Magnum 4D’s Chinese New Year film via The Clan explores why mandarin oranges still matter

Chinese New Year is a season of visits, exchanges, and shared wishes. At the centre of it all is a familiar yet meaningful ritual: the giving of mandarin oranges.

This Chinese New Year, Magnum 4D, together with The Clan Malaysia, unveils a new film that reflects on the deeper meaning behind this tradition. Mandarin oranges, known as “kam” or gold, symbolise blessings meant to be shared, not kept, offering a fresh perspective on why the ritual continues to matter.

The film is told through animated mandarin oranges that follow a young girl as she learns from her grandfather the meaning behind exchanging oranges when visiting friends and family during the festivities. After drawing faces on the oranges at home on the first day of Chinese New Year, the girl forms a quiet attachment to them. As festive visits unfold, the oranges are passed from house to house, leaving her hands but carrying blessings onward, only to find their way back to her through the very act of giving and receiving.

Through the journey of these animated oranges, the story reveals a familiar truth that during Chinese New Year, blessings often return to where they began. The act of giving creates a full circle, where goodwill travels, exchanges hands, and comes back enriched by the journey.

“Chinese New Year has always been people, gifts, and well wishes,” said Sandra Heung, General Manager at The Clan. “This story reflects how we believe meaningful things work. When shared generously, they have a way of returning.”

For Magnum 4D, the narrative reflects a belief that has long been part of the brand’s relationship with Malaysians across generations, that luck, hope, and opportunity are deeply connected to community.

“Chinese New Year reminds us that prosperity is not just about receiving, but about sharing,” said Krian Upatkoon, Executive Director of Magnum 4D. “At Magnum 4D, we believe that hope and good fortune grow when they are passed on. Like the mandarin oranges in this story, blessings gain meaning through the journey, through the people they touch and the moments they create.”

Produced in collaboration with Directors Think Tank and directed by Chevie Law, the film adopts a restrained, heartfelt approach, allowing a simple cultural truth and storytelling to take centre stage.

This Chinese New Year, Magnum 4D invites Malaysians to reflect on a familiar tradition and quietly reminds us all that every blessing shared has a way of coming back, often richer than before.