As an amoi (young girl in Mandarin) living in one of the diverse countries in the world, Malaysia—I am always excited of celebrations whether it’s Eid, or the ones from other ethnics like the upcoming Lunar New Year, that is also known as the Chinese New Year or the Spring Festival. It is in our blood here to respect and celebrate everyone’s culture like our own, or in an easier way—the celebrations are not exclusive to that one particular race only. Everyone is invited to crowd up open houses, wear each other’s traditional clothes and enjoy the fun.
For those of you who have never experienced the life full of celebrations in Malaysia, here are a few hints that you should take up when you see/hear them. In Malaysia, it’s a never-ending prosperity.
- Chinese songs start to play at supermarkets. You will usually hear these songs, usually in Mandarin, right after Christmas as Lunar New Year occurs in the month of late January to early/mid-February, according to the cycle. You will know that it is a festive song when the word ‘Gong Xi‘ is heard followed by shimmers of cymbals and beatings of tang gu, the Chinese drum. I’m sorry to humiliate my parents but I would always push the trolley while dancing to the beat, imagining myself doing the lion dance that may look more like the worm dance for the bypassers, seeing my feet wobbling around. We also have songs for Eid, but it always lingers in my mind, like, why Deepavali doesn’t have any festive songs? Probably Hindi film songs have been the official anthem.
- All clothing stores start to release a collection with everything in red. Red is a symbol of luck and prosperity for the Chinese, that’s why it is widely worn during Lunar New Year. Some creative clothing lines like H&M will release fun, cute collections like the monkey emoji pajamas that they had last year in conjunction with The Year Of The Monkey, and everyone including myself, went bonkers trying to own one. I even went the extra mile, exploring three stores just to own a sweatshirt full of shy monkey emojis on it. I really appreciate people who held their birthday bashes in January or February and use red as the color code, as it is easy for me to find clothes at shopping malls. A red dress with gold details? I’ll run to the cash register!
- Everything has to include the number 8. 38% discounts at Cotton On, 88GB Internet data, RM888 ang pau (a sum of money that is put into a colorful envelope given to kids and unmarried people) and so much more deals that have to end with number 8. Number 8 is a sign of good luck for the Chinese people, so more the 8, the merrier!
- Talks on Chinese culture will put on television and heard on the radio. Like every other culture, Chinese New Year also has its own etiquettes and superstitions. From what I heard on the radio, during Chinese New Year, you are not allowed to sweep your house compound. This is because you will sweep your luck away as well. When eating the feast, you cannot start eating the rice from the middle of the bowl. It resembles the act as if you are feeding the dead. You need to be very careful when celebrating as it also includes respect to the culture so you must ask your fellow Chinese friends or read up on the do’s and don’ts on the Internet. This will definitely save you from any unwanted consequences, seriously.
To wrap up, I’m very proud to call Malaysia and everything in it, my own. Home is where the heart is, and this is my family, regardless their race, culture and religion.
Happy Chinese New Year to everyone celebrating it around the globe, Affinity Magazine wishes you Gong Xi Fa Cai!
Disclaimer : This article is fully written with the writer’s personal knowledge. If any information differs, do contact her by e-mail [email protected] or hit her up on Twitter and Instagram @maleenbalqish.
