What is Chinese New Year?

It has been a relaxing couple of days for me, away from all the readings and essays and the “academic rigour” of the Humanities Programme. Since coming back from Singapore, the readings have not been read and the writing has not been written. But here I am updating my blog (finally :D); and thats because some things in life are more important sometimes. While my love for the Humanities could propel me on usual days to overcome the heavy workload, the nostalgia and cultural significance of Chinese New Year would ultimately emerge triumphant. After all, its just a few days in a long year Come on….

Right, now that we have established the legitimacy and justifiability of this blog post, lets get into the real stuff shall we? Since I was back here, the so-called “celebrations” largely involved eating, drinking and talking. Granted, there definitely exists rich traditions and customs for Chinese New Year; but apart from those, I guess Chinese New Year involves lapsing into a state of relaxation and ease just for these few days :).

Upon superficial observation, it may appear that Chinese New Year Celebrations involve a series of complex and exotic traditions and rituals. However, what Chinese New Year is for me is that everything eventually boils down to inter-human socialising. The essence of such celebrations largely involves 拜年 (visiting each other) and otherwise getting together for a meal or sharing a chat. Even the 年夜饭 or团圆饭 that is allegedly significant in many ways to symbolise good luck etc. seems to me to ultimately boil down to the primal need for human beings to communicate. It is the reunion and catching up that counts instead of all that symbolism and signs. My point is, Chinese New Year for me is a chance (you can even say “excuse”) for us to renew neglected relationships and socialise. So I believe we should let Chinese New Year be a time for catching up with the so-called customs as a platform instead of enslaving ourselves to the many and complex symbolism involved

Will be posting some pictures soon

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