Hello, Year of the Rabbit

It is truly amazing how fast time flies. Mum kept asking me this morning whether it is really the first day of yet another new year! To her, it seems like we had just celebrated the new year a few months ago!

Whatever it is, I’m glad all the preparations are over. Funny how the approach of a new year galvanizes us into action. We turn out cupboards and drawers and throw away old, unusable things which we have kept for years and wouldn’t think of getting rid of until now! It often puzzles me why we could not have done this “spring cleaning” earlier during the year instead of waiting until the very last minute!

Needless to say, every year also sees the same frantic rush to the market to get “Ti Kueh”, "Huat Kueh", oranges, bottle gourds and a host of other items for our altar. The tradition of “Tek Nee” is still being observed in many homes in Penang, hence the crowds at the markets. Even at escalated prices, people are still buying like mad!

Setting up the altar is a task that is quite time consuming. As is customary, the items for prayer have to be decorated with red paper. However, with the advent of self-adhesive paper decorations, our job has become a lot easier.

Decorating the bananas is the most tedious task of all and Mum always gives yours truly this job every year! Well, with the help of my good old paper puncher which I used to punch the small circles you see on the bananas, I was able to complete the task in about 15 minutes!

One also has to treat all items gently as one broken stem or bruise means another tedious drive down to the market to get a replacement!

On the morning before new year’s eve, everything was ready and we placed all items carefully on the altar. A job well done, if I may say so!!

After what I call this “last hurdle”, we’re scot free and on new year’s eve, we had our usual reunion dinner at a popular nonya restaurant.

Sis suggested we started with “Loh Sang” for good luck. Every Malaysian knows about the "tossing" of the yee sang, a Chinese New Year dish comprising slices of raw fish, condiments and a variety of shredded vegetables. Tossing yee sang is believed to stir up good fortune and bring good luck. Our Cambodian maid also joined in the stirring and tossing, something she has never seen or done before! This dish also happens to be a favourite with brother-in-law and we had it “tah powed” back!

We then settled down to a number of Nonya dishes, our favourites being the “Hong Bak” and “Joo Hoo Char”. Dessert was especially yummy – sago cooked in santan with small pieces of sweet potato. It came to us nice and warm but unfortunately most of us could not finish it as we had already eaten our fill.

Our reunion dinner is followed by prayers to "Ti Kong" at midnight for a happy and prosperous new year. Mum usually buys a huge joss stick which lasts 12 hours – it’s as tall as she is and you can see her struggling with it in the picture.

The midnight prayers ensure a smooth and blessed transition from the old to the new year! We also let off a small string of crackers and then it’s off to bed. We were supposed to get up at 6 a.m. the next day to usher in the new year with prayers but we slept right through until 9! Oh well, we will have to do better next year!

Incidentally, there are no “rabbits” in our immediate family. There are two “rats”, two “monkeys”, one “pig”, one “tiger”, one “ox” and one ”dog”! Not a bad mixture of animals!

Let’s all look forward to a year of peace, good health and prosperity and oh yes, have a great celebration!