Chinese New Year

(Gong1xi2fa1cai2 = means Happyness and Prosperity...a common New Year's saying)

(potp: Chinese New Year in Singapore...what you see here is decoration at famous Orchard Road...Dragons and Lions can be seen everywhere around the city..)

YEAR OF THE DOG

(Get an impression about Chinese Music on CNY...recorded in the Chinese Gardens..)

Well, I am a tad late with this (as usual), but want to wish a HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR to all of you. On January 28th, Singapore celeberated the turn of the year. Luckily for me, this came with two additional holidays on Monday and Tuesday, which made this festival even more enjoyable, as you can imagine..

Chinese New Year is really the most important of the traditional Chinese celebrations. It always takes places at the day of the second new moon after winter solstice and is marked by beautiful colors and decorations all around the city. Red is everywhere, Dragon and Lion figures stare at you especially in Chinatown. The general mood is very much the same like Christmas in Western countries. Everybody is a bit excited, even my office with Infineon is nicely decorated and lots n lots of cookies look forward to be eaten..

(a typical Lion dance, performed somewhere in Chinatown. Together with loud drums it is supposed to scare bad ghosts away..Chinese are sometimes very superstitious)

REALLY A SINGULAR EVENT

It is funny to know that many foreigners (including myself, of course) thought that CNY would be a great time to visit any Chinese-heritage country. Think again. The only thing you can admire is closed shops (!) and foodcourts where there are no Chinese people serving (!!). This really happens only once per year and is quite surprising, especially when one is used to go shopping on Sunday night.

Fireworks and firecrackers are lit up into the night sky at midnight...the tradition says, the louder the better they will scare away bad ghosts and spirits. Of course, private fireworks are banned in Singapore (what did you think ;-)). So everyone has to rely on what's offered by the mighty state, which is not always...let's put it that way....dramatically exciting.

(This is also a typical CNY tradition in Singapore..yusheng, which is basically chopped veggies, is thrown up with chopsticks as high as possible. This goes together with wishing each other special things ["Better package, Money, Money, Money, handsome guy, Money,...]...the idea is, that wishes are more likely to come true, the higher you throw the food in that very moment. Of course, the table looks like a mess afterwards, but who cares..; picture taken during the annual CNY Department Lunch)

REUNION

Also, Saturday evening is marked by the so-called Family 'Reunion'-Dinner, which really means the collective gathering of the whole tribe. This is really essential and means a great logistical effort. Not particular in the smallish Singapore, but I heard that their were about 2 billion (!) travels around China, to get all the families together. Some people were even camping on train stations days before to get a place. That is what I call dedication to tradition!

WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR US?

Well, people being born in the year of dog are supposed to possess the best traits of human nature. They are supposed to have a deep sense of loyalty, to be honest and inspiring to other people's confidence, because they know how to keep secrets. But they can be somewhat selfish, terribly stubborn, and eccentric, too...they can be very emotional and distant at parties. And, of course, they are compatible to those born in the Years of the Horse, Tiger and Rabbit. Good to know, isn't it?

So who is born in the year of the dog? That would be 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006. You recognise there are 12 animals, which represent an ever-reoccuring cycle of time, in contrast to the Western concept of linear time (since we take Jesus birthyear as the basis and do not think that this will reoccur every couple of years..if yes, I might reconsider my religious preferences...*no offense*)..The Chinese adopted the Western system in 1911, but are still widely using the old system for festivals and celebration.

So who is who? Look here...

Rat	Ox	Tiger	Rabbit	Dragon	Snake	Horse	Sheep (Goat)	Monkey	Rooster	Dog	Pig
1900	1901	1902	1903	1904	1905	1906	1907	1908	1909	1910	1911
1912	1913	1914	1915	1916	1917	1918	1919	1920	1921	1922	1923
1924	1925	1926	1927	1928	1929	1930	1931	1932	1933	1934	1935
1936	1937	1938	1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947
1948	1949	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971
1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983
1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995
1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019

NOT REALLY LIKE CHRISTMAS

All in all, it was fascinating to see how colorful this special time of the year was in Singapore. And by the way, Chinese heritage people are supposed to do a Spring cleaning (this was an official 'task' in the company, too. We even got dedicated red T-Shirts..) and all debts have to be settled by the end of the outgoing year. Additionally, one can give 2 mandarin organges to his/her superior, which will oblige him/her to give back a hongbao (red envelope) with money. Well, here with Infineon all IT staff got 2 mandarin oranges AND a hongbao with 2 brand new 2$ notes. You see, the tradition can vary. But note that gifts, especially bank notes always (!) have to came in pairs, otherwise it means bad luck!

This is one very intriguing part for me. CNY is all about money. Hongbaos are given to friends and especially children. This is expected and makes the whole thing less worrisome. No need to roam arond shopping malls for days to find gifts (I know, females LOVE that..), money will do it and it is ok. How incredibly relaxing..

Well, I will leave it like that for now..there are still many more interesting and for us exotic aspects to this festival though..

I guess I will continue next year ;-)

(xin1nian2kuai4le4 = Happy New Year)