Superstitious or not, many are banking on ‘li chun’

GEORGE TOWN: Many Chinese, most of them clad in red, thronged banks around town on li chun, which signifies the beginning of spring.

The Chinese community in Malaysia and Singapore believes that depositing money into their bank accounts on li chun will bring them good fortune and prosperity.

Although the banks were not open yesterday (being a Sunday), long queues were seen at the cash and cheque deposit machines.

Businessman Ong Yee Choung, 38, his wife Jolin Teoh, 32, and their two children were among those lining up at the Jalan Tengah Maybank branch in Bayan Baru yesterday.

Teoh said this would be her third year depositing money on li chun.

“I just started my online business. By depositing money on li chun, I hope to have luck and good business in the Year of the Dog,” she said.

Ong, who banked in some cash, said it was his wife’s idea.

“I am not superstitious but I am also not against it since it is also a good way to save money,” he said.

Rebecca Chan, 52, was spotted at the Maybank branch in Komtar with her friends at 10.15am.

“I’m just following my friends here. Earlier, we received a message that each Chinese zodiac sign had a particular time that was auspicious for depositing money on li chun.

“My Chinese zodiac sign is that of the horse so I chose to be present at the bank between 9am and 10.59am, a ‘good time’ for me,” she added.

Lim Wei Hong, 29, and Janet Wong, 28, who got married last year, said this was the first time they deposited money on li chun.

“There’s no harm trying. I hope that by doing this, it would bring good luck and prosperity to my wife and me. Who knows, right?” he said with a laugh.

The Year of the Dog officially started at 5.29am yesterday.

According to Chinese belief, there were also some time frames that are not advisable for certain zodiac sign to go to the bank.

Li chun, which falls on Feb 3 or Feb 4 every year, is actually the first period of the 24 solar terms.

Besides the practice of depositing money into one’s bank accounts by Malaysian and Singaporean, li chun is also a day widely celebrated by Chinese around the world in China and Taiwan, especially the farming community.

In China, the day is marked as Farmer’s Day where folks celebrate the day by worshipping and giving offerings to the Gods and pray for a better and prosperous year.

Some Chinese also observe the custom of yao chun (biting the spring) by eating vegetables such as turnip, ginger, leek, wrapped with a thin pancake, which is known as spring pancake.

Many people also believe that on li chun, eggs can be placed to stand vertically.