THE REUNION DINNER

The countdown to the Lunar New Year has begun. This year there are so many excellent videos to watch to get you in the mood for the festivities. Pity that most of the better ones are actually commercials. So to share them is to help promote their brand. You can view some of them on Seniorsaloud Facebook page.

Here's one short 15 minute video clip written and directed by Anthony Chen, who recently won the Golden Horse Best New Director award for his debut full-length feature movie 'Ilo Ilo'. That's Taiwan's equivalent of the Oscars.



Footnote:

For readers unfamiliar with the reunion dinner, it is a tradition for families celebrating the Lunar New Year to gather for this dinner on the eve of the first day of the new year. Adult children will return to the ancestral home to partake of the feast laid out on the dining table. Each dish is selected for the auspicious name that signifies prosperity, good health or longevity.

Yee sang or raw fish (usually salmon slices) salad is a must. Everyone gets to mix and toss the ingredients while saying aloud auspicious wishes for the new year. The higher you toss, the higher your chances of having your wishes come true, never mind the mess that's left on the table!

Family photos of children in their Chinese New Year finery are a good reminder of how fast the years have gone by. Here are a couple from my family album.

Reiya and Max with their mom, Chinese New Year 2009

The four cousins, Reiya and Max with Hana and Allie and their grandma, CNY 2013. How fast the children have grown!

From the family album 2010: my mom and all her red CNY must-haves

More family photos to come as we celebrate Chinese New Year 2014, the Year of the Horse, on 31 January.

Here's a video of how one Chinese Malaysian family celebrates Chinese New Year, with the matriarch of the family, Gina Liu, sharing her recipe for Nyonya curry chicken, a traditional dish for her family's reunion dinner.

USHERING IN A YEAR OF UNCERTAINTY

The Ox has started its year of reign, although many are wishing it was the bull instead reigning in the stock markets. There's the customary lighting up of firecrackers to drive away evil spirits and bad luck. Will it be a year of boom and bloom, or doom and gloom? The jury still seems to be out on this one. Whatever the verdict, it is difficult to get into the celebratory mood this year as thousands of Malaysians have lost their jobs, with the number expected to rise further after the festival.

God of Prosperity giving out red packets (ang pows) of money .

A week before the Chinese New Year (CNY), I had no problem changing old notes for new ones at the bank. And there were stacks of ang-pow packets for the taking. During the same period last year, banks had already run out of new notes and red packets.

I was in Chinatown a few days before the Lunar New Year. The usual pre-festival crowds were missing. Only a few stalls did brisk business selling CNY decorations and foodstuff.

Chinatown minus the Chinese New Year festive cheer.

Many families opted for reunion dinners at home. At the restaurant where we had our family CNY dinner, only half the tables were occupied. Many companies are not giving their staff bonuses. With less money to celebrate, it is not surprising that people are spending less on their CNY shopping. And what about ang-pows (red packets containing money)? Fewer are given out, and fewer received. From what I have heard, the amount too has shrunk drastically.

On the bright side, prices of some products and services have gone down as supply exceeds demand. It’s easier to negotiate with landlords for lower rentals, or with car dealers for hefty discounts. Increasing prices during this period would be suicidal for most businesses. Hypermarkets, food courts and budget airlines are among the few businesses that will see profits.


It is important to maintain optimism. While the economic crisis may not affect us seniors as much as it may affect our adult children and grandchildren, it is prudent for us to tighten our belts a notch or two, and avoid dipping unnecessarily into our retirement savings and pension funds.


For the Chinese during this CNY festive season that lasts till February 9, there should be no letting up in observing traditions, especially those that bring good luck and prosperity. So immerse yourself in the colour red which symbolizes good fortune. Eat food that have auspicious names, toss yee sang (raw fish salad) to increase your chances of making money, and pray that the God of Prosperity will smile on you this year!

Surround yourself with all things red and auspicious.

Tossing yee sang for prosperity in the coming year.

