Will Our Traditions Survive?

Will our traditions survive, given that many young people have moved away from home, often to settle in other lands?

The Chinese New Year has been celebrated through generations and each generation has handed down traditions that are practiced before and during each New Year.

Traditionally the Lunar New Year begins with the celebration of the Winter Solstice where colorful glutinous rice balls are eaten. This event marks the beginning of the Lunar year and a person is deemed a year older after this day. You may have celebrated your 30th birthday a week ago but according to the Chinese, you are already 31. Many folks do not mark this day anymore as they deem it too much of a hassle, making these rice balls and cooking them in gingery syrup.

Another practice is the spring cleaning, where the house is meticulously cleaned, in the belief that the old and bad are cleaned out of the house and the spruced-up home is ready to welcome in the auspicious new year which hopefully will bring along with it better fortune and prosperity.

The eve of the Lunar New Year is the most important for the Reunion Dinner is held on this day. Family members from far and wide, head home to partake of the dinner. Sons bring home their wives and children to celebrate with their parents. Married daughters will have to celebrate with their husbands’ families. These days, people tend to have their reunion dinners in restaurants as it is more convenient and chefs can cook up delicious treats which housewives will find impossible to create. However if they adjourn their separate ways right after dinner, the opportunity for bonding among relatives is lost.

Although this reunion dinner is mandatory, there is the growing trend of going away for the New Year period instead of celebrating with loved ones and siblings at home. The nuclear family unit celebrates by itself rather than with the extended family. I feel that this is not a good development as family relationships will become the casualty.

An important tradition that is still practiced by most is the taboo that is associated with the New Year. One must not sweep the house on the First Day of the Chinese New Year as it means sweeping away all your luck for the year. Children are warned not to cry or fight and adults know not to utter vulgarities.

Giving of red packets to children and the singles by those who are married is part of the celebrations. Receiving these ang pows ( red packets) are much looked forward to by the children.

However, when families go away on holiday, the giving of ang pows is limited. Some people go away because they do not want to have open houses where relatives and friends will come to visit and they are expected to provide refreshments for their guests as well as ang paos for the children. This can come up to a substantial amount and it is also considered a hassle as there will be cleaning to do after the guests have departed.

Those who have migrated to other countries will not have the Chinese New Year as a holiday so more likely than not, it will simply pass as another day of work at the office.

Traditions will not be followed and it will be a matter of time before they are forgotten and their children will have lost a great part of the culture they sprang from. To me, it is a great loss for traditions are an integral part of our culture.

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