Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner 2

*Fast backward, I remembered my 2 grandmothers and my mother were busy at the kitchen preparing for the important meal. There was no gas/electric cookers then. Cooking was done on a specially constructed cooking range of cement and mortar. Firewood or charcaol was used as fuel. Eating was at an elongated oval wooden table that could sit about a dozen people at the dinning room. There were Peranakan food as well as typical Hokkien cuisine. We had ayam curry. Eating chicken meat was a treat then as it was served only on a festival or a celebration. Adults had tea or brandy and the children drank Fromroz aerated water. We had no refrigerator. We bought a block of ice and then knocked it into pieces with a hammer. Pieces of ice was added to the drink to make it cold. Dinner was rather quiet as no one was supposed to talk while eating. After dinner it was different. There were so much noises with adult getting kaki to play mahjong or cards, and children got excited talking about ang pows.

Last night we had Chinese New Year's eve re-union dinner. There was a foreign lady with 2 kids. The two boys are my daughter's God sons. Nevertheless, they had to observed our tradition of wishing the Patriach happy new year. See their postures. We started with 'loh hei', tossing of fish salad and followed by yummy steam boat. Enjoy viewing the video below.


A very close friend who seldom missed our family gathering


My two daughters 'pai nien'. She observed the tradition of kneeling.


Lo Hei!


Cheers!!!


We had steam boat for a change


Kids and maids at another table

Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner - 1

Chinese Reunion Dinner is held once a year on the eve of the lunar new year. Family members from far and wide where ever possible return to the patriarch's home for a reunion dinner. It gives them the opportunity to meet up with relatives and also to introduce the new arrivals. According to tradition, dinner has to wait until the arrival of all family members before starting.

In 1970s, one to two weeks before the Chinese New Year, Jurong indurstrial estate was a dead place. Almost all Malaysian workers had left for home to be with their families. Food establishments, such as restaurants, eating houses and food centres once crowded with lunch time workers, stopped operating.

Today, many Chinese Singaporeans do away with reunion dinner by going on holidays. Few want to cook and they book reunion dinners at restaurants. With two sittings, each has about two and a half hours. More time is spent eating than interacting with family members. Afer dinner, each leaves in different direction. Such runion dinner becomes meaningless.

My family still follow the tradition of having the reunion dinner at home. My wife is a good cook, especially with peranakan dishes. On Saturday, 17 Jan 2009 we had a pre reunion dinner with with my niece and her family of four, plus two very close friends who are single. We started it a few years ago and has become an annual affair. My niece's husband is a Malaysian and she has to be with her in-laws for the new year. A close friend is also a Malaysian and she too has to go home. The food my wife cooked were: buah kurak, kiam chye ahk, babi arti, ngoh hiang, hi pioh soup, noodle and pineapple salad, chap chye, sambal udang, itek sioh and satay babi (view video clip).

The reunion dinner on the eve of the Chinese New Year shall be confined to my immediate families.

Chinese New Year Cards

A Happy & Blessed Chinese New Year To All Viewers

This card was specially created for a Vietnamese couple

Yesterday I went to Chinatown and saw a lot of interesting and fanciful Chinese New Year cards on sale. They were in all shapes and sizes, and very colourful too. Still, I prefer the personalised new year cards that I made myself as shown above.

During my school days in early 1950, a photo studio along Upper East Coast Road was offering black and white Chinese New Year cards with your photo on them. There was no colour photo then. The greeting cards had different sceneries of spring time and new year greetings. Minimum order was at least half a dozen cards. I forgot the price.

The Happy Times

yg's blog on 'those were the days' reminded me of my group of ex-colleauges. The group met regularly once a month at the Changi International Airport T2 canteen. It was was formed in 1995. Starting with a handful and ended up with 23 members in all. Our ages then ranged between 60 and 75 years. It was a joyful time getting ex-colleagues together like old times. Besides discussing anything under the sun, we also planned our holidays with those whom we could get along with. My travelling group consisted of 4 members. We called ourselves 'the four musketeers'. We travelled to Bali, Sydney and Haddyai. We also went on budget holidays by bus to Malaysia, such as Genting, Pulau Tioman, Kuantan and Trengganu. Our regular weekly day trip to Johore was for food and shopping.

Changi International Airport T2 canteen. Some are not in the pictures

Itinerant vendor selling souvenir in Bali

Sydney Kings Cross

Genting Highland

Hyatt Kuantan

Pulau Tioman

Lake Kenyir Trengganu

Durian at Kuala Trengganu market

Melaka

four 'ah peh' going home

As the years went by our number became smaller. Some were called home and others had health problems. One widower age 75 was young at heart and decided to get married. He settled down with his new wife in Johore and left us. In 2001 we changed our meeting venue to an IT Hub in town where I am a volunteer tuitor. We not only met more often, that is once a week, but also learn to use a computer. Anti-aging guru said, browsing the internet helped to stimulate and improve our brain function. Here too our number was not spared by the heavenly Father. Two of our members died and one could not walk. Our joke of the day 'who will be next?'

