.

While versions of it is thought to have existed in China, the contemporary version is created and popularised in Singapore in the 1960s amongst the ethnic Chinese community and its consumption has been associated with Chinese New Year festivities in Singapore as well as in neighbouring Malaysia. In Singapore, government, community and business leaders often take the lead in serving the dish as part of official functions during the festive period or in private celebrity dinners. Some have even suggested that it be named a national dish.

Source : Wikipedia

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Have you check out Chinese New Year Decoration @ 1Utama Shopping Complex? This year they use the “招财猫” (Lucky Cat) instead of Tiger theme which you will normally see in almost all other shopping complex. The funny thing is there’s a mole on the Cat. Haha. Nice?

See different “招财猫” (Lucky Cat) got different side of mole… haha.

Lion Dance Performance by Thailand group @ 1U last week.

This is at the New Wing Oval, but at 1Utama Old Wing, there’s nothing much just a small stage with the word “虎” (Tiger).

1Utama Old Wing not so happening now compared to the New Wing.

*Photos taken with BlackBerry Curve 8520, image quality a bit cacated.

Wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day! Gong Hei FATT Choi!!!

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In conjunction with the coming Chinese New Year, Astro and MY FM are proud to present the first ever 100% locally produced Chinese movie “Woohoo!” that will hit the screen on 14 January nationwide.

“Woohoo!” literally means tiger dance in Chinese, which is in fact part of the traditional Chinese culture although it has not been practiced as commonly as lion or dragon dance in Malaysia.

Inspired by the uniqueness of the tiger dance, Astro once again establishes its role in the Chinese community with a movie hoping to revive the long-forgotten culture amongst the local community, as well as to boost the local Chinese film industry through this movie.

Led by local director and producer 周青元 Chiu Keng Guan (who is also the Senior Manager of Astro Chinese Language Business), “Woohoo!” boasts an impressive lineup of Astro and MY FM artistes such as 林德榮 Jack Lim, 顏江瀚 Gan Jiang Han, 陳志康 Royce Tan, 邱文博Bernard Hiew, 楊佳賢 Jason Yeoh, 顏微恩 Gan Mei Yan, 曾潔鈺 Chen Keat Yoke, 卓卉勤 Vivian Tok and 黃一飛 Freddie Ng – each of them has been characterized vividly.

“Woohoo!” revolves around five youngsters of different background getting together at a small village in the East Coast to undergo the tiger dance training. The movie incorporates social, family and cultural values in a light-hearted and humorous way, with plots and languages that are relevant to the local lifestyle.

Went to the exclusive premier yesterday with all the artistes at e@Curve (Cathay Cineplax @Cineleisure Damansara). It’s the 1st ever local CNY movie that I watch in cinema and it’s awesome! There’s laughter and there’s tears. Go to cinema to support our local production on 14th Jan at all the cinemas nationwide.

Here’s some of the moment captured during the screening.

顏江瀚&曾潔鈺

曾潔鈺&黃一飛

There’s tears in 曾潔鈺 Chen Keat Yoke’s eyes. She’s touched on how other ppl care for her.

蕭慧敏自曝在電影中哭不出來，讓卓卉勤取笑她“太久沒有感情生活”！大家笑說要把蕭慧敏和楊佳賢“送作堆”，結果林德榮吐槽說，“很難囉！因為他摸完她的臉後，還不忘插她鼻孔！”

This is the woohoo in the movie!

主題曲演唱者黃毓敏 Min

This is the cute fat boy 小演員“榴槤頭”林利 in the movie.

Jason Yeoh, Bernard Hiew, Royce Tan

Small little casts. 卓卉勤 Vivian Tok and 黃一飛 Freddie Ng’s kids.

All the casts giving out woohoo plush to the guests. I got myself the woohoo! It’s cute~!

woohoo plush “小老虎”

Jack Lim & Jason autograph for new book 《相信/可能》

Visit www.woohoo.my for more details about “Woohoo!” or join Facebook at www.facebook.com/woohoo2010. Astro and MY FM hope this movie will bring you much laughter and happiness as you usher in the Year of the Tiger with your friends and family.

“Woohoo!”

Director 導演 : Chiu Keng Guan 周青元
Cast: 林德榮 Jack Lim, 顏江瀚 Gan Jiang Han, 陳志康 Royce Tan, 邱文博Bernard Hiew, 楊佳賢 Jason Yeoh, 顏微恩 Gan Mei Yan, 曾潔鈺 Chen Keat Yoke, 卓卉勤 Vivian Tok, 黃一飛 Freddie Ng, 蕭斐弘 Siow Ho Phiew
Genre: Comedy, Family
Production: Woohoo Pictures, Astro Shaw
Rate: (U)
Run Time: 90mins

Synopsis:
“Woohoo” (tiger dance) is a tradition practiced in a small village – Beserah, Kuantan during a praying ceremony every 60 years. As the only old-aged heir of “Woohoo” can no longer perform, his filial granddaughter put up a misleading advertisement which then attracted five youngsters from different background – Ah Beng, a bad-tempered bank security, Ah Huat, an indecisive Char Kuey Teow hawker, Rain, a sissy but soft-hearted designer, Bobby, a university student who likes to crap, and Alan, a show-off – to be trained as “Woohoo” players.

They, who have undergone rigorous training and mishaps one after another, finally form a tough “Woohoo” team. However, few days before the much-awaited ceremony day, the only “tiger head” is accidentally destroyed by the mischievous kids in the village……

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Have you bought all your new clothes for this Ox Year? If not you may consider the following and get the suitable color for the CNY days and suitable color for start work. =)

So if the column shows not suitable, it means u dun need to wear!! Haha…

PS: Information extracted from forwarded email.

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Lion Dance Champion Kun Seng Keng Performed @ Mid Valley

I love to see Lion Dance performed by them. It’s superb and all the actions actually stunned me for a while =)

So many ppl there and some a lot ppl actually give them ang pau in return of the mandarin orange from that lion. This actually works. Haha next time you want to get it, just get ready your ang pau =)

Here’s once of their competition clips on last year 2007

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