My Chinese New Year Musing

Okay, I'm so going to confess this even if it means getting rotten eggs and stale cabbage in my direction. I never did like Chinese New Year and all the festivities associated with it. There, it's finally out in the open!

While I go through the motions every year, the underlying emotions have always been the same. I cannot identify with all the ado about preparing for the festival because most of them are steeped in traditional Chinese culture dating back centuries.

A convent girl married to a Peranakan, my mother could not even speak Mandarin until recent years when she started mingling with church folks from the Chinese ministry. She now watches Channel 8 and spouts proverbs and idioms effortlessly. But decades ago, she was just another baby-boomer who wore James Dean on her sleeve and embraced the Twist more than anything her Fujian-immigrant father could impart to her.

So you can imagine the Chinese New Year scenario in my home as a kid. It was never a big thing with us except for going to grandma's place on the first day (年初一). When I was in the airline, I started to go overseas for the occasion and just chill out in a hotel somewhere. The low-occupancy rate and lull period meant I had more time at the pool and more privacy at the sauna. Truly, I could only withstand so much visual assault of everything-red and the clang of loud cymbals!

With a family of my own now, have I mellowed or should I say.......begun to accept in-your-face loud colours and equally deafening 'Dong Dong Chang' music as part and parcel of being a Chinese? I still cringe when these songs are blasted at the supermarkets but I do not hurriedly scamper away by the middle of 恭喜, 恭喜, 恭喜你! Well, the loaf of bread and carton of milk still have to be bought. Duty over preference now.

Chinese New Year has also taken on a deeper significance because my in-laws are a little more traditional. They would spring clean the house, deck it with beautiful red and gold ornaments and array potted plants along the porch. I especially treasure the reunion dinner on the eve, attending mass together on the first day and the sumptuous lunch at Ah Zuo's (grandma-in-law) house on the second day. This year, I even braved the hustle-bustle Chinatown crowd with my mother-in-law to pick out a cheongsam for myself!

I'm not sure if I can say I've come into my own. I guess I've grown and am less obstinate about a lot of things. Chinese New Year is here to stay. As a Chinese, I have a duty to pass on the tradition to the next generation.