Dull celebration in Lae

 LAE experienced a dull Christmas and New Year.

One of the major highlights of Lae in the last 50 years, the Chinese lion dance, was noticeably missing.

Many people and their children had taken PMVs into Top town, Eriku and Chinatown hoping to see the dance but left disappointed in the afternoon.

The lion dance had become a traditional event on the new year morning.

Several Papua New Guineans and their children drove into the Chinese club near Chinatown and asked workers for the lion dance troupe and were told that no one had requested the lion dance this year.

The dance is performed at the foyers of Chinese businesses amid the staccato of drums and fire crackers and the snaking lion.

Most of the city was quiet, from the city to the settlements of Bumbu, Bumayong, and Taraka except at 4-Mile where people took to the streets in noisy revelry.