Geylang Serai

Geylang Serai area as I know in the 50s was along Geylang Road from Paya Lebar Road to Jalan Ubi. There was a Malay kampong by the side of Geylang Road. Due to lower ground level and poor drainage, it was often flooded on rainy days. The houses were therefore built on stilts to prevent flood water from getting into the houses.





Attap houses in Geylang Serai Malay kampong
Source: National Archives of Singapore


There was also a Malay Settlement called Kampong Ubi somewhere in Jalan Ubi. It was further inland and was not quite visible from the main road.

The land between Changi Road and the Geylang Serai market was a trolley bus terminus. It operated between Tanjong Pagar and Geylang Serai. The trolley bus was operated by electric power from two overhead wires as shown in the photo below




Singapore trolley bus
Source: National Archives of Singapore


The trolley bus terminus was later used by the Changi Bus Company as an interchange for bus services between Capitol Theatre and Changi Village and vice versa. HDB flats, Geylang Serai market and Taj cinema was buit in 1960s. I remembered during the Puasa month, there was a young Indian muslim hawker who styled himself 'Raja Lelong'. Everything he sold from clothing, household wares, accessories etc were at cut-throat prices.

At the present Malay Village site was a row of single storey timber shophouses facing the HDB flats. Behind the shophouses were many locked-up stalls. They were built very close to each other with a narrow passage in between. It was a fire hazard then. Fortunately, there was no fire.



Geylang Serai shops facing HDB flats



Geylang Serai looking from Joo Chiat Road before Malay Village was built.
Source: National Archives of Singapore



Geylang Serai looking from Joo Chiat Road now with Malay Village behind the sign post.




Geylang Serai locked-up stalls



Unique road junction where four roads meet
Geylang Serai/Geylang Road/Joo Chiat Road/Changi Road
Source: National Archives of Singapore


At Geylang Road opposite Onan Road was a row of shophouses. It consisted of a Chinese medicine shop, a wholesale banana shop, and two eating houses and another shop. One of the eating houses was Lai Tai Mohamadan Restaurant selling the popular Halal 'mee hongkong' for muslims. It was always crowded. When that block of building was demolished, the restaurant moved to Lor 101 Changi. Business was not the same anymore. The other eating house had the most delicious and finger licking soup kambing in town. I liked to eat the kaki and the tulang, yummy



Lian Tai Mohamadan Restaurant
Source: National Archives of Singapore


Residents from Joo Chiat crossed over to Geylang Serai for food and shopping. The goods there were cheaper than elsewhere. The spicy Malay food was good too besides the Indian soup kambing. The landscape has been transformed and the past is now a memory.

Kallang Park 1960s

I have many black and white photographs taken about half a decade ago. Occasionally I looked at them and reminescence of the happy days I had with my children when they were very young. I came across the photos taken at Kallang Park in early 1960. It was a park barren of buildings except for the children's playground. Going to the park was by your own transport as there was no bus service going to the park then.

Among the play areas was a wading pool for children to play in the water. It was later filled up with sand and became a sand pit. Children built sand castles and imaginery monuments. Other play things were sea-saws, swings, slides and merry-go-rounds. In addition there were colourful tunnels for children to play hide and seek. All the play areas were near each other and children moved easily from one to the other.

Today the landscape at Kallang Park has been transformed into a sports complex plus entertainment places and food outlets. Soon the famous 'Kallang Roar' National Stadium will make way for the Singapore Sports Hub.


Kallang Park looking towards the Old Airport Road HDB estates



This swing was for younger children. It had a seat with safety bars all round.



This guy broke the safety rule by standing on the swing. The swings for older children are on the background to the left.



Wading pool turned into a sand pit



Colourful hide and seek tunnel



My family at the merry-go-round

The slide is on the opposite side

Play areas in the background

Charlee The Puppet

Charlee, the puppet was born more than 50 years ago. The first time I met him was during my honey moon with my wife, way back in the spring of 1962 on board the ship MV Vietnam sailing from Singapor to Saigon, HongKong, Japan and back the same way. He was introduced to the passengers after a magic show by the late Mr Khoo Teng Eng. Among the passengers was the then Singapore Minister of Education, Mr Yong Nyuk Lin and his wife. Charlee was very humorous and entertaining. He was one guy who never grow old and has the same handsome face today. Through Charlee, my wife and I came to know the magician and ventriloquist, the late Mr Khoo Teng Eng. They were on their 'second honey moon'. Our friendship blossomed after returning to Singapore. On one occasion a mutual friend arrived from Hong Kong. Charlee was introduced to him. After the introduction cheeky Charlee stole a kiss from my wife! So, ladies beware of Charlie the cassanova and do not let cheeky Charlee get too close unless you want to be kissed. I do not know where he is now. Anyway, I hope he continues to make people happy with his humour and wise talks.



French boat MV Vietnam at Saigon port



The late Mr Khoo Teng Eng and his magic show.
At centre: Mr & Mrs Yong Nyuk Lin



Charlee was introduced to a mutual friend from Hong Kong.




Cheeky Charlee stole a kiss from my wife.




Saying farewell to the host.