CNY this year almost turned out disastrous; the family woke up to find Grandma missing with the first guests due to arrive any time. Thankfully, Dad managed to find her in the neighbourhood half-exhausted. It turned out she had mistaken that it was still CNY Eve and wanted to get smaller notes for red packets. In the recent year, walking had increasingly become difficult and so had remembering things. But who could blame her? She’s almost 90.
Fortunately, the rest of the day went fine. And like every year, sitting and listening in on the elders’ conversations, I learnt a little more about my family history and those of my grandaunts and uncles. Like how a monetary dispute had resulted in strained relations or that there is a huge family portrait of 100 over of my ancestors taken circa 1950s residing somewhere in one of my relatives’ place. Regardless, CNY has always been a good time for the elderly folks to catch up on years bygone.
Of course, reminiscing about old times like this probably won’t last very much longer. With the passing of each generation, ties will slowly erode. A cab driver recently told me that with today’s generation, many CNY practices like Bai Tian Gong will eventually be lost because youngsters don’t see the value in such activities. Sadly, it’s a fact of life that traditions do die one day, but hopefully, family ties don’t go down the same road.
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