A NEW Chinese New Year 2014

The Year of the Snake has just slithered past, passing the baton to the Horse. What does 2014 hold for all of us? I’m quite sure most of us won’t be horsing around as there would be more challenges ahead, possibly more tragedies – I pray not. No matter what the Feng Shui masters and astrologists tell us, their predictions are just that – something very intangible. An accurate prediction is merely coincidental, for each master has somewhat varied predictions. So do take their “expert” advice with a pinch of salt. Those who believe in God will know that our lives have all been planned by Him, but it doesn't mean we could be lackadaisical in our work. We let Him handle his plans for us, but we must also have lives to lead, or else we would be no different than programmed machines.

Life went on for us; we continued working and doing chores as normal. Things changed for my family after my dad’s death mid-2013 due to cancer. We have lost someone who has played a significant role in each of our lives for decades. The Great Snake of 2013 decided to drag him along before it slithered away and won't return for another 12 years. Hence, we began the Year of the Horse without dad, and for the first time, we were short of a very important family member at our regular reunion dinner. There was another first too. As we gathered at the dinner table, my mother decided to say grace. This was something which she never did when dad was around as he was a Buddhist, so out of respect as head of the family, no one said grace. The words she used while saying grace touched our hearts as her voice quivered, noting that it was the first time we had a reunion without dad, and she thanked God for giving her strength to prepare the wonderful – though not as many dishes as previously – spread of food for the seven of us, inclusive of a nephew, two nieces and an in-law. It was not easy for her to prepare Nyonya (Straits-born) dishes for us all by herself, and we are truly appreciative of her effort. Anyone who is a typical nyonya, and who cooks nyonya food can vouch for the amount of work that one has to put in when preparing authentic nyonya meals.

The dinner spread for Chinese New Year Eve 2014

The soupy dish at the top right is called "pong tau hu", a nyonya dish that is not 
served in any nyonya restaurant due to its tedious preparation work.

On the Day itself, my mom cooked "ap sioh" (braised duck meat in coriander seeds),
yet another dish that you won't find in a restaurant menu.

The only difference was that there were no decorations at all – no red ornaments hung on trees, no red lanterns adorning the porch, and no cut-outs of Chinese characters pasted on walls. The red cloth known as “chai kee” (also known as "ang chai") around the door frame that had always been hung prior to dad’s demise was noticeably absent. It was like Chinese New Year has died with dad's death. In a way it is, for the Chinese believe that the family has to mourn for a year, so there would be no reds no matter what. On the eve of the new year, we went to bed as usual. Unlike the good old days when dad would sit around the house till way past midnight, with lights all turned on, and doors wide opened to welcome the new year, it was the total opposite this year.  I still sent greetings that night to ex-colleagues, and long lost friends. Some replied, others didn't. We still played some fireworks, though, before bedtime.

The overall ambiance on 31 January 2014 was still quite cheerful. We wore red, decided to give red packets to our nieces and nephews, and to the young ones in the family. If an elderly had been around, this would have been heavily criticized. Remember the “no reds” rule? We somehow broke it for obvious reasons – “modern” and “no superstitions”. I’m guilty of doing the same, so now we know why kids these days are blatantly blind and ignorant of their own roots, cultures and traditions. Being single – yeah, I still am – I gave red packets to only three people:  my two nieces and a nephew, and a special one for my mom. She could use it to get herself a brand new washing machine that decided to literally go up in smoke the night before. By doing so, I broke yet another rule – that singles are not supposed to give red packets to anyone as they have not reached that much-coveted “married” status. I gave because I wanted to; besides, I've had strings of misfortunes already, so I’m quite immune to the threat.