Chinese New Year is round the corner. But somehow, I find that as Singapore modernizes, Chinese New Year seem like a very dull festival. Christmas on the other hand feels more hyped, especially for the younger ones.
I don't blame anyone if they feel Chinese New Year is dull and they flee overseas for a holiday. You only see your relatives once a year. Your cousins and nieces and nephews occupy themselves with their play stations in the living room. Everyone sits around the sofas awkwardly munching on cookies and New Year goodies. Your cousins/ relatives keep to their own world sweet talking to their boyfriends/ girlfriends that they brought over for visitation.
And you.... sit there, looking pretty and rather overdressed in your best dress, flip over channels on the television trying to occupy your time, waiting for your mom/dad to give you the cue to move off the house. Then you breathe a sigh of relief.
Does this sound familiar to you? Perhaps you are one of those geeks playing PSP. Perhaps you are one of those lovebirds caught in your own world looking into those eyes of your lover. Perhaps you are like me, one of the jaded cousins, neither knowing how to play PSP, nor having any boyfriends to occupy my time with. Just a porcelaine face, nice pretty clothes, slumped on a sofa looking awkwardly around for some human connection....
I asked myself why has Chinese New Year become like this. This is what individualism has taught us. To be trapped in your own world, not wanting to open up, or be interested in your own community. Because it doesn't seem as important to many chinese Singaporean families that kinship is more important than a good career and your own nuclear family.
I feel sad, when I hear relatives gossiping about other relatives about how arrogant they are and how they like to show off their wealth to each other. I hear a lot about prideful people with their noses stuck up too high to talk to anyone. People enter houses with nice clothes and a 'cool' face to show off how cool they are, like those advertisements on magazines.
This is the bane of the Singaporean society, and as the X and Y (and Z??) generation age and takes over to be heads of the family, this is the result of the values brought up and instilled in them: A void in their sense of belonging and attachment to their community. Somehow they value their personal lifestyle more than anything.
This year, I'm determined to inject some meaning to my Chinese New Year. I will pull away PSPs and I will sit in between lovers. I will not be awkward on sofas. I'm gonna have that connection. Its a paradigm shift.
=)
