My Chinese New Year began when I dropped by at work when on leave on Feb 4. I was pleasantly surprised by a packet of mandarin oranges on my desk. "Wow! I got something for Chinese New Year!"My former collegue, Pei Soo, who now lectures at Universiti Malaya, remembered me! The oranges were duly delivered at my table by her husband, Yeo. After the holidays, I was again pleasantly surprised by another package of mandarin oranges on my table -- this time, from See who sits in the cubicle next to mine! And it came with a packet of egg roles. How lovely! I now have a long supply of mandarins in my fridge!
Mandarin oranges, red lanterns, and lion dances announce that Chinese New Year is here.
I am not Chinese, but Malaysian. So, I enjoy all the festive seasons each race of Malaysians celebrate! Infact, all of us celebrate each other's festivals in one way or another. If we don't actually celebrate it, we use the holidays they offer to go on holiday somewhere or spend it with family and friends.
This Chinese New Year I spent it with family. The first day of Chinese New Year happened to fall on my eldest brother's birthday on Feb 7. He was estranged from the rest of us but in his later years when he began to lose his memory we rallied around to help him and put him in a good home.
To say the least, he is a challenge to the caregivers at Calvaryland (the social arm of my church) where he is a resident of the old folks home. But they have resolutely taken on the challenge and take very good care of him. Thank God for people who help those who can't help themselves!
Well, it being his birthday, some of us who didn't have to visit Chinese friends at lunch, trooped into my car to visit my eldest brother. We arrived at lunch time and had a simple Indian meal of nasi briyani (some kind of rice casserole) and mutton curry for the benefit of the birthday boy who also cut his birthday cake and everyone had a share.
This was probably the first time in more than 50 years when my eldest brother cut a birthday cake! I think he was moved but, typically, didn't show it! Neither did his younger brother (younger by a year) who is very close to him. Those two were always close to each other and no matter what my eldest brother did, my second eldest brother was always partial to him.
After the food came the highlight -- the tour of the farm. In a corner of Calvaryland, chicks, chicken and ducks are reared and pineapple and dragon fruit plants are grown. My very urban grand-niece and grand-nephew were so excited seeing these things for the very first time!
"I have never seen a duck before!" exclaimed Aishyra, walking behind her older brother who had taken over my camera to take pictures of the chicken and ducks he was following and which were running away from him!
As we finished the tour, he saw the chicken heading towards the stairs of the building, and Joshua excitdely shouted: "They are heading for the stairs!" He ran ahead, camera in hand, to take pictures of that!
The farm pictures above were taken by 10-year-old Joshua.
The farm pictures above were taken by 10-year-old Joshua.
Getting back to my second eldest brother's home where everyone generally meets, a visitor noted how quiet he was. My second eldest brother isn't exactly a quiet man. I told her that he had a meaningful afternoon.
I think nobody was more moved than my second eldest brother that his family had finally accepted his erstwhile difficult older brother and that they showed it by visiting him.
Ties that bind. They give hope that things will get better.
1 comment:
Have been meaning to share my thoughts about this CNY-masterpiece of yours for as long as I can remember! But as u know,I had a fall during CNY itself, and have been busy with treatment for it,etc! since! (Still going for acupuncture treatment for it presently!) Am inspired to write to The Reader's Digest Asia(in True Life Account section) some time,on my fall-as it has turned out to be a sharp,turning point in my life!
Anyway ~ back to this masterpiece of yours! I call it your "masterpiece" as personally, this festive write-up of yours brought about such a wealth of emotions when I first read it in mid-March! Now,that's saying alot for this piece considering the fact that I am NO BIG FAN of the CNY-festival(being the Chinese that I am!)Don't ask me why, I am contented blaming my parents for this condemning attitude of mine towards CNY! Yes,I hated everything about it! Including the endless rounds of visits to the family members--ESPECIALLY the visits!! Hate the frilly,non-filling & sorethroat-causing cookies, hate the hyper-insensitive badgering on your marital status by relatives who don't even bother with your full name's proper pronounciation, hate the hot weather that goes with CNY! The ONLY CONSOLATION then--would be yes, the monetary reward that comes with my willingness to accommodate all of this once a year!
And SO--this piece I would proudly vote as my favourite of all your pieces on your blog thus far--as miraculously, it has CHANGED my perception, attitude and even my belief system towards CNY. Somehow,the many little things I took for granted for CNY suddenly striked me as valuable momentos when you shared it across the way you did!:) Like with your heartfelt gratitude when you saw mandarin oranges on your office desk one morning! And how you had yue-sang!
But your pictures! (those of the roosters,esp!) just melted me away as one look at them brought me back to my childhood days--where I grew up with a full-time babysitter in a village that had the exact same type of roosters going around our house every morning!;)
I am still trying my best to produce giant printouts of your CNY-roosters' rich pictures--I want to hang them by my bedroom window, I want to have them next to my office wall too!
Now I find myself looking forward to next year's CNY--and how the new-me would go about doing those routine stuff which you had talked about with so much enthusiasm. And of course,needless to mention, I am most definitely looking forward to your 2009 CNY-piece!:)
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