Year of The Ox - With Subdued Display of Fireworks In Sibu

Sibu's tradition to usher in a Lunar New Year with glamorous fireworks has been a unique feature. But it failed to stand up well against the slowing economy. With prople generally going for belt-tightening as a measure to face up to the looming recession, naturally the firework fanatics scaled it down for the sake of their pockets.

At the transition of Years of the Rat and the Ox, we noted a subdued display when compared with the previous years'.

Several bloggers, photographers and journalists made it a point to go up to the top of Sibu again on Chuxi's night to photoshoot the magnificent scene of fireworks when Sibuians ushered in Year of the Ox.

I took them up to the roof-top to catch the fascinating display.

But a light drizzle started to fall, making the shooting almost impossible in the open space. Then we opted for an alternative - to move down to the top floor and use King's Suite instead.

By the time we positioned ourselves, we realised that we had missed the best time to snap - the sky had already turned so smoky that it was a frustration to shoot.

We had no choice but to call it off.

The group photo (taken in King's Suite of Premier Hotel, Sibu) shows ( back row) www.tichiong.blogspot.com (3rd from L), me (4th from L), www.mengleiwong.blogspot.com (5th from L), www.sibudongcheng.blogspot.com (6th from L), www.stevelinglt.blogspot.com (on the extreme right); (front row) www.yongsun101.blogspot.com (on the extreme left) and www.thesibu.blogspot.com (centre).