Coming soon, Chinese New Year!

Chinese New Year falls on Valentine’s Day this year, i.e. Feb 14.

Every Chinese family is now very busy preparing for the New Year. Spring-cleaning is a must as it denotes that we are getting rid of the old stuff to make way for the new. A clean and sparkling house augurs well for the inhabitants.

Some families will hang new curtains on their windows and new year decorations in their living rooms. The red packets come in handy as we can make lanterns, balls and fans from them. One common decoration is the fish fashioned from the red packet.

Fish is a symbol of prosperity so some people like to hang these fish on their ang pow tree. ( red packet tree ) The ang pow tree is just like the Christmas tree except that the red packets are hung on the twigs amid the artificial peach blossoms. I like to hang the red fish on my little tree.


Most families will have the pussy willow in their homes too. The buds drop off very easily. They have now coloured the flowers yellow and red too..
However I prefer the original white. Because their stems are very long, it can be a problem transporting them home.

I also bought two plants that had their stems entwined to resemble pineapples.
Pineapples are said to bring luck so I’ve placed them at my front door. This pair will bring us luck.

Then there are the red packets to be filled! Children love receiving these red packets as they contain money. How much you put in depends on the depth of your pockets. I remember when I was young, my grandparents used to put RM1.10 inside while the Cantonese put RM0.40 (two 20sen coins ) inside their red packets. However no one gives these amounts anymore. The minimum is RM2.00. The red packets are new and the banknotes new & crisp too!

Whoever comes to visit your house on the first day of the Chinese New Year (meaning the children and the unmarried people) will receive a red packet or ang pow. Those who are married will have to give out ang pows.

What is served when people come to visit you?

Mandarin oranges are a must. Then you can have the usual variety of cookies such as almond cookies,

tapioca flour cookies ( kuih bangkit), pineapple tarts, love letters, arrowhead crisps, bah kwa ( barbecued chicken or pork slices), ground nuts, cakes, kua chee ( melon seeds, sunflower seeds ). Some families also offer the traditional nien kao ( a sticky cake made from glutinous flour & caramelized ).
One way of serving it is to fry it in egg while the other way is to steam it and roll it in fresh grated coconut. Either way is delicious.

If you have a housemaid, you can offer more substantial food like noodles, chicken, etc.

It is common for people to set up tables to gamble and try their luck with the cards. Even the children gamble too!

Chinese New Year used to be a noisy affair in the past as everyone would light fire crackers. The din added to the merriment and it is a must when the lion dance is performed in your house premises. Fire crackers are not allowed now as there have been fires in the past. However, some houses still burn fire crackers when they have a lion dance performance.

This is by invitation only. You would invite a troupe to perform at your place to chase away the negative vibes and to bring in good luck. The dancers would put up a performance lasting about half an hour. The finale would be the lion climbing up to catch the ang pow which you have tied to a high pole together with some lettuce. In return, the troupe leader will give you a small banner. You can also give the performers smaller ang pows for their efforts and offer the team food and drinks.

When my children were young, we would invite the lion dance team from a school ( they usually raise funds this way) every year to perform at our ‘open house’. Now that they have grown up we do not do this anymore.

The first day of the Chinese New Year begins with visits to your elders to wish them a happy year, longetivity and good health and you go with gifts of oranges etc, as well as ang pows for the children and the singles. Once that is done, you are free to visit your friends.

All Chinese families will make their way home to their parents’ for the reunion dinner which is on the eve of the New Year. So the highways will be clogged with traffic going from north to south and east to west and vice-versa. All flights will be fully booked as those working away from home will also be returning.

However, there has been a trend of late, to go away for short holidays during the Chinese New Year, thus breaking with tradition. This, I feel, is a shame because traditions ought to be preserved and handed down to the younger generations.

Traditions are an integral part of our culture and something of value will be lost if the parents do not follow the traditions and take the easy way out by flying their children off to a holiday destination.

Some have rationalized that it is a time they can spend with their children but there is always the school vacation to do that.

If the truth be known, they do it because they do not want to have “open house” saying it is a hassle and they also can avoid giving ang pows!!

Chinese New Year is a time of reunion, re-connecting with kith and kin, bonding and nurturing friendships. If everyone were to go away instead, the new year celebrations will lose meaning and it will simply become another opportunity for a holiday away from kith and kin and friends. Children need to be exposed to the rich culture of the Chinese and the traditions so that they in turn can pass them down to the future generations.

We shall soon be joining the hordes of folks rushing home for the reunion