Chinese New Year is celebrated every year. Receiving angpaos, greeting everyone Gong Xi Fa Cai, wearing new clothes...Things like that remained the same. However, as our generations progress, something just changed, of course, still in a healthy way. Hmm, G.E.N.E.R.A.T.I.O.N.S.
The annual routine. Every year after the reunion dinner, I still join my cousins for the firecrackers session. The fun part was having a little cousin brother in the big family. Thankfully, he is the one who is keeping the childhood alive. Seeing him playing those firecrackers was like a reflection of what actually happened during our time. A decade ago, we was once like that. How much do you remember?
Sometimes when you think back, those silly moments will really make you laugh all day. Once upon a time, firecrackers was something 'superpower' to us. Usually, we just placed the firecrackers on the ground and light it up, and when you saw it burning, you run as fast as possible, just to get to the safest spot and covered up both of your ears. That's the play safe way. Few years later, you light it up while holding, waited until it burns to the very end, then you throw. Finally, it exploded! Maybe it was too loud and it triggered the alarm of those vehicles around. What happened next? Either we just act like as if it was not us or one word - RUN ! After some many years, PopPopPow is still among the best. We still chase among each other just to toss it on someone. I don't know whether this happened to anyone of you, but it's certainly something that once happened to me. My cousin brother was trying the unpack those PopPopPow, maybe he used too much force until it spills all over the ground, and while he is trying to avoid it, that moment really made my day. Did that actually happened to anyone who knew what PopPopPow is? Perhaps you are smiling right now, or perhaps, this is also happening during your time, your generation. After all, it's the cacophony of firecrackers that make the icon of Chinese New Year, isn't it?
It happened, I didn't really realise. Food. Have you ever realised when it comes to home cooked food, they are always the same, and you're eating it for almost every year. Honestly, it's just something that I just realised. Haha! I had been helping to prepare for the reunion dinner in the kitchen these recent years and I still dubiously asked the same old question: How much salt arh? How much of this? How much of that? I don't know why the answer will always be: Agak-agak toh ho! How many or how much is agak-agak?... Somehow it just taste fine when you are done with it. Generations to generations...family recipe...it's hard to explain through words and texts, it's like something you would understand if you had also been through that. Yah, you know? Then what else didn't I realise? Normally after dinner, while we began to find our own entertainment, there will a group of people still staying behind at the dinning table, but not having any food this time. Seeping wines, or any other liquors, and you'll be hearing things like somehow just sounded familiar to you. Even you don't go near to listen what are they actually talking about, you can also know what will they be talking. They talked about the economy, politics, and most of the time, they talked about what happened during their time. The elder of the family have been talking on the same topic each year. Soon, you'll hearing one of them laughing, the way he laugh is really hilarious, and then more people started laughing. We? We just joined them and laugh...there was no need for a reason why we laugh, they laughed funnily, and you funnily laughed at them. Simplicity at its best. Perhaps that the way they reminisce their past, their collection of stories, moments.
That was obvious. The fact is, we grew up. The sense of fashion, the pursue towards material seems to develop, still in a healthy way. Everyone just know how to dress up, pretty and smart. How far had we progressed? It used to be Pikachu wallet or a Hello Kitty purse, what are we having now? The list goes on. We used to gamble with coins, at most a riggit note. How big is your bet now? The refrigerator used to supply us with soda pops, beer was never an option to us. Gradually, the ratio of both of them became the same. Finally, beer outnumbered soda pops. The piercing and hair-dying culture became generally accepted. Okay, I realised that. I'm an occasional drinker, I still play poker cards, and I'm just like everyone. Just that I don't pierce and dye my hair and I don't really enjoy gambling, I'll Never Win! Maybe if I start to win...Haha! Then comes Technology...smartphones and tablets. Ya, they just became part of our life. This is how I observed my generation changed. I still find it acceptable, maybe years later, we'll have more talking points, maybe technology was meant to help us store more precious moment. Meanwhile, I'm also afraid that, maybe years later, do we still interact the same way? What were we doing back then, when Apple was just a fruit so as Blackberry?
