Malaysia celebration

                                                       CHINESE NEW YEAR

Malaysia is a combination of three ethnic groups; one of them is the Chinese community. The Chinese New Year is considered as a national holiday in Malaysia, too. It’s celebrated every year in the 19^th February.

The Chinese New Year is celebrated on the first day of the Chinese Lunar Calendar. The New Year is lasted for fifteen days which the concentration is on the first three days.  In the celebrations there are lion dances and small fire works. The houses are decorated with red paper showing Chinese characters of prosperity and wealth. The oranges are used as a way of wishing good luck by writing on them and throwing them in the lakes. The celebration ends with the Chap Goh Mei on the fifteenth day.

 This event is marked by family reunions, giving of ang pows or red packets by parents to children or among relatives. 

Film review by Bochra Arrouch

Cry freedom is a British film produced and directed by Richard Attenborough, written by John Briley and released in 1987.

The film treated the problem of Apartheid in South Africa, where black people were discriminated for their color and separated from the white people in so many public places. They were having no human rights and also some of them were banned by the South African government, as the case of Steve Biko in the film who wasn’t permitted to live his defined banning area at King William’s Town.

After knowing the truth about Apartheid, Donald Woods (a South African journalist and anti-apartheid activist) started to work against the Apartheid problem in partnership with Steve Biko (an anti-apartheid activist in South Africa). Donald Woods tried to show the truth about the death of Biko to people for that but he was banned by the South African authorities. Although the fact of been banned he didn’t stop fighting and showing the corrupt and the racism of the South African authorities.

For me, a human being should not give up on defending his rights of living in peace and democracy, no matter what the price he will pay for. 

Zodiac Sign

I was born on the 10^th of September so my horoscope is Virgo. The Virgo horoscope includes people who are born from 23 August to 22 September.

Virgo is a very independent Zodiac sign. They are fully able to put their intelligence to use and get things done for themselves. Virgos are able to be independent but the les evolved types will have difficulties if someone didn’t help them to achieve their goals and help them to not be so critical about themselves.

People look up to Virgo friends because they are straight thinkers and also have the ability to solve problems logically. They are truthful, loyal and determinate. Some people might find them cold or emotionally detached because their acts and decisions are based on their minds not on their emotions and feelings.

It’s known that their lucky numbers are 5, 14, 23, 32, 41 and 50; their lucky day is Wednesday and their lucky colors are orange, white, grey and yellow. Also they are compatible with people who are Taurus, Capricorn, cancer and Scorpio.

Malaysia by Bochra Arrouch

 Last summer was very exciting. Me and my friend decided to go for a trip in Malaysia.

The first thing to do was planning for the trip. We had a lot of ideas in our minds but we decided to get to know what to see first in Malaysia. We decided to spend a week in Kuala Lumpur. Our plan was containing a lot of things to do, first thing was tasting the different types of food there.

 The population of Malaysia is made up of primarily three ethnic groups: Malay, Chinese and Indian. Therefore, it is common to find food relating to these ethnicities everywhere across the country. So we tried all the types but at the end we stuck to Indian food.

 Fish spas are becoming more popular lately across all Asia. So we decided to enjoy it there especially the fish spa.  You dip your feet in tanks filled with fish. The fish then nibble off all of your dead skin, leaving your feet feeling refreshed and smooth. That was a very relaxing experience for both of us. We enjoyed it a lot.

Here we are in Kuala Lumpur and we can’t go without at least paying a visit to these famous twin towers. The view there is amazing, especially at night. We couldn’t help but taking tens of photos.

We had been to Hong Kong before. We didn’t think another country could be better for shopping, but oh how we were wrong! The malls in KL were completely over the top. One of the best ways to experience local culture is by visiting a market. This is actually easier said than done in KL as they night market is constantly moving. We were fortunate to happen on it by chance.

Malaysia is an Islamic country so visiting one of the beautiful mosques was a thing to do in our plan. So we went to the most popular mosques which is the National Mosque. The last place to visit was Merdeka Square. This last itself isn’t that interesting, it’s mainly a large patch of grass with a fountain and one of the world’s largest flagpoles, but the surrounding streets have a lot of older, historical buildings, including the Sultan Abdul Samad Building.

Within a few short blocks you’ll encounter a variety of architectural styles that make this area worth wandering around. At last we went to the Central Market. We actually bought all our souvenirs from there. This building was once an actual wet market and is now a designated as a Malaysian Heritage Site.

We really enjoyed just wandering around. We felt that there was so much to explore and visit. We did not get bored spending a week there at all.