Streets of JB cleansed for Chingay celebration

JOHOR BARU: The streets here have been cleansed and sprinkled with holy water soaked with rice, salt and tea leaves in preparation for the Chingay celebration tomorrow. About 100 devotees, dressed in red, marched along a 10km route during the “street cleansing” ceremony which started at the Johor Baru Ancient Temple in Jalan Trus.

Beating on miniature Chinese gongs and cymbals to eliminate “bad aura”, the devotees also sprinkled holy water using pomelo leaves to ward off evil spirits. This had been a long-held practice, temple president Lim Kong Yong said, adding that in the past decade, only about 10 people were paid to perform the cleansing ritual.

Ridding the evil: Devotees using pomelo leaves to sprinke holy water during the street-cleansing ceremony along the 10km Chingay procession route in Johor Baru.

“Now, more and more youngsters are volunteering,” he said yesterday. Lim said the ritual was to cleanse the route of the procession. “The deities from the Teochew, Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese and Hainan clans will be seated on special chairs which will be carried by devotees,” he said.

The route covers Jalan Tun Abdul Razak, Jalan Ulu Air Molek, Jalan Yahya, Jalan Ibrahim and Jalan Wong Ah Fook.

-thestar online.