CHINESE New Year is a subdued affair this year, no thanks to the slowing economy, said attendees at an open house in Kuala Lumpur today.

Businessman Raymond Chong told The Malaysian Insight that people are careful with their spending, buying only essentials.

“Due to the state of the economy, people are trying to save more money, spending only on what they need.

“If you spend too much on firecrackers or decorations, you are just wasting money,” said the 64-year-old at the open house, held at the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia in Jalan Ampang.

Another attendee, who wanted to be known only as Helen, said the CNY celebration in her neighbourhood in Sentul is not what it used to be.

“Nowadays, things are expensive. In previous years, the celebration was grand, but now, everyone has to cut down on spending.”

The 58-year-old said there was a lack of fireworks and lion dances in her housing area this year, adding that the festivities, which used to continue late into the night, ended early.

An attendee, who wanted to be known only as Wong, concurred with Helen.

“The celebration is quiet this year. There weren’t a lot of firecrackers on the first day of CNY.”

The 57-year-old said she used to attend many open houses, but this year saw few invitations.

The Statistics Department last year said economic growth was expected to slow down in the first quarter of 2019.

In a report titled “Malaysian Economic Indicators: Leading, Coincident & Lagging Indexes for September 2018”, released in November, Chief Statistician Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the annual change in the Leading Index showed a decrease of 1.7% in the reference month.

The index monitors economic performance and forecasts its direction for an average of four to six months ahead. – February 6, 2019.