SANDAKAN: A 25-year-old Chinese man, Ah Boy woke up at 5am on a Friday. He usually wakes up much later but on that Friday, he had to wake up early to go to the wet market to get all the fresh ingredients for his mother to prepare for Chinese New Year.
However, instead of getting pork, Ah Boy bought lamb.
“My mother loves to cook lamb during Chinese New Year,” he said.
Ah Boy, or real name Azizi Hing Teck Hua, is a Muslim. As a Muslim, Ah Boy and his family celebrate the Chinese New Year without pork dishes and alcohol.
“We celebrate Chinese New Year just like any other Chinese person. We are not different at all. We also need to spend a lot of money to buy ‘nian huo’ (Chinese New Year goods) to celebrate the occasion in which we welcome guests to our home.
“The slight difference is only that we could not eat or serve pork and alcohol, that’s all,” he said.
Ah Boy’s father who used to be a Buddhist, had converted to Islam when he married Ah Boy’s mother. He has friends of mixed races and is fluent in the Cantonese dialect.
He said he celebrates the Chinese New Year with his parents and two sisters together every year. They decorate their house with red decorations and Chinese wordings, not to indicate that they are Buddhist, but to respect the culture and keeping the tradition alive.
Like other Chinese youngsters, Ah Boy’s favourite part of the festive season is also the AngPao.
Every year on Chinese New Year’s eve, Ah Boy would accompany his father to the temple to pay respects to his late grandfather and grandmother.
He said although he would not participate in the ritual, it was important that they were present on the day to show respect to those who had passed away and their beliefs.
“I feel blessed to be of a mixed race as I get to celebrate both Chinese New Year and Hari Raya Aidilfitri. I think I also represent how in Sabah, we can live together in harmony despite different races and backgrounds,” he added.
Like previous years, Ah Boy will attend family gathering dinners and host an open house for his friends as well as going to his friends’ houses for the Chinese New Year.
Meanwhile, Wendy Aaliyah Chong, 32, who had embraced Islam since 2014, was busy preparing red packets for her relatives.
She said although she was now a Muslim, she would not stop the Chinese tradition and would still celebrate the occasion with her family.
“I am lucky to have a supportive husband. Chinese New Year customs and tradition is not a norm for him, but after we got married, my husband was even more excited than I am to celebrate the festivity.
“I also teach my children, aged six, four, and one, the values and meaning behind the celebration. I want them to remember that they are half Chinese, even though they are Muslims. It is important that they get to experience the culture and tradition of their own race,” she said.
Wendy said she had never missed a Chinese New Year’s eve gathering dinner with her family in Kota Kinabalu.
“Your race is your identity. You do not just forget your race just because you embrace a new religion. A festive is a perfect occasion for us to be practising our tradition and customs of our race. I will ensure that my children will continue to practise the tradition and pass it on to their children as well,” she added.