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Amidst the crazy clash of cymbals, the earsplitting machine-gun rattle of fireworks, the pouring smoke of incense and joss-sticks, and the blooming plum blossoms of springtime, families gather to welcome a new year and make themselves forget the failures of the old. They eat, drink, make merry and dress in new clothes that still smell of their packaging. They give money to the young and offerings to the dead. And they say only the most correct things to each other – “Congratulations, and Prosper!”, “Ten Thousand Things Go According to Your Will!”, “May You Possess the Spirit of Dragon and Horse!” and, of course, “Every Year There is Fish!” Hopes and daydreams run wild for all the wonderful things to come in the new year, gradually forgotten as the months go by until the spring of the following year, when it all begins again. [Loo Ching Ling 吕晶琳] |
