110,000 oil lamps set street aglow with festive warmth

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Celebration of light: Sentral Technology College Penang students, staff and passers-by lighting the oil lamps.

A TOTAL of 110,000 oil lamps were lit outside the Sentral Technology College Penang (STC) college on Jalan Zainal Abidin but the students still fell short of their target.

If they had lighted 160,000 oil lamps, they would have made an entry into the Malaysia Book of Records for lighting the most oil lamps.

College principal Dr Chiang Geok Lian said that despite the setback, the students achieved something noteworthy.

“The brightness from the oil lamps represents our ability to open up and to tolerate and accept each other,” she said.

Earlier, more than 200 college students laboured from morning till evening to prepare the oil lamps in conjunction with the Karthigai Deepam celebration.

They laid the oil lamps stretching some 500m on the road.

The project on Saturday was organised by the college’s Indian Cultural Society (ICS).

ICS president R. Vijendran, 25, said the students took two months to prepare for the event.

He said Karthigai Deepam, celebrated in the Tamil month of Karthigai, was considered an extension of Deepavali.

More than 500 people including the college students, staff and passers-by joined in to light the oil lamps.

All the items for the oil lamps which cost around RM20,000 were donated by sponsors.

Business administration student M. Prakash, 25, marked the event by getting a special haircut forming the number 160 on his head.

“I wanted to help promote the event,” said Prakash who said his haircut got a lot of stares from people.

Nigerian student Mukadas Alashe, 28, said the oil lamps reminded him of his hometown in Lagos.

“Back then, we lacked adequate power supply and we had to rely on oil lamps at night,” said Mukadas, an information technology student.

Asked if he was tired after squatting for hours to light the oil lamps, he said he did not mind the effort.

“It’s not every day that you get a chance to set a new record,” he said.

Retiree Tam Chin Hong, 62, who stays nearby said it was a night to remember.

“The street is usually so quiet,’ said Tan.

The oil lamps were sold to public at one sen each to raise funds for charity.