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.

Food and Festivity

As the current Lunar Year of the Boar draws to a close, preparations are being made to welcome the next twelve year cycle in the zodiac. Festivities begin.

It has been ironic that in summer here, I realise that the lore and custom of the Lunar New Year relate to practices which mostly originate in a freezing cold northern hemisphere environment, for this time of the calendar. This came to me while partaking dumplings in a place specialising in north-eastern Chinese food. I had presumed that dishes from northern China are usually plain and unassuming, short of the Beijing duck and the accompanying wraps. Instead, the dozen or so of us eating at this round table could actually feel the kick of some dishes that had an underlying spicy current. Such food heat, even if subtle, was hidden in the gravy and sauces. It would have been perfect for a snow -laden night in Harbin or Tianjin, but here we were eating all these under a heavy air of thirty degrees, coupled with high humidity. The restaurant's air conditioning was so ineffective it did not matter.

Dumplings signify a good omen to start the New Year in northern parts of China.
My group of diners shared another China favourite - pork knuckle, bathed and braised in a tasty marinade. The eggplants served were not as refreshing as that eaten recently at a nearby competitor shop. I was impressed by the lightness of the lightly tossed black seaweed, served with another vegetable, in another dish. Small bits of pork, stir fried in a hot wok, were eaten with a thin wheat based wrap. Squares of flat glass noodles were mixed in a vinegary mix as the entree. The so-called "north-east chicken" looked tempting on another dining table, but when served to us, turned out to be cured smoked chicken, a bit dry to my southern Chinese preferences.

Two weeks ago, I also had the opportunity to join some close friends in Artarmon to savour the Straits Chinese cuisine of my home island. The chicken curry flavours were the outcomes of a confluence of Indian, Malay, Burmese, Thai, Sumatran and Chinese influences. Other dishes on the table reminded me of what a favourite aunt cooked on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Such soul food brought up sentiments to me that dumplings conjure in the heart and eyes of northern Chinese.

Let the festivities commence!

Oppressive, and not just the heat

The summer air was so still, nothing moved. Not a single leaf budged on the trees. Even the ceiling down lights at home exuded a sense of radiating warmth, besides being mere sources of light. Sweat persistently came down my back and there was no breeze to moderate the effects. Cleaning the car in my home garage was overwhelming with the high humidity. Taking a nap in this weather in the middle of the day was akin to baking one's self, but my subconscious continued to do its work.

Even if it was not night, the subconscious for a while went full speed in re-thinking matters and offering symbolic insights into possible solutions. These involved a set of several characters whom I had initially wished I had not met and known. However, life makes me cross paths with these individuals, so that I have an opportunity to learn - and move on. Now I should count myself so lucky. The more each of them provides me their antics, they have only served to reinforce my convictions that:

- their actions only reflect upon themselves, if only they have the sense to look at their inner selves in the mirror;

- I appreciate so much more deeply and in a more determined way the reliability of my true friends, family and myself; and

- what goes around comes around, and that at the end of it all, it does not matter what role you play in a contrived business or work environment, only what role you play where it counts, in the business of life itself.

I threw back oppression to where it belonged, to its source.