The Lunar Epitome

Together Again.
The Chinese are particular about the eve.
The eve is the ultimate of the Lunar Year. Anything after this night holds less meaning.
 They call it the  Reunion Dinner.
At the occasion everyone eats over the table and say good things like; huat, huat, huat !
Huat - is the only word of importance in a typically Chinese home. To most typical Chinese clans, money is all that matters especially to my father's generation. The generation then travelled to the Nanyang Seas in search of gold and silver to survive. Plagued with poverty and hunger, they virtually sailed through rough waters for whatever fate had in store for them.

Chinese homes that sent their sons away prayed for prosperity and good fortune to befall them. Good sons meant that they sent money home to ease their parents' burdens. Unfilial sons did not send remuneration home and become woes and curse. Such is the mentality I believe, of Chinese homes.
The Chinese pray that their sons will be good seeds bringing fortune and fame to the family name. Sons become the revered lot; a preference over girls.

What happens to the girls then? They stay home and continue the line for the sons. So, it was imperative then that after marriage, the female lot belongs almost to the husband's family. What a deal. But the tradition continues till today. So, today is one such day; the Reunion dinner. At the Reunion dinner, sons must be home with the paternal side. The maternal home can be void of celebration if daughters are married and celebration starts only on the second or third day when the daughters 'huey niang jia' or return home to their mothers.

Strange, the world of technology changes perceptions and mindsets, but never this tradition.
So, on such an evening as today, I had the privilege of celebrating the eve with my 2 unmarried daughters and parents in good old Muar because my in-laws are no more around. I hope to savour in the good times for very soon my girls may be married off...

Happy New Year everyone.

May the year continue to bring good tidings, steadfastness and peace.

Weeks before the celebration, the city started its great effort in making sure shoppers enjoy the ethos and that business would spruce up with special decorations and colors.

They say the year of the ram is a year of amicability and peace. The animal is symbolic of submission and docility. There should be peace and great negotiations.

It is undeniable that the sure-footed animal is out to minimize mistakes and maximize best practices. 

In school, the children took an active role in decorating the grounds of the school with red lanterns and couplets of great tidings and greetings. Just a string of lanterns and it could cheer the place up.

In Singapore, her Chinatown is adorned with bright lights with the image of the ram standing high along the main street. 

Shoppers thronged the place with joy and energy to usher in the year of the ram.

 The streets of Chinatown in Singapore is a sight to behold. Children and adults are kept busy with the manifestation of lights and merriment. It is indeed exciting to shop here. 

It gives one the happy mood.

At home, Esther is back to her old self again. Origami keeps her busy as she attempts to fold fishes out of the red packets...'nien nien yu yi' is a connotation of continuous flow of provisions and good tidings.

Pretty origami that brightens Por Por's house.

So, wherever we may be, it is good to have a home to return to. 

Home is truly where the heart is.

However grand a house one may have, it's never like being home with loved ones.

Happy Ram Year.

I was born in the year of the Ram.

So, it should be a year to remember by before the next cycle.