KUCHING: Chinese New Year is a festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional Chinese calendar.
The festival is usually referred to as the Spring Festival in modern China and is one of several Lunar New Years in Asia.
Unlike our Jan 1 New Year’s eve celebration, the Chinese New Year festival is considered to be the most important 15 days of the year.
There are much to take care of before the Chinese New Year arrives, as the Chinese follow a number of traditions leading up to and during the new year to help usher in good luck and fortune.
Here are some of the guides on how best to prepare for the spring festival, according to my Chinese friends.
Clean the house
With so much to be done, Chinese New Year preparations typically begin a few weeks prior to the celebration.
Traditionally, the house is swept, cleaned, and decorated for optimal feng shui. The spring cleaning done prior to Chinese New Year is usually the most thorough of the entire year. Broken items, dead plants, and all clutter should be thrown out to make room for better things that are sure to come.
Finish all of your cleaning before the holiday arrives. Sweeping the house during Chinese New Year is considered unlucky as you could be sweeping the new, incoming good luck away.
Clean yourself up
Since cutting done during Chinese New Year is considered unlucky, hair and fingernails should be trimmed in advance.
Most families want to look their best for visits with loved ones and photographs, so new clothes or accessories preferably red (yes, it’s a tradition!) are often purchased.
Shopping
With many businesses shut down on the first few days of the holiday, shopping should be done as early as possible. As with every holiday, stores hold special sales and promotions to cash in.
Many people also purchase flowers for the new year since flower blossoms are believed to bring fortune, according to the saying, “blossom flowers bring wealth”. Flowers are also used to freshen up homes, as gifts for hosts, and to help spark romance.
Don’t just blindly purchase flowers based on appearance; all colours and species have symbolic meanings.
Avoid white flowers – they are usually used for funerals, particularly chrysanthemums. Orchids make a great choice, but know that they represent fertility and abundance. Peach and plum blossoms are very positive choices to give to hosts.
Settle old debts
In an act of good karma, old debts of all kinds to friends and family are repaid prior to the Chinese New Year. This is the time to return borrowed items; give your neighbour back that tool you borrowed months earlier. If a friendship has worn thin, reach out to that person. Forgive grudges, and give people who have wronged you in some way a chance to start anew.
Prepare red envelopes (angpow)
Red envelopes containing money (angpow) are given out by married couples during the new year.
It is believed to bring good luck to the receiver. Many Chinese people will queue up at banks for crisp notes to put in their angpow. It is also a tradition for people to wait until the seventh day of the new year before opening their angpow, and it is very impolite to open the angpow in front of the giver.
Light incense
On every new year’s eve, incense is light up to worship the ancestors. Before the new year’s eve feast, the family would hold joss sticks and pray for a better, healthier new year.
Prepare a feast
The dinner on new year’s eve, also known as a reunion dinner, is one of the most important feasts of the year.
Fish and chicken are found on virtually every dinner table because of what they symbolise. In Cantonese, fish sounds like “well off” and chicken sounds like luck. Both the fish and chicken are served whole. The fish should not be picked clean as leftover fish represents a surplus at the end of the year.
Meanwhile, New Sarawak Tribune crew managed to interview some Chinese in town to ask about their preparations.
According to 37-year-old Lim Ai Chia, her preparations for the Lunar New Year are almost complete.
“The house has been cleaned and decorations have been put in place. I have also bought some oranges, pomelos, pineapples, gold cake (kuih bakul), biscuits and cakes.
“The only thing need to be done is to buy cooking ingredients for the new year’s eve dinner,” she explained.
As for the new year’s eve menu, she said her family would usually prepare dishes with fish, chicken, Chinese leek as well as other vegetables.
Lim, who is currently working in Kuala Lumpur together with her elder sister, never missed the opportunity to return to their hometown (Kuching) to celebrate the Chinese New Year with their families every year.
According to Tay, a trader operating at India Street, the most popular item at his booth for this Chinese New Year was the electric lion dance toy.
Sold at RM68 each, approximately four inches tall, is available in two colours – red gold and white gold.
Using two AA batteries to operate, the mini lion dance toy would dance accordingly to the song installed.
