Chinese New Year @ grandmother's place

Mother visited Grandmother in Hongkong off & on. Sometimes she visited alone, but other times she may bring one or two of us (my siblings and I) along.

She brought my brother (Bro#1) & I, on one of such visits made before & through Chinese New Year (CNY). It was therefore very special & etched in my mind.

We arrived in Hongkong a couple of days before CNY.

We stayed the "family home" where my grandmother ruled the extended family. Mother immediately, joined the hustle and bustle in the final touches of the preparations for CNY.

My younger brother and I had great fun, playing with our cousins. Whenever the adults turned their backs, we swooped down on the different types of cookies which came out of the oven continously. Then we scooted off laughing, to share our loot.

Activities climaxed on the Eve of CNY.

Offerings were made to the deities & the ancestors' tablets at the altar, in the day. This was done again in the evening before dinner.

My uncles' wives lit many strands of firecrackers, in front of the house, before joining us at the table for dinner. The table groaned under the weight of the feast on it, as we merrily tucked in.

The sound of our family's fire-crackers, contributed to the day's intermittent but incessant explosive sounds of crackers in the neighbourhood. As we dined, that sound suddenly cresendo into a thundering explosion, reviberating and shaking the grounds as the whole neighbourhood fired their crackers, apparently in unison.

After dinner, my uncles took my cousins, my brother and I out to "han fah tze" (transliteration: "walk flowers market") or to the floral market. We walked on a thick carpet of red, fire-crackers paper all the way from home to the floral market. We (the kids) laughed as we kicked into the carpet of red; sending the pieces of red paper into the air and onto each others hair and clothes. Elder uncle chided us good naturedly, and reminded us to me mindful of the other children who were out on the streets, throwing their lit fire-crackers hap-hazardly.

(Chidren & adults who mishandled fire-crackers caused tragedic accidents, loss of fortune, limbs and lifes. In later years, fire crackers were banned by one country after another)

Our uncles bought a few pots of cockscomb in various hues & a huge bunch of brillantly coloured flowers at the market.

Elder uncle and the delivery man sent the pots/flowers home in a trolley. My younger uncle (Uncle#2) chaperoned us back. Being sleepy & tired by then, we straggled & whinned along the way.

Boy! We were a handful of brats then!

Back home, we hardly had energy to wash and change into our new pyjamas before we crashed into bed.

Next morning, cousin Hoong, (elder uncle's first born/son) who woke up earlier than all of us, shouted "It's New Year! Wake up! Our mothers are ready to offer tea to grandmother."

We jumped out of bed, each scooping a few "ang pow" from under our individual pillow before we headed to the bathroom. We created a rachet, trying to outdo each other with "clacking" our new clogs. 2rd aunt dressed, beautifully in a gorgeous, colourful "qua-ah", intervened and supervised us to wash our faces, brush our teeth and changed into our new clothes. That done, she herded us into the living room which was swathed in an aroma of the fragrance of flowers & sandlewood.

Grandmother sat regally on one of the intricately carved chair. There was a set of such single seaters, triple seaters chairs and tea tables in the living room. All of them had fine, intricate carvings, coloured stones & mother of pearl.

Grandmother spotted an impeccable hairdo, adorned with hairpins of luxuriant green jade, rubies and pearls. She was dressed in a dark coloured "qua-ah" with beautiful peonies and bats on it. On the floor, at grandmother's feet were 2 prettily sewn red cushions with dark red pipings.

Grandmother placed the water pipe that she was smoking with, on the tea table next to her, when my elder uncle and his wife went to her with a cup of tea in hand. Both of them knelt on the cushions, raised their cups up to their eyebrow level before offering the cups of tea to grandmother. They wished her a happy new year and a year that exceeds her best desires/ wishes.


(To be continued)

My grandfather was never found.

