Taboo

I've been meaning to blog about taboo for the coming Chinese New Year's celebration but I've been busy.
With limited time to clean the house, Indy's passing and work, lack of sleep and even lesser time to play FB games and blog.
Chinese in general are very superstitious. No matter how much education they receive, there's no running away from
their root. I blame it on the parents of the parents of the parents times 1 thousand.

Pre-CNY
-mandatory to clean the house, cars and whatever that's inside the house
-put up CNY decorations, it's that time of the year when pussy willow is used for deco, cherry blossom to brighten
up the day
-buy new clothes, underwear, shoes, have a hair cut, color your hair and etc

Why all that nonsense? Don't we do it like every other day?
Well. Any excuse to shop is a good reason. So why argue ? The elder say must buy new clothes then buy lar. Everybody
needs retail therapy sometimes including the men.

What's the taboo ?
#1 You're not allowed to buy shoe during CNY because apparently it'll bring bad luck all year round. I am normally a
non believer, but it came true and from that year onwards I vow to myself never to purchase shoe during CNY.

#2 You're not allowed to cut your hair during CNY. I have no eff-ing idea why the hell not. But I'm not taking any chances.


1st day of CNY
-not allowed to sweep the floor or in any way clean the house. it was done the night before.
-not allowed to say anything bad. everything must be good for e.g Huat ar!
-preferably wear red clothing.
-not allowed to trim your nails and wash hair

What's the taboo ?
#1 Why would you want to clean the house when you were so busy the night before ? Take a rest.
#2 Why would you want to say anything bad on the first day of CNY where there's free flow of food and angpaos?
#3 I don't fucking understand this. Why red? Eventhough red means "luck" in Hokkien. I don't see any truth in this.
#4 I actually have something to say about this. The reason why the elder do not allow us to trim our nails is because
during the dinosaur years there was no proper eletricity and nail cutter. They are just afraid that we'll hurt ourselves.
#5 I do not know the truth with this though. If you run around the whole day, visiting tons of people and it's super
hot during CNY. Why are we not allowed to wash our hair ? It's full of oil and dirt and what not.

The rest of the CNY celebration is pretty much SOP of our everyday lives. I supposed things are different now than
before. It's not so easy to take so many days off from work. A lot of tradition is lost along the way. I used to
enjoy CNY celebration a lot. Maybe because I was a child then and there are a lot to look forward to. Now that I'm
a grown ass woman, there's really not much to look forward to.

With my grandpa's passing 2 years ago, there's not much celebration going on. Things are simplified and the celebration
of Hokkien New Year is cut down. I used to look forward to eating "siew yoke" after the ceremony. But alas! No more
siew yoke for me.

Eventhough, the younger generation like myself feels that all those taboos are a bunch of nonsense. But it is part
of what that shaped us into the type of people we are today. It is a bonding process between a child and the parents.
A bunch of nonsense but nevertheless it's fun type of nonsense.

I hope that I will be able to remember what each day of CNY represents and share it with the future generation.
Wishing everyone who cares to read this blog a Happy chinese New Year to you and your family. May you have a wonderful
and prosperous new year.