Happy Pai Ti Kong!
I am a Hokkien. Proud to be a Hokkien. Always a Hokkien.
My forefathers are from Xiamen (paternal parents/maternal grandfather) while my maternal grandmother is Baba Nyonya.
I have been back to Xiamen twice in my life time. It is such a beautiful city (similar to Singapore). I hope there will be a third time for me, in the future.
The Hokkiens would offer prayers to the Jade Emperior on his birthday on the night of the eighth day (19/2).
They would set up an alter table decorated with fruits, roasted meat, cakes, sugary confections, tea and the sugar cane is a must.
Legend – the Hokkiens were spared from a massacre by Japanese pirates after hiding in a sugar cane plantation on the eighth and nineth day of the first lunar month, coinciding with the Jade Emperor’s Birthday. Why sugarcane? Sugar cane sounds like ‘thank you’ (kam xia) in Hokkien. Sugarcane is offered at the altar to express gratitude to the Jade Emperor for protecting the Hokkiens.
Feb 19, 2021
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