Huat Ah!

May the wishes of your heart come true. - Chinese New Year proverb.

About three weeks ago I came back to Singapore after a long period of travelling to find an empty fridge and no way to refill it quickly. At first, the sight of closed malls and deserted public spaces felt truly awkward in one of Asia’s busiest shopping hubs. Then it hit me - it was Chinese New Year’s Eve!

Chinese New Year is the most important holiday in the Chinese Lunar calendar. It brings together the greatest elements of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s celebrations: food, family and pompous festivities. The Lunar calendar, or to be more precise, the first new moon of the last month of the year, determines the date of the New Year.

And the celebrations last for 15 days, ending with the Lantern Festival. Many centuries-old customs and traditions accompany these special two weeks, a few of which I especially enjoy.

New Year’s Beast and the Dragon Dance

According to legends, Chinese New Year was defined by the defeat of a mythical monster. The beast, called Nian, would come out of hiding once per year to attack the villages. Spreading horror and fear, he would then roam to eat cattle, crop and even children.

To protect their kids, the villagers used to leave food and snacks at their doorsteps in hope of satisfying the beast’s hunger. A twist in the story occurred when the monster’s fear of the color red and loud noise was discovered.

A group of fearless heroes thus scared away the monster wearing red outfits and playing loud drums. To commemorate the beginning of this new era, every year on Chinese New Year, people dress in red and make noise with firecrackers to remember the Nian’s defeat.

The dragon, another mythological creature, is the symbol of China. It is admired for its power and fearlessness, yet at the same time cherished for good fortune, prosperity and fertility. The traditional dance is performed during festive Chinese holidays bringing the dragon’s virtues to its spectators.

During the two-week celebration, teams of dancers travel from one neighborhood to the next to perform spectacular shows. Moving many-meter-long dragon structures on sticks in a synchronized dance requires a great level of skill. However, the longer the dragon and the more complex the dance, the more luck it brings.

Red envelopes and tangerines

Chinese New Year is a time for family reunion. Paying visits to all your relatives is extremely important, if not for feasting then for customary courtesies. During such visits, family members exchange two symbolic gifts: Red envelopes and tangerines. Children and unmarried adults receive money envelopes to protect them from the threat of Nian.

But there’s one significant rule — the amount of money cannot contain the number four, as the Chinese pronunciation of the number is similar to the word “death”, which of course brings bad luck. Eights, on the other hand, represent prosperity and the more, the better.

The second gift, a pair of tangerines, represent golden nuggets and is exchanged as a symbol of good fortune and prosperity. However, this gesture is not limited to familiar circles. In fact, it is not uncommon to receive a pair of tangerines from a cashier in a supermarket, a nice taxi driver, a stranger on a bus or even the priest in a Catholic church.

Huat Ah!

There is no better way to spend holidays than with your local friends. Honored by the invitation to a homemade traditional Chinese dinner, I did my best to fit the part: I wore red clothes, brought a pair of tangerines and a few dollars for gambling. At a key moment of the evening, all the guests were invited to a round table adorned with the traditional fish salad in its center.

Yusheng is more than just a dish; it is an event that brings luck and wealth to the gathering. Carefully sliced colorful vegetables are arranged in separate heaps on a round plate. Then each time a new ingredient is added, such as fresh fish, crackers or sauce, everyone yells “Huat ah!”, which means “to prosper”. Once all ingredients are on the plate, everyone grabs a pair of chopsticks and together they toss the salad into the air!

You might think this sounds messy — well, you’re not wrong. Yusheng is meant to symbolize abundance. In this sense, some ingredients have to land next to and around the plate. Although wasteful, this activity denotes opulence and is also known as the “Prosperity Toss”.

Events like these are one of the reasons I enjoy living and working abroad so much. My time at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore has not only been a growing experience on a research level, I am also learning a lot by having contact to the locals and being exposed to their culture, customs and traditions.

Having the opportunity to take part in the Chinese New Year has proved how warm-hearted and outgoing the native Singaporeans can be in contrast to their strict and goal-oriented attitude at work— a valuable lesson that is applicable to my private life as well as my professional one.