Then when we were children, CNY celebration took a life of its own - it was vibrant, joyous and noisy, all happening at the same time.
In those days, in the small town we lived, preparations to usher in the new year usually started at least a month earlier. The first item on the agenda was to seek out a friendly neighbor who could cut some new clothes for the family.
Then, the lady of the house would go round town to buy and stock up the pantry with dried foodstuffs ready for the big night, i.e. the New Year’s Eve, when family members gathered for the all-important, traditional reunion dinner. This dinner was the deal of the year, always with more dishes offered than any other time of the year that went by.
When dinner is over, the children would be roaming around with friends, settling off firecrackers while adults would be sipping tea or drinking beer throughout the night. The main idea was to welcome the God of Prosperity. This wishful and hopeful exercise was carried out year after year, even though the effort obviously did not produce the outcome that was intended for. Imagine if it had worked the town would have been full of wealthy people.
The next day, the New Year’s Day, the children would become very industrious. They would go from house to house, paying homage to all the uncles and aunties they know well (or not at all), for the idea was to collect angpaos! Those days the little red packets would contain a coin or two.
Then when we grew up and have children of our own, CNY celebration remained in nearly the same in character and in the ways it was celebrated. There was a slight change in the way new clothes were sought out - they were purchased from departmental stores. And instead of just one suit, the children would probably get two suits of new and fancy dresses.
The spread of the reunion dinner became wider and with more variety of dishes. Fire crackers were less prevalent because it was discouraged or banned as we have moved into the large city. Our children and their friends enjoyed the couple of days just as boisterously as we had done a generation ago. This time round, the children’s angpaos were heftier. In the city where we now lived, children’s angpaos no longer contained coins; ringgit notes became the order of the day. The denomination of the ringgit notes in the angpao would be 1, 2 , 5 and 10!
Time flew by. Now our children have their own children. Some years before this, our three children have moved on to follow their jobs and vacations that they were trained in for. For some years now they have lived in 3 different countries.
Then for a few years, we were able to meet in a city or a place in one of the countries the children lived in to celebrate Chinese New Year. Some other years, we would meet in a neutral country to celebrate a quieter Chinese New Year.
Then the cruel pandemic came and kept us apart for nearly 3 years. So this year, as both me and my wife are well into our 80s, our children were kind enough to plan to come back home to help us welcome and celebrate the Year of the Rabbit. Because of the work schedule, they would be returning in batches. Our elder daughter will be coming in shortly from Hong Kong with her husband, while our younger daughter will be here 4 days before the new year with her daughter (her husband could not leave his post at work).
The good cheer is that we will be able to see our youngest grandchild, 8 year old Sasha again after more than two years! Our highly mobile son who had promised to come home to see us on three occasions this past year, but never quite made it, is now wondering in a neighbouring country. He is due back any time soon - that is his promise this time round. However, we will miss our 3 older grandchildren who will not be able to join us here as the older two are in University and the younger one is in high school. They are all stranded in the UK.
Granny and Gong Gong (grandpa) would make sure the three of them would get their angpaos, which will carry an appropriate amount of new year incentives.
Let us welcome the Year of the Rabbit, that delightful and lovable little animal that symbolises health, prosperity and happiness!
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