CHINESE NEW YEAR HOLIDAYS

National and State holidays are many and when the holidays fall close to the weekends, you will find working Malaysians adding on their annual leave to the holidays in order to have an extended period off from work. They will then take the opportunity to take their families away from home. As a result, the main roads and highways all over the country will be jammed with cars at the beginning of the holidays and again at the end, with the exodus of holiday makers criss-crossing all over the country. And this happens almost every other month in the year!! The recent Chinese New Year holidays, falling on a Wednesday and Thursday was one of them. Thursday was also the Muslim calendar New Year, and gazetted a national holiday, and since its already a holiday it was thus compensated by Friday being declared a holiday as well. Many people took the opportunity by taking Monday and Tuesday before the Chinese New year as annual leave and they have nine days at a stretch.

Our youngest daughter, Sita and family in Kerteh, in the East Coast, could not get away as her husband, Fahrul had to work during the holidays. So we thought it would be a good occasion for us to visit her. Our new granddaughter Najla being there was of course that added magnetic attraction.

We left Petaling Jaya in the afternoon of Monday 7th February. It was a very pleasant leisurely drive to the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia where road traffic is concerned. There were not many cars on the road. I was informed that the roads, as expected, were busy on Saturday and Sunday. I noticed, along the way, that the green grass, shrubs, trees were changing to brown, a result of the hot and very dry weather and the low rainfall over the last few weeks. I even noticed bushfires here and there. I was hoping that there would not be any water supply problems in the East Coast as is common during the hot weather season but my fear was clearly unfounded. There was no shortage of water supply when we were there. The weather however, continued to be hot, hence the ceiling fans and air-conditioning in the house were running full swing to alleviate the uncomfortable heat.

We arrived at Sita’s house at dusk, grandparents full of excitement in the thought of meeting and playing with granddaughter. She is about four and a half month old and already conscious of strangers. For the next one week or so our daily routines were centered around this four and a half month old, taking turns in looking after her, carrying her, playing with her, putting her to sleep, feeding (she is just starting on soft solids), and so on. We did not go out much, doing it only out of necessity, more so with the hot weather. There were some visitors, friends of Sita, and also a former colleague of mine on his way to his hometown close to Kuala Terengganu from Kuala Lumpur. A former staff and her family also dropped by on their way home in Kuala Terengganu on Sunday the last day after the holidays.

On Saturday, Fahrul was off from work. We drove up to Kuala Terengganu and spent overnight at my sister’s house. She and husband, both in the education field, had retired last year and had also recently returned from a short trip to the UK visiting their eldest daughter, who is doing her postgraduate studies in University of York, and her family. This daughter had also just returned for a three month break and to explore and research materials for her thesis. Another reason for visiting this sister of mine is that they will be holding a wedding ceremony for their son soon. We will not be able to be present then, so we took this opportunity to visit them.

While in Kuala Terengganu, we went around the town and also visited my former staff and colleague, who had recently moved into their new house. They had built a wonderful and large two-storey house (mansion?) with five bedrooms, a guest room, separate hall and TV area, dining room, wet and dry kitchens and an equally large garden with a built up pond and a natural pond. We imagined that a lot of effort will be required to maintain the house internally and externally and the garden as well. The large house and compound is definitely convenient for the family as they are now but I wonder what he and his wife will do once they are older and once their children are all grown up and on their own. My wife and I find our house a little too big for us to manage and cope with now that our children are all away and on their own so, giving them a number of years, they may be in the same situation we are in now.

On Monday 14th. we went to Kuantan as Sita has two days of work to do in Kuantan while we baby-sat Najla. