I Remember

Page 22

Chinese New Year

As a kid, I was most happy when Chinese New Year came around. The better off relative of my parents would visit and brought a life chicken. The chicken would be slaughtered for the dining table ultimately. My father would fry mee sua 麵線 (longevity noodle) with cabbage on the first morning of Chinese New Year. Everyone got two eggs to go with the noodle. This was to signify we were one year older in the New Year, regardless of the dates of our birthdays. Besides this main item, we would have fish, chicken, and pork. It would be our best meal for the entire year. My mother had relatives staying in Malaysia. They paid visits to our house since my mother was the eldest among her siblings. My father had relatives of his own and they stayed in Singapore. They also visited us. Before the ban of firecrackers in early 1970s, I remember we played with firecrackers when I was still very young. Firecrackers came in small types that would not cause harm to others. It was the larger firecrackers that I was afraid to light up. The fuse seemed to light up fast and if one was not quick in letting go, it could blow up in your hand. Then you would have ringing sound in your ears. It happened to me once. We had sparklers also during the early years. It was a tradition to do spring-cleaning days before the Chinese New Year. As kids, we helped to sweep the ceilings of cobwebs. We would clean the windows and washed the floors of our house. Up till today, we continue with this tradition. It is one way to discard unwanted things and to keep the house clean especially those parts of the house we would not clean on a regular basis. At every Chinese New Year, we would gather at my mother’s home for a reunion. We had four generations and my mother’s home was a bit small to accommodate 30 plus people. My mother lived in a 2-room HDB rental flat. It was always a happy occasion when Chinese New Year came around.


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Articles inside

Epilogue

1min
pages 59-60

From Executive Diary to Smart Phone

1min
page 56

My Uncle from Malaysia

1min
pages 57-58

Coopers & Lybrand

1min
page 55

My Education

2min
pages 53-54

My First Driving Licence

0
page 52

My First Property to Live In

1min
pages 48-49

My parents stayed in rental flats of public housing

1min
page 47

Investing in Investment Property

1min
page 50

Joy of Reading

1min
page 51

My journey through National Service

2min
pages 45-46

My Parents stayed at Craig Road before

0
page 44

DBS Fixed Deposit in 1993

0
page 43

Do you plan for retirement?

1min
page 42

National Day Parade in 1971

1min
page 38

Matriculation for Accountancy course in 1978-9

1min
pages 39-40

GCE “O” Level Results were published in Newspaper

0
page 37

Enrolled in English-Medium stream in primary school (1964

1min
page 41

You write long-distance and then wait days for reply

1min
page 36

You will know this special bond

1min
page 35

PSC Undergraduate Scholarship 1976

1min
page 34

National Library of yesteryears

1min
page 31

My years in National Junior College

2min
page 33

Early years of bus transport

1min
page 30

My Hobbies

0
page 32

I did woodwork and metalwork

1min
page 29

My National Service Days

1min
pages 27-28

Bukit Ho Swee Fire

0
page 25

My First Savings Account (POSB

1min
page 26

From poor to rich

1min
page 24

Chinese New Year

1min
page 22

Games played

3min
pages 19-21

Credit facility

1min
page 23

My Home at Ganges Avenue

3min
pages 17-18

Living each day as it comes

0
page 16

A Private Person

2min
pages 14-15

Saving habits

2min
pages 12-13

I Remember

2min
pages 7-8

Preface

0
pages 5-6

My School Days

0
page 9

Career

2min
page 11

Inferiority Complex

1min
page 10
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