No. Every CNY program was too underwhelming for the past years–visit relatives, wish and greet the elders (hoping for some colossal amount of reward), and get yourself in the enclosed place crowded with relatives. But the connotation of “reunion” after physical separation this year is unique– I terribly wanted this holiday.
But I’m no longer interested to chronicle the 11 days that happened here; rather, some maverick thoughts (hope that it’s not a slap to my beloved family and relatives).
The “Ang Pao” (Red packet)
In case you don’t know, this is a gift from all elder (and married) people to us (in particular, our parents). Containing some money, it’s a token of love from our families and friends.
At this age, though, money inside the packet is no longer my centre of rapture, not like previously when I kept my heart boiling when I unwrapped each packet. When I asked myself “wasn’t it fun to receive money”? There’s no point to rapture over something you gain without your effort–interning somewhere captivates me better.
That said, I appreciate all the money and gift from my senior members in my family, and my elder friends.
The stories behind give and take
The reason above rises an infatuated thought in me: how cool is it to distribute money in this way! I will then have command to say: children, line up and I have gifts for you! And you feel like being an autocrat for yourself to be complacent with.
After some ratiocination, it’s a fallacy. Financial load aside, you’ll have to rely on your memory to make sure that every child gets a share from you (especially when “confronting” with galore of kids). Missing any child makes you feel guilty. (And stop thinking about it before the wedlock).
Indulge
Thanks to my housemate Brian, I gained an almost complete set of a debate series (in Chinese language) “U Can U Bibi”. I had never finished watching a complete series of drama, or reality show, for quite some time. But I did it during the holiday.
The reason was simple: it was so laughter-inducing that I could never encumber myself from laughing without taking care of my poise. While it’s as if I squandered my holiday just for this show, I learned a lot about the art of debate! Besides battering opponents t their logical flaws (or simply argue with different interpretation of question), debaters need emotions to persuade the audience (in the show, audience decides the winning party). This is totally in line with CC#9 of Toastmasters: Persuade with power.
Interestingly, the topic “should we continue tipping (or give “Ang Pao”) at festive” is one of the debate topics. From the writing above it seems that I oppose it for this CNY, but not. For younger children this is their annual windfall. Why should we deprive their annual jubilance? After all, nobody is going to break this tradition that survived for thousands of years (for CNY).
Post-festival activity
School. Exam. Nothing else.
It’s worth a note that holiday for us Sunway students is rather extended, with a period of 1.5 weeks (till 1st of March). Lecturers, parents, and even students complained this system as preposterous (they suggest that we had holiday two days earlier and return on 22nd Feb). Well, extra holidays means more sloth and shirk.
At Penang International Airport, which catered my return to Subang, however, I felt the reminiscence of IMO and family travel, again! The redolent American coffee wafted from McDonalds to the custom area when I was about to surrender my baggage for check. It’s like Amsterdam and Bogota airport, where these cafes proliferated along the way we walked by. When can I ever enjoy the transient fantasy, again? After months?
anzoteh96 