Harvest Festivals - Giving Thanks in Singapore

by Jennifer Williams

For Americans, November is synonymous with pumpkin pie, turkey and all the "fixin’s." American Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November and is a time for family, feasts, football (American style) and Black Friday — the all-nighter kick-off of the Christmas shopping season. While Americans in Singapore try their best to coax a 20-pound turkey into a 30-centimeter square oven, I discovered how Singaporeans celebrate the harvest season. Although Singapore does not have its own harvest day, it celebrates the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival and the Southern Indian Tamil festival of Pongal.

Thanksgiving pumpkin pie

Mid-Autumn Festival

Mid-Autumn Festival takes over Chinatown, and most malls in Singapore, in August. This traditional Chinese festival falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. The Festival is a time for homecomings, family reunions and feasts. I joined an AWA Mid-Autumn workshop hosted by Mun, from the Palace Museum Shop, to learn more. Mun grew up in Singapore during the 1960’s and is a wealth of information on Chinese culture. Along with Oolong tea and mooncakes, Mun served up stories of Mid-Autumn Festival.

The moon, which is at its largest and closest to earth on the day of Mid-Autumn, is the most important symbol of the Festival. In Chinese tradition, the moon is inhabited by Chang-e (the Lady in the moon) and the Jade Rabbit. Chang-e lived long ago and married Hou Yi, a hunter who became King. Hou Yi obtained a pill of immortality and hid it from his wife. But Chang-e found the pill and swallowed it. She then floated to the moon where she lives for eternity.

Jade Rabbit resting with a mooncake at Gardens by the Bay

The rabbit came to the moon after the Jade Emperor went to earth and disguised himself as an elderly man. He asked a fox, a monkey and a rabbit to find him food. The fox brought a fish and the monkey brought fruit but the rabbit could find nothing. Instead of leaving the old man to starve, the rabbit jumped into the fire and sacrificed himself. As a reward for his selflessness, the Jade Emperor sent the rabbit to live in the Moon Palace. Jade Rabbit is traditionally shown standing on his hind legs and pounding a pestle that contains the potion of eternal life. If you look at the moon, you can see the outline of the rabbit in the moon’s shadows.

Jade Rabbit pounding the elixir of life at Gardens by the Bay

Chang-e and Jade Rabbit even featured in the Apollo 11 moon landing. NASA Mission Control told the astronauts that newspaper headlines asked them to look for a beautiful Chinese girl who had lived on the moon for 4,000 years and for her rabbit companion. Buzz Aldrin replied, “Okay. We’ll keep a close eye out for the bunny girl.” Sadly, the astronauts did not find them and the legend lost some of its lustre. But you will still find the rabbit on many Mid-Autumn Festival decorations.

Pongal

Little India lights up for Pongal in mid-January (at the start of the month of Thai on the Tamil solar calendar). This four-day celebration gives thanks to the sun, mother nature, cattle and the community for their contributions to a bountiful harvest. Families celebrate by cooking rice with milk in a new clay pot. As the rice boils and spills over the pot’s edges, family members wish for overflowing fortunes by crying out “pongollo pongal” (may this rice boil over).

Cow decorated for Pongal

Don’t miss the Pongal Light-up ceremony, which starts off the month-long celebration. Head to Campbell Lane for the festival village market or Kinta Road for cultural dances and a mass Pongal cooking competition. Keep an eye out for the Pulli Kolam artwork drawn in doorways. These symmetrical art patterns are drawn on the ground using rice flour.

While American Thanksgiving, Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival and Tamil Pongal initially appear quite different, each of these holidays is centered on a celebration of family and bounty.

Jennifer moved to Singapore with her husband and three boys in 2019. A life-long lover of books and writing, she became Editor-in-Chief of the AWA Magazine in 2021.