CNY - The Good Old Days

When I was really little, I never really understood the Chinese Lunar New Year except for some things. Just like when I first joined the corporate world I never really understood it - like how some people behave, how pretentious they can be, etc. but when you don't know it, you may enjoy it just like magic. Once you watched how they broke the magician's code, there is no more magic left. So does that mean that ignorance is bliss?

What were the things that I remembered vividly and how were they different from now? Why are people less excited and in fact many are travelling and going away during the CNY holiday period? 

Make Babies

For a start, life was simple back in the good old days. That is why they are called the good old days. They were good. Those were the days where the government need not tell you unlike now after giving you lots of incentives still hope that we can have more babies. Those days there were kampung, dimly lit kampung and there were not much activities. No TV, computers, Game Boy, Nintendo, Wii, X-Box,, Play Station. No DVD movies, no Internet, no mobile phones or apps. So people have nothing much to do, they go to bed early and make babies. Some families could form a soccer team, even a substitute  - no. 12. To solve our population problems and to have more Singaporeans in future, we should dim the lights and remove all gadgets if these may help. A friend of mine told me his wife asked him to rush her home so she could cook. Actually it was cooking on face book on the computer.

Contentment

People were more easily contented. We were healthier too. Buses do not stop right n front of your house. You have to walk a long way to a bus stop and you have to change buses to get to most destinations. Those more fortunate travelled in cars but there were no highways. No air-condition. You'd installed a fan for a bit more comfort. Life was simple.

Meat

Folks only eat more meat during festive seasons like CNY. We had chicken and duck and some pork. We would have a large pot of vegetable soup and when kept overnight and cooked again with vermicelli made the most wonderful bee hoon soup. In modern day Singapore, you can have chicken, duck, pork and beef throughout the day. You do not need to wait for the Lunar New Year.

New Clothes

I see people buying new clothes everyday and any day. Some youngsters can easily snap up clothes from Internet stores. Those in big family that were less well off actually practised hand-me-downs. Otherwise, for most folks, it was only during the Chinese New Year that we got new clothes from shirts to pants, socks to shoes. I wanted to feel good about having new things but with delayed gratification so I shall try to treasure things more with less and hope that we always love people and use things not use people and love things. I try to make my New Year more interesting and got some new clothes and shoes!

Soft Drinks

Soft drinks or aerated water were considered a luxury. Home grown F and N was a favourite especially the orange, cherry, ice-cream soda and sarsi drinks and if you travelled much, these are considered luxurious thirst quenchers. Which was and is your favourite? Unfortunately, my beloved Singapore has been selling everything away - Nat Steel, Parkway Hospital, Raffles Hotel, Tiger Beer, F and N, etc. 

Cookies

One of the most interesting periods of CNY was the precursor. You can sense the impending holiday period weeks before it arrived. Your grandmothers, mother and aunts would start buying groceries and then on weekends they would set up shop just outside the house to make new year cookies. Kueh Bahuru, Kueh Bangkit, Love Letters, pineapple tarts, etc. For Kueh Bahuru, they would pick them up with a pin from the mould once done. 

It was interesting to watch the patient adults layered the love letters the round but flat moulds, taking turns to turn them around, scraping the egg flour that protruded around the edges then softly rolled them into endless rolls to be put into tins later. Even the scraps can be eaten straight away as they won't be served to guests. Which is your favourite new year cookie? Then only when I was older did Kueh Lapis became popular because it was considered an expensive cake. A friend help to get some Lapis from Indonesia, Batam to be exact. Said to be very good. I'll be trying them soon.

I am truly appreciative of this friend who took the trouble for the logistics. How do I know? I carried 24 cans of beer in two plastic bags fully packed with ice for some friends recently. The arms nearly broke. Always remember the people who does the little things for you.

Fire Crackers

There is nothing like fire crackers. We can get hold of what we wanted from nearby provision shops and usually used the smaller fire crackers. There was a kampung just behind the house and great to throw fire crackers at the back of the house in the darkness of the night and watched a whole pack exploding. During the day, we would throw some near some chickens or cats walking around. In those days it wasn't cruel to have some fun, I mean we didn't hurt any animals and many people love animals because they tasted good. The adults will hang a along roll of huge crackers from right up to the second floor down to the ground. One of the uncles would be sabotage and nominated to light them. It will start burning and exploding upwards and towards the top end, a big bundle would explode in a very loud and big way.

We have our fire works too. Those that looked and sounded better. Some were like rockets. Stick them to the ground, get them lighted and they flew real high with sparkles in the sky. Of course, there were simple sparkles too.

Spring Cleaning

Spring cleaning was huge back then but there were many who lived together so many hands made light work. Most of us can no longer bear with all these works of a thorough spring cleaning each year as it can be back breaking. If the house is reasonably clean and neat it is good enough. Why go through the routine of torturing ourselves? Or for that matter the domestic helper if you have one. I don't and I'll excuse myself. If you come visiting and saw a spider on the ceiling, I'll just tell you it is a pet. "Hey, meet my pet spider Peter" that's what I'll say. Many will be hanging up traditional Chinese calligraphy and well wishes.

Decor

After all the cleaning it is not finished. You have to decorate. Bring in the festive joy. All things red will not be wrong. There are also plants and seasonal flowers.

梅 花 (Plum Flowers). They are lovely to look at even as buds and even greater when they blossom. May a thousand flowers bloom for  you this new year.

Visiting

Visiting relatives all over can be very interesting and at the same time taxing. That was the time when car rental companies boomed. It was interesting because you would have visited relatives you never knew you had. Your grandparents' siblings and your parents' cousins, etc. From the oldest (like Prince Charles' Crescent) to the newest HDB homes. You would have hopped in and out of the car umpteen times that felt like an oven (no air-conditioned cars those days) and travelled almost an entire day.

Everybody always exchanged oranges and warm wishes and greetings.

Other Good Stuffs 

What are the other good stuffs? Too many to mention. They can range from the cheapest to the most costly like abalone. I never liked them when I was young. They became expensive because many Chinese eat them and many Chinese eat them because they are expensive and also it looks like gold nuggets? They say if you eat a pig's liver, your liver will be stronger and so too kidney. If you eat a pig's brain? You get smarter?

These are actually melon slices coated with sugar. They are memorable to me because in my time, TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) were often favoured by grandparents and parents. Or they believe Western and Eastern medicine are good for different things. If you have ever drank boiled herbs, you would have realised that you could get well immediately because they were just plain awful. Those heroes who got badly injured in sword-fighting martial arts flicks drank them because they were too seriously injured to fight whoever was feeding them. This is where the wisdom of grandparents came handy. Swallow a gulp, take a bite of sugar melon. Once I take a bite and my memories will flow.

This is another that I do not like but grew to like. Persimmons. Dried version. I love fresh persimmons but dried ones are somewhat different. The taste and texture. They are very good in "cheng tng". Good "cheng tng' must have slices of dried persimmons.

That's all folks. Let me keep some for next year. Don't forget the hongbaos. Are you going to undercut by paying more? I always stay around for the Lunar New Year. What about you? I wish you and your family a Happy and Prosperous New Year!