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Hope this works: (from left) Ng, Khor, Lee and Chung seen at the waterfront. — LIM BENG TATT/The Star
GEORGE TOWN: Centuries ago, when maidens in China could not freely socialise, Chap Goh Meh – the 15th and last day of Chinese New Year (CNY) festivities – was the only evening when they could step out of their homes without being closely chaperoned.
As they went out, dressed in their Sunday best, to temples to pray for a blessed future, young men would be out on the streets too – because this was about the only time of the year when they could openly admire the lasses of their villages.
If a young lady stole their heart at first sight, a young man would then seek the services of a matchmaker to make the proper enquiries and hopefully, introductions.
That is how Chap Goh Meh became to be known as the Chinese equivalent of Valentine’s Day, while in Penang and other parts of Malaysia, another tradition was added to it.
Sometime in the 19th century, single Chinese ladies went out in groups to the seaside on Chap Goh Meh and tossed out mandarin oranges which, just like throwing coins into a well, would hopefully bring them good luck in the form of the man of their dreams.
This tradition has stuck around to this day and for Jess Ng, 26, and her three gal pals, the new in-thing for them is to do it by themselves instead of being stuck in a crowd.
“I never threw mandarins for Chap Goh Meh before because I didn’t like the traffic jams and the large crowd of people.
“This year, we decided that since this is our first time celebrating Chinese New Year together since the Covid-19 pandemic, we should try this mandarin-throwing,” Ng said with a laugh.
Ng, Star Khor, 22, Rachel Lee, 20, and Kelly Chung, 28, are all hairdressers who had their fair share of troubles during the pandemic, as hair salons were among the last types of businesses to be allowed to resume normal operations.
Ng said she did not currently have a boyfriend nor did she believe that throwing mandarins into the sea would really help her find one.
“But I wanted to do it just to celebrate the last day of CNY. I pray that the Year of the Rabbit would be a happy one for the world. Everyone has been through a lot and I hope this year, we will all find blessings,” she said.
Unlike Ng, Lee went ahead and scribbled her phone number with a permanent marker on her mandarins before throwing them.
“I wouldn’t know what to do if someone actually calls me and say they found my mandarin,” Lee laughed.
Most entrepreneurs don’t spend enough time trying to come up with radically new products.
Why? Because they don’t think they can.
They believe that because they’re in an old, conservative industry, they have no chance of coming up with anything new and different.
They feel that everything has been invented. That there’s no new way to do business or design a product or service.
There’s a good reason they think this: in many industries there has indeed been very little change. But just because the industry hasn’t changed, it doesn’t mean it can’t.
And those that have the courage to come up with revolutionary new products are often rewarded with millions in additional profits for their efforts.
Here is a new example of just such a breakthrough.
You couldn’t get a more boring, staid industry than the envelope business. There’s basically been no change in the design of an envelope for 80 years!
But suddenly along comes Flavorlopes: fruit flavored envelopes!
They solve a real problem – people hate licking envelopes. Now with Flavorlopes you can enjoy licking envelopes with the following flavors: Apple. Cherry, Grape, Orange and Strawberry.
Bang. Just like that, an industry is changed.
Now I’m the first to admit this is not a product breakthrough of the magnitude of the personal computer or the disposable pen. But hey, it’s not a bad effort for the envelope business.
Will people buy them? Of course they will. Is the company that makes them likely to grow a lot in the next 3 years as a result of their originality? You bet. And they deserve to, because unlike the other thousand envelope companies in the world they showed real guts and creativity.
Who dares wins.
How about you? How is your new product creation going? Has it been years since you came up with anything novel for your industry?
Well maybe today is a good time to start. Why not allocate just 15 minutes a day for concocting new product ideas.
Heck, it’s only 15 minutes out of the 600 or so you work every day. Not much at all, but it may just change your industry.
You may not be in the envelope business. But you may end up licking your competition.
Hope this works: (from left) Ng, Khor, Lee and Chung seen at the waterfront. — LIM BENG TATT/The Star