I'm thankful that I'm born in generation where the transition between the old-fashioned and the modern-today takes place. Even there exist a transition, something still remained the same. Grandma's steamboat still taste the same, the culture that I practised remains the same, what I remembered about my childhood never changes and Chinese New Year is still Chinese New Year. And yes, I'm glad to say that: Hey, I'm a Chinese, specifically, a Malaysian Chinese. Once again, Happy Chinese New Year !
From.Then.Now. How much has your generation progressed?
Sometimes when you think back, those silly moments will really make you laugh all day. Once upon a time, firecrackers was something 'superpower' to us. Usually, we just placed the firecrackers on the ground and light it up, and when you saw it burning, you run as fast as possible, just to get to the safest spot and covered up both of your ears. That's the play safe way. Few years later, you light it up while holding, waited until it burns to the very end, then you throw. Finally, it exploded! Maybe it was too loud and it triggered the alarm of those vehicles around. What happened next? Either we just act like as if it was not us or one word - RUN ! After some many years, PopPopPow is still among the best. We still chase among each other just to toss it on someone. I don't know whether this happened to anyone of you, but it's certainly something that once happened to me. My cousin brother was trying the unpack those PopPopPow, maybe he used too much force until it spills all over the ground, and while he is trying to avoid it, that moment really made my day. Did that actually happened to anyone who knew what PopPopPow is? Perhaps you are smiling right now, or perhaps, this is also happening during your time, your generation. After all, it's the cacophony of firecrackers that make the icon of Chinese New Year, isn't it?
It happened, I didn't really realise. Food. Have you ever realised when it comes to home cooked food, they are always the same, and you're eating it for almost every year. Honestly, it's just something that I just realised. Haha! I had been helping to prepare for the reunion dinner in the kitchen these recent years and I still dubiously asked the same old question: How much salt arh? How much of this? How much of that? I don't know why the answer will always be: Agak-agak toh ho! How many or how much is agak-agak?... Somehow it just taste fine when you are done with it. Generations to generations...family recipe...it's hard to explain through words and texts, it's like something you would understand if you had also been through that. Yah, you know? Then what else didn't I realise? Normally after dinner, while we began to find our own entertainment, there will a group of people still staying behind at the dinning table, but not having any food this time. Seeping wines, or any other liquors, and you'll be hearing things like somehow just sounded familiar to you. Even you don't go near to listen what are they actually talking about, you can also know what will they be talking. They talked about the economy, politics, and most of the time, they talked about what happened during their time. The elder of the family have been talking on the same topic each year. Soon, you'll hearing one of them laughing, the way he laugh is really hilarious, and then more people started laughing. We? We just joined them and laugh...there was no need for a reason why we laugh, they laughed funnily, and you funnily laughed at them. Simplicity at its best. Perhaps that the way they reminisce their past, their collection of stories, moments.
That was obvious. The fact is, we grew up. The sense of fashion, the pursue towards material seems to develop, still in a healthy way. Everyone just know how to dress up, pretty and smart. How far had we progressed? It used to be Pikachu wallet or a Hello Kitty purse, what are we having now? The list goes on. We used to gamble with coins, at most a riggit note. How big is your bet now? The refrigerator used to supply us with soda pops, beer was never an option to us. Gradually, the ratio of both of them became the same. Finally, beer outnumbered soda pops. The piercing and hair-dying culture became generally accepted. Okay, I realised that. I'm an occasional drinker, I still play poker cards, and I'm just like everyone. Just that I don't pierce and dye my hair and I don't really enjoy gambling, I'll Never Win! Maybe if I start to win...Haha! Then comes Technology...smartphones and tablets. Ya, they just became part of our life. This is how I observed my generation changed. I still find it acceptable, maybe years later, we'll have more talking points, maybe technology was meant to help us store more precious moment. Meanwhile, I'm also afraid that, maybe years later, do we still interact the same way? What were we doing back then, when Apple was just a fruit so as Blackberry?
I'm thankful that I'm born in generation where the transition between the old-fashioned and the modern-today takes place. Even there exist a transition, something still remained the same. Grandma's steamboat still taste the same, the culture that I practised remains the same, what I remembered about my childhood never changes and Chinese New Year is still Chinese New Year. And yes, I'm glad to say that: Hey, I'm a Chinese, specifically, a Malaysian Chinese. Once again, Happy Chinese New Year !
From.Then.Now. How much has your generation progressed?
