Ushering the New Year of 2009

I have never liked firecrackers because of the loud bangs they created and for which the Chinese are known to favour when ushering the Chinese New Year.

Though firecrackers have been banned for some years now, on the eves of certain festivals, including Deepavali, intermittent sounds of firecrackers could be heard. I am sure tonight, come midnight, sporadic sounds of firecrackers can be expected.

The one upmanship was obvious from the photos taken by someone in Taiwan, reaching ludicrous levels. Thank God, firecrackers are banned in Malaysia since a few years ago. Still, there are people willing to risk it by secretly importing them because there is a demand from those who are willing to pay for them, including the fines, if caught. You can bet, the police are only too happy to settle for less.

This is my unusual way to wish everyone who cares to visit my weblog, ‘A very happy and successful new year of 2009’! Let there be peace on earth. Cheers!

This is both ludicrous and senseless:

The rationale for the picture below seems to be: since there are so many boxes of firecrackers, why not burn them box by box? The prosperity will come big time I suppose. Seems wasteful to me.