SIBU: Only one more day until Chinese New Year and there are still a lot of unsold tanglung (lanterns) at the shops in Sibu town.
Tanglung seller, Chieng Leong Ing, 58, said that in previous years he would get a boost from last-minute shoppers and everything would be sold out.
But “this year, sales have dropped by 50 per cent, perhaps because many don’t want to leave their home,” he told Bernama today.
In his over 30 years of selling tanglung in Sibu, he never experienced a drop in sales, but accepts the present situation is because of the Covid-19 pandemic and movement control order (MCO).
He also thinks it is because people do not have money to spend and many Sibu folks working out of state have not returned home to usher in the Year of the Golden Ox.
He said his tanglung, in different designs and sizes, come from China and cost between RM40 and RM900 per set.
Lorry workshop owner, Joseph Ling, 48, said many were not buying new tanglung because the old ones could still be used and because the celebration was not expected to be festive this year.
“I bought new ones and hung them up at the house a month ago. And that, too, because the old ones were unusable.
“Due to the current situation, many are afraid to go out (shopping) because there are many Covid-19 cases in Sibu,” he said.
Ong King Lee, 50, who works in a motorcycle shop said it is certainly a custom to hang tanglung at the house to usher in the new year, but the number depends on what you can afford.
“I have just two hanging outside my front door because I don’t have much to spend. Some of my friends don’t have any,” he said. – Bernama
