Short Stories - Part 1

CNY

Every year I kena CNY Kiasu syndrome. It's not just me, it's the whole family. ' MUST HAVE MORE, MUST BUY MORE, WHAT IF NOT ENOUGH ??GOT THIS AUNTY AND THAT UNCLE COMING, YOUR COUSIN EAT LIKE PIG ONLY, AFTER YOUR MEI MEI NOT ENOUGH TO EAT...YOU SEE THAT AUNTIE ? BUY SO MUCH WO... JUST BUY LA,NEVER MIND, EXPENSIVE SO WHAT ? WHAT IF NOT ENOUGH ? WORSE WO..'

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Sounds so ah beng/jin jang/ chinese cockneyish when you put caps and exaggerate the words right ? But it doesn't sound that way when you're jostling at the market with your mother, carrying cheap orange plastic bags heavy and full with roasted pork, raw fish, fresh broccoli, sweet smelling oranges, and oily chicken feet, trying to avoid being trodded by the army of mad cows,sorry, aunties with their entourage of Indo mee, sorry, Indo maids, and dressed in flimsy flip flops and (God forbid! ) a white sheer mamak T-shirt and no bra

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I'm still not getting into the spirit of CNY, despite undergoing all the mandatory craziness of late night shopping and last minute purchasing. When most of your family members are away/living abroad, and there's oh so few of you, there's really no point in celebrating. What's the point ? No children, no grandparents, no smoochy young couples = no CNY merriness.

There's no one left to eat the plentiful food or quarrel over the TV remote with. We sit around and stare at each other, lost in the peals of laughter from the contestants of the HKee gameshows that's always being played on Astro Wah Lai Toi during CNY. What's there to do - too few people to gamble with ( and besides, we don't gamble or drink, since my grans passed away ) and too few people to show off new red threads to.

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My last CNY here. Despite all this, I'll miss celebrating CNY at home. The preparation's half the fun actually - cooking, cleaning, washing, putting up new things. And family brings in the other 50% - 110% of CNY. Angpow joy is shortlived really.

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I miss my cousins ! I miss my aunts and uncles ! I miss my paternal grandparents ! But most of all, I miss my Ah-Ma..my loving bear, survivor of a Grandma.

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CNY's too overly peaceful this year. Everyone seems to have other plans. Well, I'll be celebrating my next CNY in the States. Hope it won't be as dismal as this. Or maybe I'll skip it altogether. After all, the meaning of CNY is lost without family

Oh I'll miss the memories......

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A PAIR OF HUSBAND AND WIFE WERE EATING THE REUNION DINNER ( on CNY eve ) ALONE. They sat next to us, and ordered 1 large Yee Sang, 2 vege dishes, and 1 plate of chicken. Just two people, eating alone, dressed in their everyday casual wear. A table away, my family chatted and cajoled each other to eat more, scooping food to each other's plates despite the weak protests of various new tight-fitting outfits we were wearing that night. What a contrast. But at least, they had each other. Steph Lee's worst fear ( I have a lot but this is probably one of my Top Five All Time Fears ) is to have to celebrate some major festival/ holiday alone amidst the merriness, joy, and cheer. That would be the biggest test of one's independence.