Selamat Taon Baru apparently ;D

SO I HOPE EVERYONE HAD A GOOD NEW YEAR :D

I didn't notice how much difference there was in celebrating New Years till I read an article on today's paper called The Peranakan Taon Baru. It basically highlights the differences between the traditional ways of celebrating by the Chinese and the Peranakan / Straitsborn Chinese. I always knew that we had differences in culture and lifestyle even so in celebrations. I just never knew the finer details. :)

"Unlike their Chinese ancestors, the Peranakan do not simply place oranges and pineapples on the altar but tie and decorate the fruits with serrated-patterned red paper before offering it to the gods."

I did this for the first time yesterday. Cutting red paper and wrapping it around the oranges in the kitchen. It was more annoying than fun but it was a change. I didn't know that was a Peranakan thing too.

"The Malays have cucu (grandchild), cicit (great-grandchild) and oneng-oneng (great-great-grandchild) but we go two steps further, and the next in line are called dodol and wajik. We make the kueh and hope that the human production will continue forever."

I has NO clue what wajik is. LOL.

"Then comes the paying of respect to the elders, also called sohjah. The girls would squat without their knees touching the floor while the boys would kneel and clasp their hands."

I haven't had to do this before. Sounds painful haha. Usually we would bow our heads and say all these things like "long life, good health etc ... and may the force be with you." - a new addition I've been using for some years now >=D

"Instead of wishing Selamat Taon Baru, the elders would utter something like “Pande-pande surat” (I assume this means to write more) or “Cepat-cepat kahwin” (get married quickly) or “Cepat-cepat beranak” (have children soon) while the younger ones would reply by saying, “Panjang-panjang umur”. (live a long life. See told ya)

“Our language is dying out because families are preferring to speak in English to their children. They think conversing in our dialect is embarrassing. Unlike the Chinese and Indian diaspora all over the world, the Peranakan community can only be found in Malaysia and Indonesia, so if we don’t hang on to our tradition, it will be lost forever."

*shuffles feet uncomfortably*. I suppose this is right. Dad still knows some old peranakan language but he hasn't taken the time to teach us. And it's not cause I find it embarrassing. It's simply because I have no one to speak it with. Haha.

It's always good fun finding out stuff about your heritage no? Pleases me so much that I learned so much today. Got home and played 2 hours of Age of Mythology. Lulz. I love not having to travel so far when it comes to "balik kampung"/going back to thy hometown. Found time watch the 10th (and very boring IMO) episode of Legend of the Seeker. Very productive day I should think :D I also heard that it's Australia Day? Sounds pretty awesome. Happy Australia Day to all my brothers and sisters from another mother from Down Undahhh! *waves flag*. Wish we had a Malaysia Day. Sounds pretty cool no?