Of Mice, Nien and Fifteen Days of Fun

Welcome to a new cycle in the stellar events of the Lunar calendar. As we enter the Year of the Mouse,we reflect on the agility and prudence of this clever animal who prepares for the future and is quick-witted to ensure its prosperity. Its size may not herald its position as the first animal, out of the twelve, in the line-up for the Lunar Zodiac, but its personality and attitude makes it a sure winner.

In China, we celebrate what is also known as the Spring Festival. In various immigrant communities from Toronto to Copenhagen to Melbourne, people of Chinese origin continue to practise customs from the motherland - some of which may have been forgotten in China itself. All these celebrations are dominated by the five thousand year old legend of the arrival of the Nien, a mythical creature which used to lurk in the north-west of China and which had reputedly threatened the lives and security of the common folk. Once the Nien had been vanquished by fire crackers and sheer numbers of the population, a potentially negative thing has been transformed for the better and this event is commemorated as the Lunar New Year.

Traditionally this festival is enjoyed over fifteen consecutive days. In my home island of Penang, families usher out the old Year and welcome in the new with precise and intricate requirements in food, timing and preparations. Vistts to temples are made at carefully selected auspicious times. Ancestral tablets in homes are honoured with table settings of the favourite food of past ancestors. Everyone makes a point to be decked out in new wardrobes. Numbers and names of dishes that evoke good luck and prosperity when pronounced are well sought after. The giving and receiving of red packets is vital, as symbolic of blessings being passed from one generation to another, but also practical in that they contain actual money. Certain cakes and biscuits, with names like love letters and lovingly made only once a year, are truly appreciated. It is a time for reunion, rejoicing and reconciliation. Interesting observations are that:

- all cleaning is to be completed by New Year's Eve, and no broom or vacuum cleaner may be sighted during the first day of the New Year.
- all financial accounting, especially payables, have to be resolved before the old year goes out.
- what you personally do on the very first day of the New Year reflects on the pattern for the rest of the year.
- the third day is a no-no for visiting friends and relatives and is deemed a recovery day.
- the seventh day is deemed the common birthday of all mankind, perhaps an excuse for another round of wholesome banquets, especially involving bits of raw fish salad.
- the eighth day is the honoured birthday of the Emperor of Heaven, and Fujian communities celebrate this as the biggest day of their cultural calendar.
- the fifteenth night is celebrated with lanterns in Hong Kong, but amongst the Straits Chinese community in Malaysia, this occasion is associated more with romance, especially with the assured full moon beaming in the evening sky, and the serving of a delicious vegetable and fruit-laden coconut milk creamy dessert called the pungat.

In any solar calendar year, the first day of the Lunar New Year can fall on any day between the 19th of January and the 19th of February. The reunion dinner on its eve is of paramount importance - hence the mass movement of commuters all over China and between cities with sizable Chinese populations around the world in the week leading up to this dinner.