Yee Sang pictures!

I just have to include these two pictures of Yee Sang -- the Chinese raw fish specialty that appears around Chinese New Year. Raw fish, cleaned and salted would be mixed with crackers and a variety of pickled vegetables. Well-wishers stand around it and using chopsticks toss them around in a show of unity. It is also symbolic of helping one another in the sharing of prosperity.

It is a tradition, particularly, among the Cantonese-speaking community of the Chinese. According to a Cantonese friend, whatever you wish when you toss around Yee Sang will come true.

Well, I hope all the wishes we wished when tossing Yee Sang during our department's Chinese New Year lunch will come true for all of us!

A Meaningful Chinese New Year

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.

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.