SIBU: SK Abang Ali, a national primary school in Sibu, Sarawak, celebrates Chinese New Year with red lanterns although the school does not have a single Chinese pupil.

The red lanterns in the school compound and the An-Nur Mosque next to the school reflect harmony and tolerance in the East Malaysian state.

For the past 10 years, the school with 680 pupils has been putting up red lanterns and organising Chinese New Year celebration activities to usher in the lunar new year with Muslim and Iban pupils, said its headmaster Hamdi Najdi.

Majority of the teachers are Malays, some are Ibans and Melanaus while six are Chinese, he explained.

“Chinese New Year is celebrated with the spirit of one family in Malaysia, where people of all races live in harmony,” he asserted.

The school skipped celebrating Chinese New Year during the Covid-19 pandemic for two years, and resumed the practice it started more than 10 years ago.

Apart from displaying red lanterns at the entrance of the school and corridors, the school would also organise Chinese New Year celebration activities where pupils take part in lantern riddles in Malay language.

Those who get their answers right will be rewarded with ang paos.

The celebration will help pupils understand the Chinese culture, customs and traditions, said the headmaster, adding that mutual understanding and tolerance among different ethnic groups will lead to greater unity and national integration, he said.