Rather than celebrating Chinese New Year with gifts of mandarins a Jutawan Enterprise owner, Sih Huay Heng, is encouraging people to gift decorated pineapples instead.
The pineapples his company offers are covered in ribbons and also have the option of an attached card to personalize the gift. Pineapples, which in Hokkien is ong lai (wealth comes), are also synonymous with good luck and fortune during the celebration.
“Since our introduction early this year, we have received 500 orders from wholesalers and another 200 orders from individual shoppers.
“We are in the process of coming up with the slogan – ‘Remember Pineapple, Remember Pontian’ – in our efforts to make the fruit the district’s tourism icon,” he said.
The pineapples are priced at between USD $7.84and USD $17.93 for each pot and USD $2.24 for just the fruit with ribbons.
