Lunar New Year musings

Today is the 3rd day of the Lunar New Year and I am glad it's a public holiday for it gives me time to relax a little and do some work that is pressing.

Just over the weekend, I was talking to my cousin A. and we were both feeling the pre-New year pressures - all the rushing around to prepare for it can be quite crazy and extremely tiring. He was wondering why we did all this and I said we did it for our parents. I've been reflecting a little more on what I said and it goes beyond just honouring our parents. It's an acknowledgment of our heritage and a validation of who we are as individuals living within our families.

So while I hate how tired and stressed I get over the cooking and the springcleaning, it conjures up memories especially of my paternal grandmother who would serve up all the traditional dishes during the CNY celebration. I am also reminded of past meals when we sat down together as a family (all three generations) to eat the reunion dinner cooked so deliciously by her, and in latter years by my father. Buying new clothes and slippers, food shopping for delicacies that appear only during this period, arranging fresh flowers around the house, preparing the mandarin oranges and goodies in anticipation of relatives and friends who visit during the New Year; all this and the little quirks like not sweeping the floor and cutting one's hair on the first day are part and parcel of my make-up as a second generation Cantonese Chinese in Singapore.

As I prepared the braised mushrooms and the great pot of soup, I did it in honour of my father who was a fantastic cook and enjoyed watching others experience his culinary concoctions. And I hope that his hospitality was well translated through my efforts, although I can just hear him saying the mushrooms were not tasty enough and the soup lacked quite a few ingredients. "Less sodium, Dad, is good for health... "

Traditions help perpetuate the sense of continuity in our lives and I have come to appreciate those that mark new beginnings, celebrate life and honour the past.

And I give thanks to the One who placed me in this family.