It is Chinese New Year's Eve and in a matter of hours we shall 'guo nien' (cross over) from the current Year of the Rabbit to the Year of the Dragon. Singapore hopes to have an increase of babies born during this special year as most Chinese like to have 'dragon' babies.
Many families meet this evening for the family reunion dinner. Religion and philosophy in China have always put family first and community second, ahead of individual happiness or freedom. On New Year's Eve, the family sits down to family reunion dinner, probably occupies the same place as the Christmas dinner at Christmastide. It is a traditional feast, dating back to time immemorial symbolising the solidarity of the Chinese patriarchal family.
In modern times, we need to be pragmatic. We went with our daughter and family to have reunion dinner at a Restaurant at Beach Road last Thursday evening. It was the only evening when we could get the whole family together. Our eldest grandson, Daryl is an auditor with Ernst and Young and it was the only night he could get away by 7.00 p.m.
Then to fit in our son's family, we had the reunion dinner in their home last evening, Saturday when the whole family was available.
The actual day itself or place is not that important. In this age and in our pressure cooker society like Singapore, we need to be flexible; it has to fit in with the schedules of family members or the availability of restaurant bookings. It is the sharing of fellowship meal and the renewal of relationship that really matters. The Chinese place great emphasis on family relationships which must be maintained and strengthened, a time honoured tradition we must not discard.
In our younger days, Balestier Corps (church) used to hold a Chinese New Year Watch Night Service. The Central Corps folk would join them in the celebration. In those days the folk worshipping at Balestier all lived in the same area around Balestier so it was quite convenient after their own family reunion dinner, folk would meet at church to 'guo nien' together as a church family. In this way we expressed out church unity or solidarity as we moved to New Year.
No comments:
Post a Comment