Year-end Family Reunion a must

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Teng Song Seng, an elder of the Chinese community in Sabah, expounds his knowledge and experience on how the Lunar New Year Festival should be celebrated as the Year of the Rabbit gets set to replace the Tiger Year.

POPULAR: The CNY night market in Kota Kinabalu and other parts of Sabah and the rest of the country is often crowded by Malaysians from all races. (Left) Mandarin oranges are popular during the CNY season. Despite increase in price this year, most families store boxes of them to ensure there is a sufficient supply during the season.

AFTER days of house cleaning and other preparations for the big festival, it’s time to go out to the night market downtown or in the suburbs to stock up whatever fresh vegetables, fruits or flowers that might be needed during the long Chinese New Year (CNY) holidays ahead.

The Chinese community attaches great importance to the eagerly-awaited Family Reunion, especially the big banquet, on Lunar New Year Eve on Wednesday (Feb 2) when the Year of the Tiger gets ready to make way for the entry of the Rabbit.

One person who understands very well the rich and complex customs and traditions for this festival is Teng Song Cheng, 78, former president of the Chinese Cultural Association in Kota Kinabalu.

He stresses this family reunion “is a must”.

That explains why there is this annual exodus during the fortnight before the New Year when the young and the old make a dash home to celebrate the festival with immediate family members, especially parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters.

Very often, more so in the old days, it is also the tradition to include members of the extended family for this reunion banquet such as uncles, aunties, cousins, nephews and nieces.

“All the young who work away from home return — no matter where you work, you must do so,” Teng told thesundaypost.

Such reunions in the past were always held at home as one big family, with uncles and aunties participating.

He said now, however, most families are small and there is less need for such reunions.

House cleaning

He added that this big family gathering is traditionally preceded by a period of thorough house cleaning and other forms of preparation.

Such painstaking preparations usually begin in earnest from the 24th day of the 12th moon in the Lunar Calendar, starting with the cleaning of the kitchen, then the bedrooms.

“Everything must be new and clean, including the bed sheets, pillow cases, and the cleaning up would go on right up to the 30th, the New Year Eve.

“There is no December 31 in the Lunar Calendar. That’s why Chinese New Year Eve is always referred to as the 30th night,” he said.

“In the past, this house cleaning was done by the womenfolk. That explains why the Chinese character ‘sweep’ is made up of two words — on the left side is the word ‘lady’ while on the other side is the word for ‘broom’.

“From this, we can tell the old tradition of ladies keeping the house clean. All that preparation takes place till the 30th of the 12th moon, the Eve of the New Year, the time when the family reunion takes place.”

Scrolls and couplets

Part of the pre-New Year preparations includes putting up new lanterns and scrolls that carry words appropriate for the occasion.

These scrolls placed across the main entrance of the house may have words like Chai Yuen Kwang Chin, written horizontally, conveying the following meaning – a lot of money comes in.

Then, there are also the couplets — one on each side of the main door, usually written in beautiful calligraphy and normally expressed in five or seven Chinese characters.

At the same time, the word Fu, meaning luck or fortune, is usually displayed prominently on the wall facing the main door of the house.

More often than not, the word is deliberately placed upside down. In Mandarin, the word down sounds like arrive.

So when the word Fu is seen upside down, it reflects that good fortune has arrived or returned to the household.

Tradition of visiting

Teng said according to Chinese tradition, there is no celebration or so-called open house on the first day of New Year, a day when members of the younger generation would pay respect and offer wishes to the elders.

Likewise, it is a day when workers would visit and personally convey good wishes to their employers, superiors or bosses.

“It’s always the lower rank, in the family or in business, who offer wishes to those of higher ranks. Those of the same status have no need to do so.

“However, the tradition is for the man to send his son to deliver a card in person to a friend or business associate who is of similar rank on that day. He does not go out himself on the first day.”

He clarified that sending New Year cards days before the New Year to relatives and friends was not in accordance with Chinese tradition or culture.

According to him, the second day of New Year is not an auspicious day.

In fact, it is considered a dog’s day when there should be no activities outside and all activities should remain at home.

It is only on the third day, he said, that family members would go out and join others in celebrating the arrival of a new year.

