KUALA LUMPUR: This festive season, city dwellers might notice the lack of Chinese New Year decorations on the streets, particularly the absence of red beaming lanterns.

Even though the much-celebrated festival is just four days away, some of the prominent and well-known streets in the city like those in the Bukit Bintang (Golden Triangle) area are without any festive decorations.

It also seems that the number of lanterns in the city has fallen when compared with previous years.

But a spokesperson from Kuala Lumpur City Hall told The Malay Mail that the festive decorations are going up, with the lanterns usually put up a week before the celebration.

"At Petaling Street, the lanterns are already up. We are also in the midst of hanging more lanterns. In two to three days, you'll see even more streets being lit up by lanterns," the spokesperson said.

The lanterns are usually located at popular places of the Chinese community and where crowds congregate.

The spokesperson said one reason the lanterns were not put up early was due to the Federal Territories Day celebration on Feb 1; the local authority wanted to avoid overlapping of festive decorations.

Meanwhile, Petaling Jaya City Council public relations officer Zainun Zakaria said lanterns have been put up at Jalan Timur and Jalan Barat.

"The allocation for festive decoration is limited. But the number of lanterns in the city remains the same every year," she said, adding that the hanging of lanterns are carried out in stages.

"The council is still putting up more lanterns in places such as Section 52 and Section 14."