“New beginnings are in order, and you are bound to feel some level of excitement as new chances come your way.”
– Oscar Auliq-Ice, author.
WITH the Chinese New Year just a week away, many celebrants are busy spring cleaning and baking. If you are among these celebrants, happy spring cleaning and baking, my friends.
On my way to office yesterday morning just before noon, I was caught in terrible jams everywhere. I avoided using my usual route through the Kuching City centre for fear of being caught in a crawl there.
But alas, the alternative route I took from Tabuan Laru to Metrocity was equally jammed. To add to my stress, there were two big lorries in front of me.
“How nice it is to be chauffeur-driven in times like this. Oh, if only I had bought an automatic car,” I thought to myself as I turned on the radio loudly to de-stress.
My current car has been with me for years and when I bought it, I never thought of getting an automatic car in preparation for the inevitable days when age would catch up with me.
One of the benefits of driving an automatic car is that you do not have to keep stepping on the brake in a traffic jam. That in turn eases the pressures on your knees.
Come to think of it, how many young people actually buy cars in preparation for the days when they are no longer agile and supple?
Personally, I prefer to drive a new car every few years. There are many advantages of buying new cars. With new cars, you don’t have to spend that much on maintenance . They are also safer and have new gadgets.
Yesterday, I was surprised by the terrible jams everywhere. “How many of these people are on Chinese New Year shopping sprees to buy new clothes and snacks?,” I asked myself.
If you are Chinese, you will know new clothes and snacks are a must for the Lunar New Year which falls on Jan 22 this year.
It is traditional for Chinese to buy new clothes to wear during the festival because they symbolise a new start for the new year.
During the Chinese New Year, it is also traditional for celebrants to wear red which is considered the colour of luck. During the Chinese New Year, children also receive ‘angpow’, red envelopes containing cash , symbolising bad luck is driven away and good luck is passed on.
Snacks are a must during the Chinese New Year. Families will prepare snacks for themselves and visitors. These snacks are chosen for their auspicious symbols of good wishes for a new year. They include pineapple tarts, peanuts and oranges or tangerines.
Pineapple tarts symbolise wealth and prosperity. Do you know that in Hokkien and Cantonese, pineapple is known as “Ong Lai” which means “Fortune Come”?
Peanuts, on the other hand, symbolise vitality, longevity, wealth and honour. In Mandarin, they are called “Hua Sheng” with “Sheng” also meaning to give birth, symbolising the wish for many children.
Meanwhile, oranges and tangerines represent wealth and prosperity with their bright golden-orange colour.
In many housing estates in Kuching, the local councils have already installed roll-on roll off bins in preparation for the expected increase in household waste before the Chinese New Year.
There is one in front of the recycling centre in my housing estate.There are people waiting there for Chinese New Year celebrants to dispose of their unwanted but still recyclable items like old sofas, chairs, used clothes, shoes and bags.
In their wish for better luck in the Lunar New Year, some Chinese totally clear their wardrobes and happily donate all their old clothes to recycling centres. “Out with the old and in with the new” is their motto for a really brand new year.
Chinese traditionally give their houses a thorough cleaning before the Chinese New Year which symbolises sweeping away the bad luck of the previous year and getting their homes ready to receive good luck.
If you have eaten as much salt as I have, you will realise that children benefit the most from the Chinese New Year. They will receive lots of ‘angpow’ and loving attention from their elders.
They will also have lots of fun running around with their siblings, cousins and other young members of their extended families as their parents catch up with relatives they have not seen for a long time.
Yes, for the not-so –young, the Chinese New Year is a good time to reminisce about the past and give thanks to God for the blessings in their lives including the loving families they have.
Until my next column, happy spring cleaning and baking for the Chinese New Year, my friends. A happy and prosperous Chinese New Year to you all.
