lny is over

a few things to note for this new year...

• it rained torrents today. that means the dong zhi belief (if it rains on dong zhi [winter solstice], it won't rain on lunar new year) is not accurate...

• although mum said she is not too particular about chinese new year, she was one helluva kancheong spider as the date drew near. gotta pay respects to ancestor, gotta clean this and that, gotta go temple, gotta pack ang pow, gotta leave the lights on at night la la la...

• there are people arguing whether it should be "lunar new year" or "chinese new year"... damned! what's the issue, it's the same when you know the spirit behind it and celebrate it meaningfully. lunar, or chinese, or for that matter, as some had argued "solar-lunar"... whatever...

• after all the preparations, the day came and went. uneventful. but i supposed the fact that people made the effort to observe the day, superstitious or not, the vast amount of energies put in gave an overall nett-nett positive feel to the day. and that in itself, reaped full of positive benefit to the society.

• i behaved less kancheong this year, i guessed it was the medication. but still, everything that needed to be done were done in the end. i supposed it reflected a lot of "why the need to be kancheong" in the first place.

• my neighbour, after his divorce, had been living with his part-time girlfriend. his kids and ex-wife had moved out 2 years ago. and today, the 2 sons came home. lo and behold, they are all so grown up! the younger one's voice had broken and he sounded like a man now! the elder one, who had gone into water polo, had transformed from a chubby boy into a lean adonis and is very fashionable! such a cutie!

• a colleague's dad passed away on the eve of new year's eve. and he sent out an email telling everyone about it. i wondered if anyone actually made the trip down... then again, apart from the pek kim, it's the thoughts that matters. and although i decided not to head to the wake, i decided to reply his email.

• many gay men i know either run away from the new year celebrations or choose to avoid visiting. for me, i couldn't really be bothered running away. in fact, i find it quite nice to have visits/ visitors coming to my house. afterall, it's not often that we get to meet relatives, especially when i am at the age where family gatherings are largely for funerals. and if asked about weddings, i'll just tell them i'll invite them if and when it happens. and i am not lying.

• someone reflected that these days, lny/ cny has lost its feel altogether, things are all so commercialized, and that it's a dying tradition to celebrate lny/ cny. my take is that the festival in itself has not lost its feel. in fact, it is us who, as a process of growing up, has stopped feeling it. and the reasons could be our increased cynicism, our linking celebrations to our earning power (after all we have to buy stuff right?), etc... as opposed to when we were kids, we need not bother about all these "adult" considerations... and i believe kids still enjoy it, and so, we need to continue to make it exciting for our kids.

well, whatever the reflections, lunar new year/ chinese new year is over. time to continue with the routine, dragon year, or not.

:-)

picture from http://www.shambhala.org.uk/program.php