Feb
17
2016

Our 9th Day of Chinese New Year

On the ninth day of the Chinese New Year it would be the celebration known to the Hokkiens as “Phai Thien Kong” which literally means “praying the Heaven God”. Prayers usually starts from 11pm on the 8th day or midnight onwards on the 9th day. Eversince I got married to Darling, I had been following him back to his hometown for this prayers except this year.

There is no school holiday for this special celebration this year and Ethan being in the morning session, refused to skip classes.

On this special night, my in-laws usually set up a table full of food to serve to the Jade Emperor. Some of the regular items they must have are boiled eggs, red tortoise buns (ang koo), red-colored buns (mee koo), prosperity cake (huat kueh), roast pork, steamed chicken, raw fish and fruits.

Usually we will all gather together after prayers to eat these food offerings but this year we did not get to do that. My favourite is usually the angkoo kuih that I will eat immediately after prayers. The rest such as roast pork, chicken and all will be eaten when we wake up later.

Nevertheless, my sister-in-law brought some items for us on her way up to KL this morning.

She brought us these:

Roast Pork

Steamed Chicken

Angkoo Kuih (Red Tortoise Bun) that is neither red nor the shape of a tortoise :P

Mee Koo (Red Coloured Bun)

Huat Kueh (Prosperity Cake)

Pomelo

Fruits

Boiled eggs

My in-law also gave us 2 packs of firecrackers to burn at home and at the office today.

With all the above delivered to us, we manage to have a nice feast for dinner.

What about you? Do you celebrate the Jade Emperor’s birthday? Does your kid’s school declare a holiday for this special occassion? If not, did you let your kid skip school?

Tags: Emperor Jade Festival, Pai Ti Kong

My Pai Ti Kong journey

About the Author: Merryn Tan

16 Comments + Add Comment

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Yee Ling February 17, 2016 at 9:03 am

Wow..that’s very nice your in laws to pack the food and get your sis in law to deliver to your doorsteps.

My family is not Hokkien lang, so we don’t specially celebrate it but go to bed early. Haha

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  Merryn February 19, 2016 at 4:57 pm
  
  Some people even though they don’t pray, they stay up late to see the fireworks. Haha.
  
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CL (RealGunners) February 17, 2016 at 9:34 am

Where got school declare holiday for this event one??

I’m not Hokkien, but I am “terpaksa” to celebrate it every year, especially since I live in Penang now. This year the fireworks lasted until 2AM in my area >.< ..

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  Merryn February 19, 2016 at 4:57 pm
  
  Got. So many Chinese schools take this as a special holiday but not Ethan’s school. Sigh… Some schools even have Chap Goh Mei as holiday ler.
  
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Choi Yen February 17, 2016 at 12:13 pm

I’m not Hokkien & never Pai Thien Kong but will occasionally join the prayer at friend’s house if time allowed :)

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  Merryn February 19, 2016 at 4:56 pm
  
  Ooooh. The only one I’ve been to is my in-law’s. It is held so late at night that I wont want to attend this if I am not forced to. Hahaha.
  
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Libby February 18, 2016 at 3:50 am

We did prayed to Thien Kong on the 9th day of CNY, we started our prayers and offerings at around 9pm and burned incense paper after midnight, there was a post on this in my blog, Pai Thien Kong is an important event for the Hokkiens even more important than the first day of CNY

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  Merryn February 19, 2016 at 4:55 pm
  
  Cool. Will check out your blog post in a while, Libby.
  
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    Libby February 21, 2016 at 1:51 am
    
    *Typo – We started our prayers and offerings at around 11pm
    
    Reply
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Isaac Tan February 18, 2016 at 9:45 am

i want that roast pork.. please? pretty please?

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  suituapui February 18, 2016 at 4:11 pm
  
  You’re not the Jade Emperor lah, Isaac! That’s for him, not for you. Muahahahahaha!!!!
  
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    Merryn February 19, 2016 at 4:54 pm
    
    Hahahahahahahaha! Good one Arthur!
    
    Reply
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suituapui February 18, 2016 at 4:09 pm

What is the significance of all these things? Wahhhh!!!! Boiled eggs also your SIL had to bring kah? Hehehehehehe!!!!!

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  Merryn February 19, 2016 at 4:54 pm
  
  I don’t know the significance of all these things. The boiled eggs are from the prayers hence my father in law insisted for us to have it.
  
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mun February 18, 2016 at 6:28 pm

I am not Hokkien so did not celebrate but in my area, the fireworks started going off after midnight on the night of CNY day 8 marking the start of CNY day 9.

So nice of your sil to bring you so much food.

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  Merryn February 19, 2016 at 4:55 pm
  
  It was our first time not going back for this prayers. We hope we’ll be able to go back next year.
  
  Reply

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About Me

Home is where MY heart is.
I am a mother to two boys; Ethan and Ayden and a wife to Darling William. I'm a stay at home mum who blogs to break the monotony of life and to avoid feeling jaded. Would love to get to know all the Super Mommies and Daddies and Babies or Singles out there with the hope that we can learn more from each other. Most of all, I am a happy person, and I hope YOU are too.