Singapore is turning red. Everywhere I turn, everywhere I look, I am seeing red.
Image from 2010
Red, corresponding with fire, symbolizes good fortune and joy. Red is found everywhere during Chinese New Year and other holidays and family gatherings. -Wikipedia. This is an interesting article on the meaning of colors in Chinese culture. btw – men, don’t wear a green hat!
Chinese New Year is upon us. February 3rd and 4th are the big days. The year of the rabbit. I’ve written about our 2010 CNY experience and that is linked at the bottom of this post. But in a nutshell, as best as this American expat can comprehend, CNY is the lunar new year and there are hundreds, maybe thousands of traditions and customs that have been handed down for centuries to end the year and begin fresh. Bad spirits out. Good spirits in. That is their hope, anyway. Tere are so many customs and traditions that I’m not sure anyone could possibly keep track of them all at one time. My favorite and most entertaining tradition/story as was told to me by a Chinese tour guide, is the one of the kitchen god. To me, this god is kind of like Santa. You know, “he knows when you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake”. 
Or at least for the week leading up to the new year. The story told to me was that the women spend the week before offering him alcohol so hopefully he will be drunk when he goes up to the higher gods to make his report and won’t remember all the gossip that he heard in the last year. I hope I don’t make anyone mad by saying this. It really was told to me by a Chinese tour guide and she thought it was funny too.
This is by far THE biggest holiday/event/tradition in Singapore. It is all consuming even for those who don’t celebrate it. You can’t get away from CNY in Singapore. And because Singapore is such a multi-cultural country, I’m sure it’s even more consuming in China. I can’t imagine.
Shops close. People check out for weeks of holiday time. (Which reminds me I have to order some chicken because our chicken delivery man is taking off.) Don’t even think about traveling unless you’ve booked MONTHS in advance and even then, the airport will be insane so still not worth it. Shops completely overhaul their normal products to everything CNY. Out with the old, in with the new. Shopping. Shopping. Shopping! People get rid of old things like mattresses, furniture, rugs, clothes or anything that might harbour a bad spirit and buy new ones. Ikea is hoppin’ right now!! Red lanterns. Gold coins. Pineapple tarts. Prawn snacks. Mandarin oranges. Red envelopes with crisp, new $2, $5 or $10 bills in them depending on who you are giving them to. Red banners and lanterns hanging from balconies. Incense burning. Paper clothing, shoes, jewelry, money, cigarettes, etc. everywhere to burn as ancestor offerings. And all of this with the hope of bringing good fortune, luck, prosperity, etc.
Tommy heard out at work recently of a custom that we found interesting. You apparently are supposed to wear red underwear on CNY. Lucky for him, he has some. (I’m sure I’ll get in trouble for adding that.) I guess I’m going to have to go shopping. Everyone needs red underwear, right?
I’m sure there will be more interesting posts about CNY to come in the next few weeks. It’s a really interesting holiday. It’s intended meaning is sad and hopeless, at least from a Christian perspective, but we can all appreciate a good celebration, right?
