On Friday, Chinese will be busy celebrating “Chap Goh Mei”. “Chap Goh Mei’” means the 15th night of Chinese New Year in Hokkien and marks the end of the Chinese New Year celebration. For me, time has truly flown! Chinese all over the world, including yours truly, welcomed the f i rst day of the Chinese New Year on February 16. On February 15, we had big reunion feasts with our families. Today is the 11th day of the festival. It seems that I had the reunion dinner with my family only yesterday. The Chinese New Year has been a quiet one for me: I have spent most of the days at home relaxing and watching dramas online. In the office, the Chinese New Year is generally a time for the Chinese staff to take a break from work. So, besides me, a few of my Chinese friends have also been relaxing at home. I must thank my colleagues of other races for bravely holding the fort in our absence. Likewise, we will be bravely holding the fort for them during Hari Raya Aidilfitri and the Gawai Dayak Festival. Unity and tolerance exist in Malaysia and in our office.
I just returned to work a few days ago. Relaxing at home, I lost touch with time and in fact, returned to work a day earlier, oblivious that it was my assigned day off. Needless to say, I happily went home to relax again after I realised my mistake.. Because I have been away, I have not been following the Chinese New Year speeches by Ministers and local dignitaries. But I am impressed by a speech by the vice chairman of the Tung Hua Schools Board of Management, Dr Michael Wong, dur ing the SMK Tung Hua’s Chinese New Year gathering in Sibu yesterday.
I personally thought he did a fantastic job of explaining the significance of the Chinese New Year to Chinese all over the world. For instance, he pointed out that more than one fifth of the world’s poulation celebrated the Chinese New Year and that it was the biggest festival for the Chinese.
The festival was also celebrated by Chinese not only in China but also by millions of overseas Chinese and people of Chinese descent in many countries. He also reminded me of my father’s migration from Hainan, China less than a century ago when he said that in countries with seasons, the Chinese New Year also signified the coming of the spring festival and marked the end of the coldest days.
Like me, many Malaysian Chinese are descendants of those who arrived in the country between the early 19th century and the mid-20th century. China has various seasons and winter can be very cold in certain parts of the country. My late father must have experienced very cold days in his young days. In Sarawak, Malaysia, the coldest days during the rainy season are nothing compared to the coldest days in winter in China.
“Our ancestors in the past valued the Chinese New Year as a new beginning and fresh start for planting and harvest,” added Wong in his speech.
Personally, I also regard the Chinese New Year as a new beginning and fresh start for setting new goals and resolutions. In his speech, Wong added that the Chinese New Year celebration was characterised by fireworks, lion dances, giving of “angpow” (red packets), nice snacks and food stuf fs with meaningful names and most of all, open house for visitors including relatives, friends and tourists of all races. These, he s t res sed, were traditions of good values that Chinese should preserve and propagate. Yes, sir, I am trying hard to preserve some of these traditions. Because the Chinese New Year festival only ends after the “Chap Goh Mei”, I still have stocks of the nice snacks and food stuffs at home.
Wong also took the trouble to explain that this year was the zodiac year of the Earth Dog, adding that dogs were loved and valued by humans for their honesty and loyalty. He went to say that people born in the Year of the Dog were regarded as full of justice, good manner and rarely broke rules and tended to live harmoniously with their families.
His comments about dogs and people born in the Year of the Dog made me feel good because I am the proud owner of two lovely dogs and have many friends who are born in the Year of the Dog. I commend Wong for his lovely speech which was relevant to the Chinese New Year celebration and the Year of the Dog.
Thanks to him, I am sure many Chinese and non Chinese who attended the SMK Tung Hua’s Chinese New Year gathering yesterday went home with a better understanding of the celebration, the Year of the Dog and the Chinese culture.
