Another year has gone by. The city malls are gaily decorated to welcome in the new year, the Year of the Rabbit. Thus we see giant rabbits amid the peach blossoms, peonies and lion heads.
A major mall in Kuala Lumpur is the focal point of many visitors who can be seen taking photographs. We are among them so below are some of the photos that we took.
The eve of the Chinese New Year is a busy one for most families who did not take advantage of the few days’ holidays to travel abroad. This has been a trend of late.
However, we still adhered to the traditional practice of honouring our ancestors and paying respect to them by welcoming their spirits to partake of the feast laid out for them. This is also when we pray for good health and prosperity for the current generation and the young ones.
Special cakes and dishes of chicken, pork, prawns and fish are laid out and little cups of brandy are also offered to go with the meal.
After an interval, a male descendant, in this case, my brother, would say a prayer and throw two coins into the air. When they land, if one is heads and the other tails, it signifies that our ancestors have had their fill and we can proceed with the burning of the joss paper, folded into the shape of ingots and fans, paper money and paper clothing as well as shoes for the departed. These are the gifts that they can use in the other world.
The ashes that fly high into the air also indicate happiness with our offerings.
When the rituals were done, we returned home to get ready for our reunion dinner.
When all of us were gathered again, we dug into the first dish “Yee Sang” and tossed the contents of the dish, wishing for prosperity and good health in the coming year. The yee sang is a mix of grated vegetables, crunchy bits and raw salmon, with different types of dressing. Some people put jelly fish instead of salmon.
The evening passed quickly as we caught up with the latest news. Phone calls from siblings in Australia completed the happy evening.
This year, at the stroke of midnight, instead of hearing the deafening sounds of fire crackers, we heard the boom, boom of fireworks. Over in the distance, where the Chinese temple was located on a hill top, fireworks were let off, to explode into beautiful red bursts of color followed by white and blue and green.
Beautiful fireworks are just as enchanting to us oldies as to the young children.Gong Xi Fa Cai to the Chinese community.
Whenever I feel sleepy just before I have to do an important thing I will have that cup of coffee. Ordinarily I do not drink coffee as it is a duiretic and can be dehydrating.
