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Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong celebrated an early Mid-Autumn Festival with Yio Chu Kang residents on Sunday. With the actual festival set to take place on October 4, PM Lee hopes for people to find time to celebrate the occasion with friends and family. The leader also shared some colourful pictures on social media.
Originating in China, the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated at the end of the autumn harvest also called Lantern Festival in Singapore. Considered to be a time of the year when the moon is at its brightest, the festival celebrations involve thanksgiving for the harvest, family gathering and praying for material satisfaction.
Moon worship is an important part of the celebrations bringing about festive gleam when the sun goes down.
Parties viewing the moon are very popular to enjoy this occasion. Friends and family sit in gardens lit with paper lanterns, sip tea and relish mooncakes on this occasion.
This festival is loved by children as they get to carry glowing lanterns. Lanterns vary from wax candles to battery operated ones.
Chinatown is one of the places in Singapore where Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations are splendid.
Mooncakes are the main highlight of the festival available in varieties from the traditional ones with lotus seed paste and egg yolk to snowskin versions with chocolate fillings enjoyed with Chinese tea.
Given below are the pictures from the Prime Minister's Facebook post.
