With the firecracker ban in place, the Davao Chinese community welcomed their version of the Lunar New
Year with simulated explosions and alternative noises, like car horns and other noise-making objects.
Jasper Huang of the Davao City Chinatown Development Council earlier gave a preview of festivities (the Chinese New Year officially began as of 12:00 midnight today, Sunday February 10).
The celebration is expected to begin with a countdown late last night on Sta. Ana Avenue near the Davao Central High School (DCHS).
Video images of thousands of firecrackers and other pyroptechnics
blasting the air with thunderous explosions with the aid of a sound system will replace the real thing.
Some car clubs also plan to join the noise barrage using their horns in the downtown area, he said.
Chinese believe that exploding firecrackers to welcome the New Year
will drive away bad spirits, but the local Chinese community has come
to accept the firecracker ban imposed several years ago by the city
government as a reality etched in stone.
“The firecracker ban is okay. What is important is that we are happy
bonding with our families,” Huang told reporters.
He recalled that in celebrating the New Year’s eve last December 31,
he jused the horn of his car to create noise, adding it was a
typical day spent with his family.
For the Chinatowns in Cebu and Manila, Huang said, the celebration of
the Lunar New Year may be merrier for them because firecrackers are
allowed there.
“In Davao City, a law is a law. We can’t do anything about that,” he said.
Street activities will include offering free noodle porridge with eggs, eating
tikoy (a delicacy made of sticky rice) and sipping tea during dinner.
Sta, Ana Avenue will be open to everyone, Chinese and non-Chinese alike, Huang said.
“It is my dream that the crowd will be a mixture of people from
classes A, B, C, and D,” he said, adding that Maui Taylor and Katya
Santos will perform in the evening program on February 9.
There will be a dragon dance by DCHS students before the turnover of
the “Prosperity” arch, the fourth one, on the corner of Sta. Ana
Avenue and Alvarez Street. [Lorie Ann Cascaro/MindaNews]
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