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By Mihar Dias (C) Copyright January 2023
For our fellow Malaysians who are ethnic Chinese Lunar New Year is always a time to renew family ties and keep traditions and costumes alive.
The holiday normally begins with a feast or family dinner of delicacies of sausages, waxed duck and of course mandarin oranges. But the oranges cannot be of an Australian, Californian or South African variety. They must be mandarin oranges, from China, known as ''kum'', or ''gold" in English.
The mandarin oranges gift giving is a long cherished Chinese tradition of presenting your loved ones with "golden nuggets" to usher in prosperity and wealth in the new year.
It supposedly originated from Southern China where the tradition is known as “song gam” in Cantonese.
But song gam also means “giving gold”, which the Chinese who are obsessed with luck have used as a symbol of conferring prosperity and well wishes upon recipients. (Michelin Guide)
As far as I can recall, we in Malaysia do give away mandarin oranges too without fail during the Chinese Lunar New Year freely with great sincerity wishing friends and neighbours prosperity for the year ahead.
Mandarin orange is a must-have during CNY holidays. "Oblate in shape, reddish-orange color, slightly wrinkled skin that is easier to peel and split into segments. They are very sweet and juicy." (Siji)
Of course, as far as I can remember, mandarin oranges are in abundance throughout the season. Everyone loves mandarin oranges from China. Even non-Chinese enjoy receiving mandarin orange gifts from neighbours and friends.
However, one year there was no mandarin oranges to be found in Malaysia to support the tradition. In fact, they arrived too late for the occasion to the disappointment of every citizen in the country.
So that year, 1985 if I remember correctly when there were no mandarin oranges available for the New Year celebration, there was a big outcry among the Chinese community.
Some bureaucratic bungling brought about the disappearance of mandarin oranges in homes everywhere throughout the country then.
Apparently, it was reported that the government was trying to promote locally grown fruit by cutting back on import permits without realising that locally grown variety was not up to expectations.
Also to the Chinese, there are no oranges that are quite like mandarin oranges from Mainland China.
As a result of the oversight or an unexpected blunder more approved permits (AP) were later issued for importers to purchase mandarin oranges from mainland China. But by then it was too late for Mainland China traders to export to Malaysia.
The disappointment was more than just sorrow for every Chinese in the country then. For the first time in their lives, they could not fully celebrate New Year the way they have been doing for years.
They were angered by the government of the day that wanted to proritise a policy for Malays to do business with China at the expense of Chinese tradition.
That year in Kedah, when they greeted everyone with "Gong Xi Fa Chai" the Hokkien would add, "So sorry oh, kam bo lai!" (That means mandarin oranges just did not arrive).
This is one bureaucratic bungling that almost destroyed a lunar new year celebration for the Chinese community in Malaysia that year.
But the tradition of giving mandarin oranges resumed the following year without any mishaps ever since.
Let's hope this error will never be repeated for years to come for the sake of preserving the tradition and culture of our fellow citizens who value mandarin oranges from Mainland China more than gold during Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations.
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