I grew up in a typical Chinese family with 6 siblings in a small kampung in Melaka. Two older brothers, four older sisters and a younger sister. We are now in our late 50s and the older ones are in their 60s. Chinese New Year to me was different from when we were younger. We grew up in the 70s and 80s when the festivities were celebrated with our neighbours regardless of race. We lived in a kampung where all the neighbours knew each other.
Chinese New Year preparation started a month or two earlier with our neighbours coming over to help my mom make traditional Kuih or cookies, such as Kuih bahalu, Kuih bangkit, Kuih Rose, Love Letters, Pineapple Tarts, Peanut Cookies & Kuih Bakul. We didn’t have an oven then, so all were baked using hot charcoal that needed someone to control the flame. Skills were needed then so as not to burn the Kuih. I remembered smelling all the mouth-watering Kuih when I got home from school. My late mom and our neighbours were seated around the floor of our kitchen chatting and preparing the Kuih. It was such a joyous sight to see those ladies working hand in hand making those Kuih. My sisters and I would look at the Kuih greedily and only got to taste the slightly burnt Kuih which we gladly accepted. We would also help to pack the Kuih in Milo or Horlick's tins & when mom was not looking, popped a few Kuih into our mouths!
A week or so before Chinese New Year, we would be busy doing spring cleaning. My childhood kampung house was a wooden house with red-coloured cement floors. My dad would ask us all to scrub the floor with soap and lots of water. Once the floor was dried, we would all take recycled cloth cut out from our old clothes and use it to polish the floor. My dad bought a can of red wax to polish the floor. We would be playing around as we placed the cloth wrapped around our feet and just slid all over the floor. It was a messy and tough task but we would get it done. The red floor was traditional red oxide flooring. When it is mixed with cement then it gives a distinctive red hue. So each couple of years, we would have it waxed to get the red colour restored. When it was applied, our hands and feet would be stained by the red wax. Our school white socks would be stained too when we walked around the house. But after a few washes, the stains would be lessened.
When Chinese New Year finally came, my mom would prepare steamed chicken that she reared in our backyard, and boiled chicken eggs collected from the chicken hens that provided us eggs daily. Early in the morning, my dad would ask us to help out. Sometimes I had to help him hold the chicken legs while he would slit the chicken throat and let the blood flow into a bowl. The chicken blood was then steamed & eaten as one of the dishes. I would look away as my dad slaughtered the chicken. Then my sisters and I would wait for my mom to boil water and blanch the whole chicken that was slaughtered into a big aluminium basin to soften the chicken’s skin so we could pluck the feathers off the chicken. Unlike now, ready-cleaned chicken can be bought from the supermarket or the morning market. Lots of work was put into preparation for the reunion meal. Every year, I looked forward to tasting the traditional Hakka dishes my mom prepared. The dishes I miss are the pork rolls that my mom used minced pork wrapped in thin pork intestine skin, Oyster sauce chicken stew, pork liver slices cooked with sengkuang or sweet turnip, Hakka Braised Pork, Yam Abacus, Stuffed Bitter Gourd Yong Tau Foo, Salted vegetables pork soup & Sweet and Sour Fish.
What we always looked forward to during Chinese New Year was not only the delicious dishes my mom cooked but also the new clothes and shoes we would be wearing. My mom would ask the neighbourhood tailor to sew our clothes for the celebrations. She would go to town to buy the cloth first then she would help us pick the designs of the shirt for my brothers and matching dresses for us girls. When we were older, we would look over the fashion books provided by the tailor. This must be done a couple of months ahead as the tailor can get extremely busy with the mounting orders. When we were younger, we didn’t mind wearing matching dresses, but as we grew older, we preferred to choose our own cloth & dress designs. Soon, ready-made dresses were more desirable and my mom just found it easier to go to town with us and we went shopping at the department stores. She would buy a pair of nightgowns, a couple of dresses to match with a handbag and new shoes too. Hand-me-down clothes were common then as we wore clothes that our older sisters outgrown. But during Chinese New Year, new clothes and shoes are a must as in Chinese culture, wearing new clothes to welcome the lunar new year symbolises a fresh start or a clean slate. It is believed to usher plenty of good fortune for the coming year.
Other preparations before Chinese New Year were decorating our living room with red packets to brighten up the space and hanging a red cloth at our main door. The red door signifies a good celebration to the household as we welcome warm and positive energy into our home. It ensures good fortune for those who enter as a red door according to Feng Shui practice would attract good luck and repel negative energy. It created a protective barrier to our home & members of our family.
Excitement builds up on the night of Chinese New Year’s Eve. We would dress in our new nightgown. I remembered not liking to wear those new clothes as sometimes it itched my skin as the fabric was stiff. After a few washes the cloth softens. My parents would be doing midnight prayers to welcome the God of Wealth into our household. We would stay up till late at night as according to traditional Chinese belief, staying up on Lunar New Year’s Eve brings longevity to our parents. We tried very hard to stay awake as we wanted our parents to live a long life. It created fear in us though and as an act of filial piety, we tried our best to stay awake as long as we could. After midnight, my dad would give us ang pow. We then played with firecrackers and fireworks. My siblings and I enjoyed soft cold drinks and ate an assortment of peanut sweets, White Rabbit candy, black kuaci & roasted ground nuts.
On the first day of Chinese New Year, we will all be dressed up with our new clothes and shoes. My dad would study the Chinese divination guide, also known as the Chinese almanac, to check when was the best time and day to go out and visit his relatives or friends. He can be very strict with it and would avoid going out on those unfavourable days to avoid bad luck. He was always seen studying it during his spare time. This Chinese almanac book became an essential part of Chinese culture for my dad. He would consult the book for guidance for any important decisions and events.
On the first and second days of Chinese New Year, the neighbourhood kids would come over to collect ang pow. My mom would prepare goodie bags filled with homemade Kuih with mandarin oranges when we visited our relatives and also distributed them to non-Chinese neighbours as gifts.
Remembering my childhood memories of Chinese New Year made me realise how much I missed those fun-filled days with my siblings and late parents. I had a wonderful childhood full of fun memories with neighbouring kids as we celebrated each festival in the spirit of “Muhhibah” or goodwill in our small kampung community.
Now most of the traditions are no longer being practised by my family and my daughters don’t have the opportunity to experience what I had gone through as a kid. Times have changed and now Chinese New Year celebrations are limited to co-workers, close relatives and friends.
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