Here’s wishing all my blog visitors a Happy and Prosperous New Year. We certainly need it.

Me and my grandchildren, Reiya, 3, and Max, 8. We wish you "Gong Xi Fa Cai".

THE GOLDEN GIRLS FROM THE CLASS OF 1964

Last Friday, 5 September, I was in Batu Pahat to attend an informal reunion dinner. There were 11 of us golden girls from the Class of 1964 of Temenggong Ibrahim Girls School, Batu Pahat.

Some of us had not met for 44 years! Mother Time has certainly been kind to us. Had we bumped into each other on the street, we would still be able to recognize each other. There was Lily Leong from Sydney, Sin Foong and Kim Wey from Johor Baru, Yan Joo from Muar, Soo Watt and I from Kuala Lumpur, Soon Phin, Ai Leen, Lian Hoe and Shin Onn from Batu Pahat, and Lena who has just moved back to BP after spending the last 38 years in Singapore, including seven years working as Assistant Director of Publishing and Research at the Singapore National Library. Most of us have recently retired, and are looking forward to enjoying our much-deserved freedom from the pressures of work.

Lena offered us the hospitality of her newly-renovated house. Just to make sure sleeping arrangements were adequate, Kim Wey brought two mattresses all the way from JB. This certainly gave a whole new meaning to camping!

It didn't take long for us to get re-acquainted. Mothers and grandmothers alike were soon reduced to giggling schoolgirls, as we shared fond memories of our schooldays. We pored over Lena’s collection of black-and-white photos of yesteryears. There were moments of sadness when we found out that a few of our former classmates and teachers had passed on. Some of us admitted that we had taken to reading obituaries of late. How depressing!

We had so much news and stories to exchange that we didn't even have time to bathe before dinner. Not that any of us minded. The cheongsam I had packed remained in my overnight bag. We all went for dinner dressed as we were in our crumpled clothes. To my delight, we fitted right in with the ambience and the patrons at the restaurant!


Dinner was a boisterous affair, and all we drank was Chinese tea, honest! We also had a good laugh when the bill came. Our steamboat dinner for 11 of us in a VIP room with karaoke, came to less than RM150! If we had not ordered prawns and fish, the total would have been even less. At such prices, I’m sorely tempted to retire in Batu Pahat. Let’s hope prices remain that way in small towns. Incidentally, the bus fare from KL to BP cost me only RM15.80!



Despite feeling stuffed from dinner, we could not resist the lure of dessert at our favourite riverside food stalls. We had ice kacang, fried carrot cake, fried taufoo, and would have ordered fried squid, fried oysters, popiah, and rojak, but there was simply no more room in our stomachs.

We ended the day back at Lena’s house. It was past 11pm, but no one was ready for bed yet, or a shower! We had another session of sharing before I had to leave for my sister’s place.


These quotes from the ladies best sum up how we felt about the reunion:

(From Sin Foong): Thank you all for attending the little reunion - let's hope the numbers will grow from here on ... Shin Onn, for liaising, organizing the dinner, brunch treat, ferrying us around and watching over us, Lena, for accommodating us at your place - this beats even the suite at Katerina Hotel! Cheers! Here's to more get-togethers.

(From Yan Joo): Thank you to the JB group for the mangoes, Lena for the bed, the bedtime story books, for putting me up in the lovely house and not forgetting making me tea.. mmm... not bad getting the Asst. Director of Publishing and Research at the Singapore National Library to make me tea and to cut the mangoes...Shin Onn for the coordination and the booking of the VVIP room..and the brunch. Thank you, S Foong, for being always the driving force behind all the gatherings and the lovely emails. It was good for the soul to meet all of you. The next meeting Lily should give a talk on “How senior citizens should behave/not behave in public" using us as examples. Thank you all for being there and making this a gathering to remember.

(From Lena): It was my pleasure. I've been writing to my ex-colleagues to make them jealous of the great time we had. Let’s do it again!

(From me): Yeah, let’s not wait another 44 years for the next reunion. I might not be able to make it then!