KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese community in Malaysia welcomed the Chinese New Year with great enthusiasm, anticipating a year of greater prosperity and a chance to renew and strengthen family ties.

Fireworks lit up Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, with flashes and colorful explosions lasting for hours as people gathered across the city to enjoy the spectacular displays.

Among them was 37-year-old marketing manager Lim Swee Ong, who had returned to Kuala Lumpur from Penang, where he works, to join in the family reunion dinner, a tradition marked by most Chinese families on the eve of the New Year.

"This is about having time with our family, celebrating, and reminding ourselves of what truly matters. Even if we work or live some distance from our parents, most of us will make an effort to come together and celebrate the New Year as a family," he told Xinhua.

"It is wonderful to be able to take some time off and catch up with everyone. This is what I look forward to the whole year," he added.

Echoing the sentiment, 40-year-old financial adviser Teoh Lee Ping said the New Year is about coming together as a family to appreciate what has been achieved over the past year and to lay the ground for the year ahead.

"Only when you meet up with family and close friends do you understand where you stand. Everything slows down enough to enjoy the company and the connection between you and your family. You realize what you have achieved, where you've fallen short, and what you can do to improve before the next reunion," she said.

The Chinese community forms the second-largest ethnic group in Malaysia, after the Malay majority, and as of 2020, constituted 21.2 percent of Malaysia's total population, having played a pivotal role in the country's development.

This year's celebration held special significance with the global launch of "Happy Chinese New Year," an event organized by China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which took place in Kuala Lumpur on Jan. 25.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim paid tribute to the community in a statement, noting the positive values of the celebration in strengthening Malaysia's multicultural unity.

"In the spirit of welcoming the big celebration for the Chinese people, which is the Chinese New Year, we are again reminded by Confucius, who emphasized how harmony guarantees strength," he said. Enditem

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