As somebody who had spent most of her childhood days with her loved ones during the 1990s era in her hometown of Malacca, I can't help but think back to how we all used to celebrate Chinese New Year, together as a family. Especially when life was simpler then, and the gray hairs on everyone's crowning glory were non-existent. Without further ado, here are the '5 most iconic and memorable CNY moments' from the 90s for all those who grew up in this defining era.
Vibrant Chinese New Year music sung by Malaysia's legendary pop princesses!
Although M-Girls debuted in 2001, its members Queenzy Cheng, Crystal Ong, Angeline Khoo, and Cass Chin were also part of the iconic 'Seven Fairies' girl group during the mid-1990s. The 'Seven Fairies' girl group consisted of 7 multi-talented child star singers who all excelled in singing Chinese New Year songs predominantly to the Mandarin-speaking community here in Malaysia, nonetheless! Aside from their Jackson 5-like smooth harmonizing vocals, the then-winsome bunch of prepubescent young girls also stole the hearts of nearly everyone with their natural charisma and innocent good looks. Unfortunately, member Queenzy Cheng recently left the local music industry forever at the relatively young age of 37 due to a brain hemorrhage.
Turn on the idiot box just to watch 'Once Upon In China' starring Jet Li on the one and only RTM 2!
Way before the advent of Netflix, Iflix, or even Ananda Krishnan's Astro, Chinese cinematic blockbuster classics such as Jet Li's iconic 'Once Upon In China' epic saga were in the idiot box's staple during the 90s. I fondly recalled that this highly patriotic-driven movie was extremely well-loved not only among the Chinese community but also the Malays and Indian folks as well. The movie 'Once Upon In China' was aired without fail on RTM 2 repeatedly on every CNY throughout the 1990s. Even though many fans of Jet Li's 'Once Upon A Time In China' swore they could mimic 'Wong Fei Hung's' infamous 'Mou Yeng Keuk" or mighty shadowless kick, many horny male fans of the movie can't get over ogling at the unbeatable beauty and charm of 'Sap Sam Yee' aka 13th Auntie, played to perfection by the actress Rosamund Kwan.
The ringgit value in the Angpow packet still packs a much meaner and more power-packed punch!
I highly doubt those who have read Newswav or any other local mainstream media news were oblivious to the fall in the Malaysian ringgit, especially over the past few years. Pre-pandemic in 2019, I remember purchasing a beautiful Victoria's Secret backpack on sale at RM150.00. Even though the 50% markdown still couldn't constitute the product dirt cheap, it was still much more bang for the buck than the Victoria's Secret of today sold at major retail shops. When COVID-19 kickstarted in early 2020, someone I knew from the B40 group jokingly told me that if the ringgit continued to drop further, she would have no choice but to go home to plant crops in her native Indonesia. As a kid who went house visiting in the 90s, I recalled jumping with joy like a little Carebear as some wealthy elderly lady generously gave me RM20.00 for Angpow. Sadly, the country's economic status is not the same anymore. Most recently, Newswav reported that more cash-strapped Malaysians chose to go to neighboring Haadyai in Thailand for a much cheaper and affordable getaway compared to expensive cities like Singapore.
Back to 'Ah Poh and Ah Kong's ancestral house for a yearly CNY visit!
Growing up, I fondly recalled those yearly CNY visits to my grandparent's ancestral house. Our aunts, uncles, and cousins from my maternal family side would gather to dine on a specially prepared Cantonese-style steamboat dinner for our grand reunion dinner. On the first day of CNY morning, Mum would serve the family bowls and bowls of delicious red bean 'tong sui' simmered over with fragrant dried mandarin orange peel. After that, our grandparents would distribute auspicious red packets to the children and unmarried family members. Even as a young kid, I would not forget to wish my Ah Poh good health and longevity when she handed me those precious red packets. When the hunger pangs kick in during the afternoon, Mum would go to the kitchen to prepare some deep-fried sesame balls and bite-sized peanut puffs for us hungry kids and adults. Among the lot, my favorite was the fried sesame balls due to their addictive golden crunch and massive ping-pong ball size. Also, each piece of sesame ball was packed brimly with sweet red bean paste stuffing.
Celebrating CNY at a much bigger bang across the nation!
Even though I now personally dislike fireworks for a good reason, I recalled back to CNY in the '90s when fireworks were just a natural part of the CNY festive celebration. As I recall, my late uncle K would head to the nearby Indian shop with his trusty motorbike to buy the popular sparklers and hen-laying eggs for us kids to play with at night. Back then, I was addicted to playing with the ultra-hilarious hen-laying eggs since the chicken technically sparks and lays a bunch of fiery eggs when you light up its rear end. Besides my older brother D and me, all the other kids in the Kuen family also love this novelty game. For example, my younger cousin J once laughed so loud at the egg-laying part that he accidentally fell on the floor and broke his front tooth altogether on CNY!
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Lim Su Yee is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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