MEANINGFUL TRADITIONS OF THE LUNAR NEW YEAR

The thing about festive celebrations is you basically want them to go on and on. It is not only about the onset of the festival but the days or months leading up to it.

For us who live faraway, we start booking flight, bus or train tickets  home at the earliest date possible. I remember when I was studying in Kuala Lumpur, I would rush to the bus station to secure coach tickets once the counters were open. There was no on-line booking then.

I had to buy several tickets for all the short journeys that would eventually take me back to my hometown in Batu Pahat because the direct-link bus tickets were all sold out. There was no griping or complaining because the heart and the head were all in unison with the idea of going home, however long it took.

Certain areas like Petaling Street or Chinatown would be a buzzed about the festival. I used to make a few trips there just to feel the atmosphere, smell the roasted chestnuts and to listen to the Chinese new year songs being blared from the loud speakers. I haven’t been to Petaling Street for some time now and I wonder if it is still the same?

Today is the fourth day of the Chinese New Year and there are 11 more days of celebration to go. To the child that is sheer happiness and although I am a child no longer, I still feel a strange sort of excitement this time of the year.

Like any Malaysian, I am preoccupied with food. I enjoy eating and the adventures associated with the preparation of food or the searching for eating joints that serve mouth watering food. In fact, any dish that is well cooked and garnished bids to be photographed. So I have picture albums dedicated to food alone or to people sitting round a table laden with food. It is not unusual to see me cooking any time of the day or night.

Three types of delicacies that I enjoy which are synonymous to the Chinese New Year festival are yee sang (vegetable and fish salad),  ningko (sticky glutinous rice cake) and mandarin oranges.

Since I belong to the Teochew clan, I’m proud to say that yee sang is a Teochew-style raw fish salad which consists of raw fish and shredded vegetables. Eating yee sang is a cultural activity where all diners at the table stand up and on cue, proceed to toss the shredded ingredients into the air with chopsticks while voicing out auspicious wishes. The higher the tossing, the greater the diner’s increase in abundance and fortune.

Next on the list is ningko or the sticky glutinous rice cake. I love it steamed and rolled in coconut or sandwiched between slices of yam and sweet potato and fried in batter. The story behind the sticky glutinous rice cake is one of human’s cunning. This sticky sweet snack is believed to be an offering to the Kitchen God, so that he can't badmouth the human family in front of the Jade Emperor as his mouth will be stuck with the sticky cake.

Then there are the mandarin oranges that are considered traditional symbols of abundance and good fortune.

When we waddle away after a good meal with family and friends, I believe there is a great release of endorphins. It could be because the meal was gastronomically satisfying or because of the company that we were with.  Or better still, it could be a combination of both. Scientists have named it ingestion analgesia which is the good feeling after eating.

Finally, Chinese New Year may last for 15 days but the wonderful thing is, it comes around every year. There are 12 zodiac animals in the Chinese tradition and each zodiac animal appears once every 12 years., 2015 being the year of the goat.

           

THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY NEW STRAITS TIMES 22/2/2015 :
http://digital.nstp.com.my/nst/books/150222nstnews/index.html#/18/