FACULTY OF CIVIL ENGINEERING & EARTH RESOURCES
UHL 4012
PUBLIC SPEAKING
2011/2012 SEM I
SPEECH PREPARATION OUTLINE
PREPARED BY:
REGINA KHOR MAY LIN
AA09179
Topic Area:
Culture
Title:
Festivals Celebrated by the Chinese Communities in Penang.
General purpose:
To inform
To inform the audiences of the three most common festivals celebrated
by Chinese communities in Penang.
The origins of the Jade Emperor's Birthday (Thni Kong Seh), the
Central idea:
Hungry Ghost Festival (Phor Thor) and the Nine Emperor's Birthday
(Kew Ong Yeah) and how they are celebrated.
Organizational pattern: Topical order
Specific purpose:
I.INTRODUCTION
A. Open with impact/
Attention getter:
Culture can be considered as the entire social heritage of men,
specifically, it is the tradition of a particular human group, a way of
living learned from and shared by the members of that group. Religion
like culture itself, it consists of systematic patterns of beliefs values and
behaviour, acquired by people as a member of their society.
i. Tie to the audience /
reason to listen
Let's ask ourselves a question, are we attached by the various colourful
cultural festivals in Malaysia?
ii. Credibility statement
material
As a Penangite myself, I am very fortunate to experience the three
festivals year after year. As a Malaysian of Chinese, I grow up looking
forward to celebrate all the festivals for my community. Thus I am so
glad to be able to share the three most common festivals that our
community celebrates.
iii. Preview of main
points/ central idea
Today we will be looking at the Jade Emperor’s Birthday (Thni Kong
Seh), the Hungry Ghost Festival (Phor Thor) and the Nine Emperor's
Birthday (Kew Ong Yeah).
Transition to body of
speech:
First, we will take a look at the Jade Emperor’s Birthday (Thni Kong
Seh).
II. BODY
A. Main point 1:
The origin and the celebration of Jade Emperor's Birthday (Thni Kong
Seh).
1. Supporting details 1:
Thni Kong in Hokkien means Jade Emperor or the Heavenly Father,
and Seh in Hokkien means birth. Thni Kong Seh is observed by the
Hokkien community to honour the Jade Emperor who rules the heaven.
This festival is celebrated on the ninth day of the lunar new year and is
regarded as the beginning of a new year by the Hokkiens. According to
legend, the Hokkiens were viewed as a threat to the unity of Imperial
China during the Sung Dynasty. The Emperor ordered his army to
attack the Hokkiens. During the escape, the Hokkiens hide in a
sugarcane plantation until the army gave up their searching on the Jade
Emperor’s birthday. The Hokkiens came out and thanked to the Jade
Emperor.
a) The tradition of using sugarcanes to thank to the Jade Emperor is still
practiced by the Hokkiens during the eighth night of the lunar new year.
Grand celebration is usually held at the stroke of midnight on the eighth
day.
ii. Supporting details 2:
The Thni Kong Seh is celebrated widely in Penang since the Hokkien
community make up the majority of the Chinese clans in Penang. The
celebration is even grander than the Chinese New Year celebration. The
Hokkiens pray as they seek the Jade Emperor’s blessings for a
prosperous, successful and lucky year ahead. Praying and fireworks
could be seen all over Penang during the midnight of eighth to ninth
day of the lunar new year.
a) The Hokkien community in Chew Jetty celebrates Thni Kong Seh in a
grand scale every year. Over 30 long tables are covered with trays of
food and fruits, bouquets of flowers, sugarcane stalks, as well as neatly
folded joss paper and other paraphernalia including gold for the Jade
Emperor (Thni Kong Kim). The highlight of the festival comes towards
the end when all the joss papers are stacked on as high as possible and
lighted up. That will mark the end of the festival.
Transition to main point
2:
B. Main point 2:
Next, we shall take a look at the Hungry Ghost Festival (Phor Thor).
i. Supporting details 1:
In the seventh month of the Chinese Lunar Calendar, the Chinese
believe that the gates of Hades will open. The dead souls or the hungry
spirits will be released and roam the streets of the living in this month.
The origin and the celebration of Hungry Ghost Festival (Phor Thor)
a) Children and youngsters are advised to stay at home and not allowed to
go out for outings especially at the beaches or forests because it is
believed that the "Hungry Ghosts" could lure them to the kingdom of
the dead. Besides that, wedding and house-moving is a taboo because it
might bring bad luck to the family.
ii. Supporting details 2:
Transition to main point
3:
The festival of the Hungry Ghosts is celebrated in grand scale. During
this month, there are many makeshift altars and stages put up along
various roads in Penang.
Chinese will ‘invite’ the spirit of their dead relatives for a meal and
burn joss sticks, hell money, paper clothes and other essential items so
that the departed ones could use it in the underworld. Such practice is
done to ensure that their present generation and generations to come
would be blessed, and free from any imminent harm. Many temples
organise free stage performances to appease and entertain the souls.
These include modern ko tai (singing and dancing) performances as
well as traditional opera and puppet shows. Everyone is invited but
those who wish to watch are refrained from sitting on the bright red
benches (usually placed right in front of the stage) as these are
purposely left empty for the “special guests". On the 30th of the
festival, the spirits return to the Hades at the stroke of midnight. Giant
paper effigies of the King of Hades and hell money are burnt for the
spirits to take “home”.
Finally, let's take a look at the Nine Emperor’s Birthday (Kew Ong
Yeah).
C. Main point 3:
i. Supporting details 1:
The origin and the celebration of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival
(Kew Ong Yeah)
The Nine Emperor Gods festival falls from the 1st to the 9th of the 9th
Chinese Lunar Month. According to legend, there were nine brothers
who planned to launch an attack on the Qin Dynasty, but their attack
went awry and they failed. As the capital punishment, the brothers
were beheaded by the Qin army and their bodies were abandoned.
People took pity of them and decided to fill their body into the pots and
placed in the river and let it drifted to the open sea. A few years later,
during the ruling of the Han Dynasty, the nine pots drifted back to the
same place. So the people decide to build a temple for them, pray for
blessings and to get rid of misfortunes and bad luck.
a) This tradition is still being widely practised in Penang. During the
festival, devotees will observe a strict 9-day vegetarian diet to cleanse
their bodies and souls. Hence vegetarian food stalls spring up at every
nook and corner during this period.
ii. Supporting details 2:
There are a lot of ceremonies since the eve of the nine days of the Nine
Emperor Gods festival.
a) At the eve of festival, the temple will organise a parade to welcome the
deities. It marks the start of the nine day celebration. There are a lot of
ceremonies which are oil ceremony, spear skewing ceremony & float
procession, fire walking ceremony, the fort crossing ceremony and the
last day will be the sending off ceremony. The deities are placed in the
boat and drifted out to the open sea.
Transition to conclusion:
So here we are, the three most common festivals celebrated by the
Chinese community in Penang.
III. CONCLUSION
A. Summary of main
points:
The cultural celebrations are the reflection of our beliefs and cultures.
It is not only meaningful but also brings us closer to our roots and
origins.
B. Close with impact/
Call for action:
We might be living in the modern times where technology rules but
let's all work together to preserve our cultures and beliefs so that our
younger generations will live to see it in the years to come. Thank you.