Red, Gold, and Orange All Over

January 26, 2009 — animal zodiac, animal zodiac signs, Chinatown, Chinese idioms, Chinese idoms for lo hei, Chinese New Year, Chinese New Year Singapore, Chinese New Year songs, CNY, CNY Singapore, four word idioms, ingredients for lo hei, lo hei, Mediacorp CNY album, YAM, Year of the Ox, Youth Arise Ministry, yu sheng

Today is the 1st Day of the Chinese New Year (2009 Lunar New Year) and the 2nd consecutive year that I am in Singapore to celebrate it. Well… maybe join those who celebrate it.

It’s the Year of the Ox. Those born during the Year of the Ox are dependable, calm, methodical, patient, hardworking, ambitious, conventional, steady, modest, logical, resolute, tenacious. Oooh, I love those adjectives.

Display at Plaza Singapura

For info, the other 11 animals in the Chinese zodiac are the: rat (2008), tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, dog, pig. Guess which one has “horny” as a negative trait ?!  

I was clueless last year about it so I bought a book about Chinese New Year (which btw I haven’t finished reading yet haha). I stayed home most of the time as the shops were closed. I was also forced to cook which was both fun and scary. 

This year is rather different. Since I get mistaken to be a Chinese occasionally, I thought it would be nice to be one with my Chinese friends and feel “more” excited about CNY.

Chinatown was decorated with mandarin oranges slightly after Christmas

1) I attempted to add more color and bring more prosperity to my home by setting up CNY decorations even if I don’t know what the characters mean. I can still display them until the 15th day of the Chinese New Year.

Christmas tree converted into a Prosperity Tree

2) I bought and listened to Chinese New Year CD’s.

3) I also hosted some friends from my church youth group (Youth Arise Ministry) for a CNY gathering on Saturday night. Potluck. Come in red, yellow, or orange.

With my dear sister

Marlene, Jacq, Daphne

Sea of red

4) Had “lo hei” (this is the tossing of raw fish salad with auspicious four-word Chinese idioms being said prior to tossing). This is probably my 4th or 5th lo hei since I moved to Singapore.

Typical ingredients:

raw fish (ikan parang, salmon, sashimi, tuna; could also use abalone, lobster), carrot, raddish, preserved melon strip, preserved cucumber strip, red sweetened ginger strip, preserved gourd wax strip, mashed peanuts, raw fish sauce, pepper powder, sweetened lime strip, white sour ginger strip, preserved leek strip, preserved brown melon stirp, fried sesame, pok chui biscuits, cinnamon powder, fish roe, lettuce, cabbage, oil and sauce

Auspicious four-word Chinese idoms  (from 8 Days magazine; 22 Jan 2009 issue)

Gong Xi Fa Cai / Wan Shi Ru Yi – “wishing all prosperity, and may all your wishes be fulfilled”

Nian Nian You Yu  / You Yu You Sheng – “wishing you all abundance in the new year”

Da Ji Da Li – “wishing all lots of luck and good fortune”

Hong Yun Dang Tou / Qing Chun Mei Li – “eternal youth and beauty”

Feng Sheng Shui Qi / Bu Bu Gao Sheng – “prosperity and promotion in business”

Jin Yin Man Wu – “gold and silver fill your house”

Pian Di Huang Jin – “floor will be filled with gold”

Yi Ben Wan Li / Cai Yuan Guang Jin – “increase wealth from all directions”

Yummy

Superstitions (from Wikipedia)

Good Luck

• Opening windows and/or doors is considered to bring in the good luck of the new year.
• Switching on the lights for the night is considered good luck to ‘scare away’ ghosts and spirits of misfortune that may compromise the luck and fortune of the new year.
• Sweets are eaten to ensure the consumer a “sweet” year.
• It is important to have the house completely clean from top to bottom before New Year’s Day for good luck in the coming year. (however, as explained below, cleaning the house on or after New Year’s Day is frowned upon)
• Some believe that what happens on the first day of the new year reflects the rest of the year to come. Chinese people will often gamble at the beginning of the year, hoping to get luck and prosperity.
• Wearing a new pair of slippers that is bought before the new year, because it means to step on the people who gossip about you.
• The night before the new year, bathe yourself in pomelo leaves and some say that you will be healthy for the rest of the new year.
• Changing different things in the house such as blankets, clothes, mattress covers etc. is also a well respected tradition in terms of cleaning the house in preparation for the new year.

Bad luck

• Buying a pair of shoes is considered bad luck amongst some Chinese. The character for “shoe” (鞋) is a homophone for the character 諧/谐, which means “rough” in Cantonese; in Mandarin it is also a homophone for the character for “evil” (邪).
• Getting a hair-cut in the first lunar month puts a curse on maternal uncles. Therefore, people get a hair-cut before the New Year’s Eve.
• Washing your hair is also considered to be washing away one’s own luck (although modern hygienic concerns take precedence over this tradition)
• Sweeping the floor is usually forbidden on the first day, as it will sweep away the good fortune and luck for the new year.
• Saying words like “finished” and “gone” is inauspicious on the New Year, so sometimes people would avoid these words by saying “I have completed eating my meal” rather than say “I have finished my meal.”
• Talking about death is inappropriate for the first few days of Chinese New Year, as it is considered inauspicious.
• Buying (or reading) books is bad luck because the character for “book” (書/书) is a homonym to the character for “lose” (輸/输).
• Avoid clothes in black and white, as black is a symbol of bad luck, and white is a traditional Chinese funeral colour.
• Foul language is inappropriate during the Chinese New Year.
• Offering anything in fours, as the number four (四), pronounced sì, can sound like “death” (死), pronounced sĭ, in Chinese. Pronunciations given here are for Mandarin , but the two words are also homophones in Cantonese.
• One should never buy a clock for someone or for oneself because a clock in Chinese tradition means one’s life is limited or “the end,” which is also forbidden.
• Avoid medicine and medicine related activities (at least on the first day) as it will give a bad fortune on one’s health and lessen the luck one can obtain from New Years.

Gong Xi Fa Cai !

Carrying one of the CNY decors at my place - Ox