The Lunar Chinese New Year falls on February 14th, 2010 which is also Valentine's Day. With the Tiger taking over from the Zodiac Cow, what better way to welcome the new year than with this member of the same cat family, Maneki Neko, The Lucky Cat!
This lucky cat is holding a fan inscribed with a very special word. This word is a combination of 4 chinese words, 招財進寶 (zhao cai jin bao) with the following meanings:
Zhao - invite or beckon with one's hand
Cai - wealth
Jin - enter, move forward, progress
Bao - treasures, honour
In summary it means "Welcoming Wealth & Prosperity"
The cat is also wearing a jade pendant with 5 bats (longevity and prosperity symbol) as the motif. The jade is pendant is hung on a string of pearls. The platform is surrounded by many pots of yellow chrysanthemums which symbolises perfection, optimism and joy. This cat was photographed at the 1-Utama Shopping Complex. I notice many shoppers who passed by will stopover to stroke or touch its right hand. Many also took photographs and some even recorded videos.
As this cat with a sexy mole on its cheek is wearing a cheongsam and adorned with a flower on the head, do you think it is a He or She?
Maneki Neko is also known as the Lucky Cat or Wealth Welcoming Cat ( 招財貓, pinyin 招き猫). Other names include Beckoning Cat, Welcoming Cat, Money Cat, Fortune Cat. It is believed to bring good luck to the owner. It depicts a Japanese Bobtail Cat beckoning with an upright paw and is usually placed at entrances or the cashier's counter welcoming customers. A raised left paw is said to attract more customers while a right paw attracts wealth. Some are mechanically or battery powered with a continously moving paw.
This is my entry for That's My World Tuesday. To view what others have in their world, please visit here.
Hi Autumn Belle
ReplyDeleteThanks for the CNY reminder. I should organise a dinner or celebration of some sort, otherwise the day will just be like any other... and will go unnoticed. :)
Ev
What a fun, colorful and interesting post for the day! I love it! Hope you have a great week!
ReplyDeleteSylvia
I guess many great sale by end of this week especially in my town i see many shopping mall start a CNY decoration to attract customers.
ReplyDeleteOh yes..I'm a bit slow to update my blog for the past few weeks.
# Our broadband service is getting worst now..I can't even online during the evening..no signal or coverage at all.
Anyway I have send a complain to minister office of multimedia..or what ever office???concern.
Happy Chinese New Year in advance!
ReplyDeletealoha and happy new years coming to you soon...nice post, its like your other one about gardens, i have a main one also outside of gardening and this is about hawaii :)
ReplyDeleteThey're also very popular here. I think they're cute, but that constantly waving paw can drive me nuts! ;)
ReplyDelete1-Utama really seems to spend much time and resources decorating, don't they? Fun!
Cute cat! Happy (early) Chinese New Year!
ReplyDeleteThis is new to me..I don't know what sex the cat is... Does it have to be one or another?....Michelle
ReplyDeleteUsually they don't differentiate the gender. But judging by the way this fella is dressed up, like with lipstick, flower on the head, necklace and even a cheongsam. That's what ladies wear and not the guys. I bet this must be a lady cat!
ReplyDeleteWhat a good looking Hello Kitty! Interesting post - I did not realize about Valentines day
ReplyDeleteWe've got a Maneki Neko in our living room! Not as big as the one in your photo though!
ReplyDelete