The annual Songkran Festival held in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和) is scheduled to take place, but will not feature water-splashing this year due to nationwide water shortages, the city government said.
New Taipei City Bureau of Cultural Affairs Director Lin Kuan-yu (林寬裕) said this year’s festival would be celebrated through arts and literary events, adding that the city government would ask a group of Thai and Burmese monks to recite Buddhist sutras, while using leaves and flowers from narra trees to cleanse participants in the ceremony while wishing for good luck.
The city government is also planning to hold a foot-washing event in hopes of touting filial piety, Lin said, adding that it would also be inviting Thai or Burmese cultural and arts group to perform at the event.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
According to the bureau, Thai-Burmese groups were facing pressure over the Songkran Festival this year and were divided on whether the act of splashing water should be carried out.
Proponents of water splashing said the action is very significant and if not conducted, the entire spirit of the festival is lost, adding that New Taipei City uses water from the Feitsui Reservoir (翡翠水庫), which is not yet under water rationing.
Opponents said that splashing water about freely when the nation is suffering its most severe water shortage in 67 years would have a negative impact.
Previous Songkran Festivals allowed the public to not only splash buckets full of water, but also to use water sprinkler trucks, the city government said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) New Taipei City Councilor Chiu Feng-yao (邱烽堯) said northern Taiwan is not affected greatly by the water shortage, and the traditional festival is very important to immigrants from Thailand and Myanmar.
“If possible, we should still allow limited water-splashing,” Chiu said.
However, Myanmar Immigrant and Compatriot Association director Chang Piao-tsai (張標才) said that the organization has been in contact with the Thai-Burmese community, which was understanding of the situation.
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