Teng considers having ‘open house’ a Malaysian invention or creation, not truly in keeping with Chinese tradition but a convenient way of conducting community celebrations.

Red means happiness

Teng said there appears to be some misconception regarding the colour red that is so prominent during Chinese New Year.

“It has nothing to do with religion or race. It only reflects happiness. Just like the colours black and white conveying different meanings.

“Now we see in Malaysia there are those who use green, which is not a good sign at all for the Chinese because there is an old saying that when a man wears a green hat, it means his wife has committed adultery.”

He said yellow too is never used by the common Chinese folk as it is a colour confined only to the king or royal family, similar to what is adhered to in Malaysia.

Giving of ang pow

He pointed out that in the old days the relationship between workers and their employers was very close, unlike now when some corporate bodies are so huge that the workers do not even know who the boss is.

He said when the relationship was close, the employers knew their workers personally and could see for themselves who was hardworking and loyal.

“The worker who has served well is suitably rewarded and he gets the bonus for the year that he deserves. That worker gets a bigger ang pow than that given to others.

“Formerly, the amount in the ang pow for staff was based on actual performance — each worker rewarded accordingly,” he explained.

He said how ang pow was given to staff before they took their year-end holiday.

To prevent other workers seeing the amount given, the employer would use a piece of paper to wrap the year-end bonus — and bonus being something that relates to happiness, red paper is used, unlike now when nicely printed red envelopes are readily available.

According to Teng, when elders in the family give ang pows to their children or grandchildren, the red packed is meant to protect the young ones from any misfortune in the coming year.

“It is given as a sign to protect the children so that they will have good health, study well, always from the elder to the younger. That’s the meaning when ang pows are given within the family.”

Teng notes this tradition has been maintained till the present time when only unmarried children get the red envelopes.

Once married, they no longer qualify to receive.

“The amount in the ang pow differs. In the case of a family, usually it is based on the closeness of the children. When children are distant relatives, or of friends, then they are likely to get less, perhaps RM5 or RM2.”

Oranges and food

Mandarin oranges are also popular during the CNY festival as long as they are sweet and crimson in colour.

Despite the increase in price for this essential item, families would usually buy boxes of them to ensure there is enough supply for the whole season.

Teng said oranges or kam are a symbol of sweetness, hence it’s very appropriate to wish people sweetness in life in the New Year.

He pointed out that other types of fruit like mangoes, rambutan or apples did not portray this meaning of sweetness.

As for the right type of food to celebrate this festival, there are a few ‘must-have’ dishes.

Topping the list is fish or Yu which, in Mandarin, sounds similar to extra.

So, having Yu each year during the CNY season indicates those partaking of it would have something extra every year.

Other must-haves include fatt choy, a type of black moss that sounds like fortune; mien or noodles, a symbol of longevity, and sweet flour balls soup served as a desert.

Another item, not so common in southern parts of China, but very much so in the northeast regions, is dumplings known as yiaw tze, meaning bring a son to you.

Expansion of the family is always considered good fortune to the Chinese, so the mere thought of bringing a son to you in the New Year is undoubtedly a good wish.

Firecrackers

As for the practice of letting off firecrackers, he said it’s a tradition related to any happy occasion or celebration such as weddings, birthdays and, of course, festivals like the New Year.

“Chinese like to be boisterous in their celebrations. So letting off firecrackers relates well to this inclination of theirs to make a lot of noise and be happy.

“Sometimes, this practice is related to religious beliefs that it would chase away evil spirits.”

He pointed out that the Chinese let off firecrackers during funerals as well. However, white instead of red paper is used for the crackers used at funerals.

Teng, a well-known personality in the local business community, said he and his family not only believe in these Chinese customs and traditions linked to the New Year festival, but also see to it that they are still followed closely.

He and his wife enjoy ballroom dancing and his other pastimes include golf, reading, travelling and he has also joined a classical choir that conducts singing of art songs.

The Tengs have two sons, two daughters, and six grandchildren.

However, only one of his sons, Gary, has remained in Sabah, managing his business in Kota Kinabalu, while the rest of the family live in Hong Kong and England.