These are a few of my favourite Chinese New Year things, from my childhood days, growing up in my grandma’s mansion where my aunts, uncles and cousins all lived together under one roof, 3 generations under Matriarch Grandma. Everyone is all grown up now and gone their separate ways but for me, these memories remain deep in my heart. They come alive each Chinese New Year (CNY) and in my mind, I’m that kid all over again.
Fiery Crackers Big and Small — I love the sounds of firecrackers and the longer and louder, the better. These days, we don’t hear them of course and the streets are so much quieter despite the celebrations. My grandma always hung a very long string of big firecrackers at our front iron gate on CNY Eve to welcome the Lunar New Year on the first morning. What a joy to wake up and see the compounds filled with shreds of the fired red crackers, like a red paper carpet. Of course, we played with the tiny firecrackers that came stringed up. My cousins and I would carefully take them apart one by one to light and throw at each other as a dare. We once threw them into the fishing ponds behind our house and received such a beating I still recall till this day.
Lion Dance — folks laugh whenever I say that I miss all the tong-tong-chiang sounds of boisterous, playful and prancing lion dances. But CNY without this familiar sight is like Christmas without the tree.
Pineapple Tarts — My grandma loved cooking and size matters, evidenced by her indoor and outdoor kitchens. Naturally, baking our own CNY cookies and snacks was a given. I was the “official” pineapple stirrer, slow cooking the peeled and grated pineapples over a low fire till the right texture and a further cooling before spooning the pineapple jam into the tarts. The nonya tarts had a criss-cross pattern and the challenge was rolling the dough into tiny, thin strips without breaking.
Love Letter — baked the traditional way over a portable, rectangular, charcoal-filled grill. Flipping the Love Letter maker (a pair of iron clappers) made me feel instantly “adult”. This popular CNY snack deserves its name as it is truly a labour of love from the stirring of the flour mixture, flipping the irons, gently “scrapping” them off the irons while hot, and rolling the thin crepes using a short cane, into their cigar shape. Burnt, too brown or chipped ones were put aside, to our delights, for home consumption, as only the perfectly shaped and color ones were packed away as gifts for grandma’s relatives and friends. My favourite aunt taught us how to fold them into fan shapes, long before we learnt origami.
Kuih Bangkit — These pretty flower-shaped cookies came in 2 versions — the plain and the other dusted with sesame seeds. Only the “qualified” adults were allowed to “pinch” the patterns on each flower cookie using a baking instrument with a pinwheel atop. My task was brushing batches of these cookies with beaten egg yolks before dusting them with the sesame.
All things New & Red — shopping then is nothing like nowadays in every sense of the word and it was a big thrill as we looked forward to new clothes once a year when CNY comes around. New and red set the fashion trend and tone for our complete ensemble including underwear, pajamas, socks and shoes. Seeing our CNY outfits neatly placed on our beds was like seeing Christmas presents under the tree.
CNY Decorations — they appear once a year only on this occasion, Grandma’s priced Peranakan flower vases shaped like a bouquet, in different colours and sets for the different parts of the house. My eldest sister was in charge of arranging the flowers in these vases while we helped to layout the white crouchet table cloths and chair covers tied with pretty red ribbons. Even the glasses to serve visitors were the special ones designed for CNY.
Reunion Dinner — this was the Big Feast where the entire family of generations gathered to enjoy, much like Thanksgiving Dinner. Marketing and food preparations begin days ahead by the army of chefs comprising my aunts, my mum and sisters and Grandma, aided by her faithful servants who were part of our family.
Ang Pows — receiving these red packets filled with money for good luck was a big treat and we continued our family tradition of kneeling down to greet Grandma for CNY every year till she passed on. Grandma was known for her generosity in the neighbourhood and prepared ang pows filled with notes, for the postmen, road sweepers and garbage collectors, as part of her appreciation tradition.
Black Jack and 3 Kings — this was the most fun part of CNY for us since gambling was frown upon in our household. My 4th uncle was the default dealer or “chng kay” while we played stingily with our 10 cents bets. Whenever a cousin betted 50 cents, everyone was in awe. But the best part of this “children’s cards” was that, in the end, we always got our money back, no matter how much we lost. Now if only casinos operate by the same rule.
Aunties & Uncles, Cousins & Relatives Near & Far — CNY was the one time our home was packed with visitors like a popular Chinese restaurant, a wonderful time of family bonding and reunion as everyone came by to pay respects to Grandma and welcome the Lunar New Year with her.
What I Miss Now — all the above because even though I have kept some of the traditions alive, the setting, the period, the people have all changed. The Singapore we live in now is a world different from my childhood, kampong days. It’s funny too how, growing up, like most teenagers, I didn’t fully appreciate or love all these traditions and during my working years, I was sometimes envious of friends who could “escape” CNY by going away on holidays. So glad that in my much older years now, I am like a child again, eagerly awaiting each CNY and embracing all its sights, sounds and celebrations, even traditions have modernized and practices revamped.
Here’s to a Happy, Healthy & Prosperous Year of the Fiery Rooster.
Chinese New Year jewellery to wear:
Bamboo Gold-plated Pendant and Earrings
http://www.chinoiserieblu.com/boudoir/jewellery/collections/bamboo.html
