Malaysia New Year

How adventurous, years ago, “First Night” celebrations were in Boston and again in Providence….well below freezing weather drove most people indoors to a bar or restaurant rather than revel with the outdoor events with frozen fingers and feet. But at Straits Quay, in Penang, Malaysia, there was little room for the crowds to move along the waterfront. All of us cruisers tied to the docks had the best seats and easy access to our boats to refill our glasses with ice and whatever. It was a free show of dancers, pop singers, light twirlers, etc. Incredible the high decibel announcer and music. All night Rebecca and I had our ear plugs securely screwed in. This all lead up to the midnight fireworks.

These were presented as “Brazilian” dancers. Without their masks, they were clearly Chinese heritage.

Rather than twirling burning sticks, now they twirl LED sticks. When twirled at the right speed they can spell out or picture nearly anything.

I think these two are well known in Malaysia. They did fine and had a wide range of pop music. Certainly a lot of the crowd lost some decibels of hearing.

Opposite the stage over the water, the crowd continued around in both directions to form a big horseshoe around the marina. There were large screens on the sides showing the performances.