at my age, chinese new year is not something i look forward to... all the housecleaning, all the fuss over that one single day of the year. very energy sapping. and i personally think the whole spirit of chinese new year has been diluted over the years. nowadays it is so bloody commercial, even all the cookies and decorations are sold in bulk everywhere! and things are so expensive too. it's no wonder why so many people prefer to keep things simple and just get away for a short holiday.
as a kid, chinese new year used to be a simple family affair where we would visit relatives and close friends, catch up with each other as well as to reflect on our past year. the making of cookies, kueh kueh, decor and so on used to be a very social affair where family members would come together to make. and the whole process itself would be so warm. and the value of it all lie in the process of preparing for the celebration as a family. i clearly remember how we would gather around the charcoal to roll freshly made love letters, or how we would gather to fill the batter base with cooked sweetened pineapple to make pineapple tarts.
somehow, all these have disappeared and in it's place, everything has become commercialised. it's all in the `instant' culture - instant cookies, instant decor, instant everything! all these, to my view are at the expense of the true spirit of togetherness and bonding...
anyway, this is what things are today. the day will still come. and i will still need to do the necessary preparations and cooking - on my own...
as a kid, chinese new year used to be a simple family affair where we would visit relatives and close friends, catch up with each other as well as to reflect on our past year. the making of cookies, kueh kueh, decor and so on used to be a very social affair where family members would come together to make. and the whole process itself would be so warm. and the value of it all lie in the process of preparing for the celebration as a family. i clearly remember how we would gather around the charcoal to roll freshly made love letters, or how we would gather to fill the batter base with cooked sweetened pineapple to make pineapple tarts.
somehow, all these have disappeared and in it's place, everything has become commercialised. it's all in the `instant' culture - instant cookies, instant decor, instant everything! all these, to my view are at the expense of the true spirit of togetherness and bonding...
anyway, this is what things are today. the day will still come. and i will still need to do the necessary preparations and cooking - on my own...
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