My maternal grandfather was a merchant. He traversed from North to South of China (including Hongkong) to trade with the local traders of the different towns. Each trip took a few months to complete; but he would always keep (give and take a couple of days) to his scheduled date to return home. He also scheduled to spend the various festivals at home with the family.

He did not return home as scheduled, after a trip to Hongkong.

Grandmother sent a couple of male relatives to look for him. They returned with a rumour that grandfather was killed by brigands during that fateful trip to Hongkong.

My grandmother, a brave, sprite lady did not believe in the rumour. She wanted proofs and confirmation on what happened.

She decided to go to Hongkong to look for him.

She also decided that when he could be found, she would persuade him to settle down in Hongkong with the family. She felt that she could no longer take the of anxiety over awaiting for his return from his business trips. Travelling during those days was not without danger - storms at sea caused shipwrecks, while relentless spells of rain led to landslides. To top it all, brigands waylay merchants, robbing and killing them mercilessly.

My grandmother sold the family's business (a lychee orchard and a transport service --consisting of few boats that ferry people and goods across a river in a certain part of Guanzhou) and brought her younger sister (my late grandaunt), a bonds maid, my mother, my 2 uncles & my 3 aunts to Hongkong to look for my grandfather.

A clansman who was living in Hongkong, helped my grandmother to buy a home to settle down with the family. He also helped to put up newspaper advertisements to appeal to the public to help look for my grandfather. The same appeal was written on notices which my grandmother & her sister pasted on the walls of the market place and anywhere that had heavy human traffic. The maid and my mother minded her younger siblings and the home.

My grandfather was never found.

Preparations for Chinese New Year

When we were kids, my friends, siblings & I, looked forward to Chinese New Year to come around.

Chinese New Year equals a seemingly endless availability of sweets, aerated water, feasts of good food, new sets of clothes/shoes and "ang pow".

As soon as the celebration of "Tong" (solstice festival), which falls on the 22rd of December, was over, Mother & Choy Cheh (Mother's female slave**) would embark on a long (well over a month) hectic string of activities:-spring-cleaning, re-painting of the house, getting the handy-man to do repairs, preparation of goodies , sewing of new curtains & new clothes.

The altars were cleaned, re-painted and redecorated with "hong" (a long strand of red cotton) & "kam fah" (2 golden, leaf - shaped objects inserted into the "hong" on either side of the altars)

On New Year Eve, both of them woke up earlier than usual. Their flurry of activities included a trip to the market, then the preparation of a big feast to be offered first to the dieties, then to the ancestors tablets, before the family sat down for the lunch.

After lunch was the washing/cleaning & cutting of the ingredients of a vegetarian meal. the meal was to be cooked before midnight. Then came dinner. Afte dinner was the final cleaning & sweeping of the whole house; followed by the hiding of the brooms.

Sweeping during Chinese New Year period was a no, no. It is believed that sweeping the floor or even the sight of a broom would caused the family's good fortune to be swept out of the doors. So, no sweeping for 15 days! (Chinese New Year period stretched over 15 days then, but in line with the current 2 days of official holidays for Chinese New Year, this practice is observed only for 2 days now.)

After dinner, the vegetarian food was cooked. At the auspicious time, in accordance to the Almanac, the food was part of the spread to welcome the Kitchen God back into the family. Apparently, he has left our home for his yearly trip to heaven. The journey was made to see the Heavenly Jade King to submit an annual report on the doings of the family members. Prior to sending him off, Mother had rubbed his mouth with honey, to ensure that he said sweet words about all of us!!

In the small hours of the morning, another auspicious moment occured. That was when the Fortune God travelled along a predestinated direction. Mother would put lay out the offering of vegetarian food, lighted joss sticks, red candles and burned joss paper to pray to him to bless the family with good fortune for the year.

Simultaneously, Choy Cheh helped with offering to the dieties and the ancestors at the altars.

Then they both cleared up before putting "ang pows" under our pillows and exchanged good wishes.

They would catch a couple of hours sleep before waking up welcome the New Year and yet another busy day.