Hang the Red Lantern
Friday, February 11, 2005Toong toong toong chang! Toong toong toong Chang!
Any Chinese or Malaysian for that matter will know what the line above means. The kind of music beat we hear in every mall, every radio station, every restaurant at this time of the year. Even Narrrling the dutch blondie would recognize it. That’s right. It’s Chinese New Year!
Myself, being a 100% pure ‘thoroughbred’ Malaysian Chinese, grew up taking for granted, the full Chinese New Year package. Heavy spring cleaning before CNY, though the last few years we were smart enough to hire day maids. Then decorating our home with red packets, red lanterns, red firework wannabes and the sorts to frighten away the imaginary monster that was suppose to come ravage our homes on the first day of CNY. On CNY, my dad would cook at least 10 dishes every meal and my aunts and uncles from far and yonder would gather at my family’s house where we have great feasts and laughs.
But this year, CNY is different. My parents have gone visiting to the land down under. What’s left at home are 3 kids in a sorry CNY state. Me, Narrrling and my elder brother. (Yes, thanks for the concern. We finally managed to fix his pc after a week).
I mean, my brother and I are not hard workers especially when it comes to cleaning a big house with many rooms. We’ve long grown to appreciate and even worship our day maid who comes in twice a week to turn every room spick and span looking like a hotel room after she leaves. Well, a series of unfortunate events indeed. My maid has decided to take after my parents and fly off for a pro-longed holiday in Bali. Then the washing machine went crazy and decided to shrink every pants and shirt we have before going on strike. My attempt in cooking a decent meal ended with burning away half the stove. Some rat decided to promote himself into the CNY monster and invaded my home.
On reunion night, a very nice aunt charitably took in 3 lost kids. So my elder brother, Narrrling and myself gleefully turned up at her doorsteps on CNY eve, grateful to have some normal home cooked food at last!! Although Narrrling has mastered the taste for most Chinese food, he was not ready for dinner that night. Pork intestine soup. Sea cucumber in dark sauce. Sweet dessert with Pak Gor and Red beans. So that night, something strange happened to me. Everytime I thought I finished my bowl of soup, it was full again after a couple of seconds. I now realize it must have been Narrrling and his invisible Ninja soup swap moves.
After dinner, we sat around the living room and talked. As most of my relatives were purely Chinese speaking, Narrrling was then subjected to killing his boredom with watching television, which ofcourse, is tuned to ‘Wah Lai Toi’, the local Chinese station. Then my 89 year old grandmother came around distributing ang pows, and coming upon Narrrling, decided to call him Ah Gou. Narrrling’s first Chinese name. My cousin looked at me sympathetically and said, “Yeah, she calls my boyfriend(who’s called Michael), Ah Leong”….
On the first day of Chinese New Year, again, the 3 lost kids drove around early in the morning looking for some good CNY food. Finding that all the shops are closed, we ended up at a ‘mamak’, having Indian food. That night, since neither me nor my brother can cook, we relied on the dutch man to cook our dinner. So he cooked Macaroni and cheese. How 'Chinese' of us.
Without our parents around, our lives are truly different. We spend the first day of CNY eating ‘roti canai’ and Macaroni. Narrrling has to venture to pork intestine soup and, my brother and I have shirts and pants that are at least 1 size smaller. Mom and dad, this one’s for you. Chinese New Year at home is truly different without you.
posted by Miki-C @ 1:09 PM
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