CNY 8th Day Hokkien Festival

I’ve clarified with the older folks at the 8^th day of CNY festival regarding the story of why the Hokkien people have a special prayer. It seems like the Hokkiens were being persecuted in China but no one seems to be able to tell me by whom. But anyway they ran away and hid in the forest where there are a lot of sugarcanes. So that’s what they ate, drank and survived on until they were able to defeat the enemy and come out of the forest on the 8^th day of CNY.

Thus on the 8^th day of CNY, Hokkiens will pray to Theen Kong which is one of the Chinese Gods and offer prayers, food and sugar cane. And if one can afford it, there’s usually a whole roasted pig too.

One other surprising thing I found out is that the overseas Chinese (ie those who have immigrated overseas about 3 generations ago like the Malaysian Chinese) uphold the Chinese traditions more than the Chinese in China. This is because many Chinese traditions and festivals were abolished during the time where Communism was at the most extreme as it was thought off to be a waste of time and money. The people should be working hard and giving all their resources to the government instead. And due to that, the Chinese in China who do know about traditions have passed on and the younger generations do not know about it at all.

So in some way, being as banana as I am, I may be more Chinese than mainland Chinese!

Here are some pics from the ceremony last night.

I learnt about the festival and being Chinese. And anything with fire and roasted pork is bound to be a good event!

Happy Belated Birthday, Happy Valentines Day and Happy Hokkien Chinese New Year

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

And Happy Belated Birthday too! Yesterday was Yan Yat (Peole’s Day) meaning it’s everyone’s birthday. And since this is a Chinese belief, does it only apply to all the Chinese people in the world?

Most people have birthdays according to the Gregorian calendar. However, once Yan Yat comes along, an extra day gets added to that. This means I was 31 years old as of 1^st Feb but as of yesterday, I’m 32 years old. I don’t understand the concept but then again I don’t understand a lot of things Chinese.

I’m so not Chinese. I’m a typical banana but I have no issues with it. I was brought up speaking English at home. I even spoke English to my grand mother and relatives of that generation. English is the most important language for me in the world I live in, in terns of the business world as well as my social circle. I know enough Mandarin and Cantonese to order food, ask for directions as well as to tell the masseuse when to use more strength or when to ease off. So that level of Chinese language comprehension is sufficient for me.

However, I am now marrying into a family which is a bit more traditional than what I’m used to. While everyone understands English perfectly well, it’s quite normal for them to sit though and entire meal conversing in Cantonese. I may understand most of what they are talking about but engaging in conversation in Cantonese is tough for me. I’ll have to think of what I want to say, in English, naturally, then translate it to Cantonese in my head before speaking out the words. So by the time I do that, they have moved on to another topic of conversation. So I mainly sit there and smile or ask Paul what they mean by a certain phrase.

But I am trying to be more Chinese in order to understand the in-laws and their side of the family more. In fact, when I was at Borders yesterday, I picked up 3 different books about the origins of Chinese Culture and the meanings of Chinese dishes.

They are written in English and even have comics of the olden Chinese people to help narrate the story and get the Chinese morals across to the non-Chinese people aka Caucasians and bananas like me who live in a western world but would like to know more about Chinese history and culture.

I’ve probably learnt more about the Chinese culture in the last few months than in the last few years since Paul and I announced our engagement and I’ve gotten more involved in Paul’s family and extended family too.

Like I never knew there was such a thing like Yan Yat. While I knew that my Chinese age is one year older than my English age, I didn’t know that the additional year gets added on during Yan Yat.

And while I knew that the Hokkien people celebrate Chinese New Year today (the 8^th day of Chinese New Year), I’ve never experienced it for myself. But I’ll get to today because Paul’s mother’s sister’s husband is Hokkien and they do the full ceremony every 8^th day of CNY. Paul's family and extended family are quite involved in each other's lives as are most Chinese families. It will probably be an eye opener for me but more than anything else, I’m there for the whole roasted pig which is a must at this ceremony.

And it’s also Valentines Day. And as western as I am, I no longer celebrate V Day. I used to when I was much younger and feel a need to comply and do the V Day thing. But as I get older, I don’t need it anymore. Paying triple the price for flowers and a meal makes me or my partner just plan stupid and gullible. For the extra money spent, we can have 2 additional meals or go to a much nicer restaurant at any other day.

So Happy Belated Birthday, Happy Valentines Day and Happy Hokkien Chinese New Year everyone!

The Beautiful Traffic-Free KL Roads During CNY

I love KL during long festive seasons. This was how beautiful the roads were on the first 3 days of the Chinese New Year.

And this is Ikea.

And this is Ikea at its norm.

I love KL during long festive seasons.

Pig vs Rat

The Eve of Chinese New Year Eve is upon us.

Many of us can’t wait for the Year of the Rat to end because there’s been a lot of deaths and accidents in the past few weeks. It almost feels like the Pig doesn’t want to relinquish power to the Rat and is causing as much impact as he possibly can in the last few days of his reign.

On a lighter note, I’m on a mission to collect ang paus this few days because this is the LAST year I’m going to be able to do so!

Well, I’ve been collecting ang paus for the last 31 years. Not a bad run I guess. Plus the older you get, the less money you get anyway. But it still beats giving away ang paus!

Saatchi is closed from tomorrow onwards till the weekend! So lotsa ang paus, food, yee sang and mandarin oranges are in store for me while I go visiting especially on Paul’s side as we need to ‘announce’ our engagement to everyone.

Happy Chinese New Year! Gong Xi Fa Cai! May the year of the rat bring you good luck, good fortune, good health, good wealth and abundance of prosperity!

My stance on consuming shark's fin

I’m so sick of Chinese food. It’s only the 11^th day of CNY and I‘ve had enough of yee sang, shark’s fin, abalone and the usual rich Chinese fare. Thank goodness the last CNY lunch with the client ended yesterday. There’s another CNY dinner with a supplier this Fri. It’s gonna be in a Jap restaurant tho. A bit odd but I welcome the change.

I’ve not eaten shark’s fin in the last 3 years. Mine are due to ethical reasons. The fins are cut off and the sharks are thrown back into the sea, left to fend for themselves when they can’t swim. That’s utterly cruel.

However, after thinking about it, the shark’s fins which are served in Chinese restaurants have probably been killed for dried and stored for a couple of years. So if the soup is prepared and served to me and if I don’t eat it, it will only be thrown away. So the shark would have died in vain. Poor shark.

So my new stance is that I would eat it if it was served to me during a wedding dinner or a banquet. But I will not willingly order it.

So please note that there will be no shark’s fin soup during my wedding dinner.

Come to think of it, there’s not even going to be a Chinese dinner.

Steak and Moet sounds better than shark’s fin, doesn’t it?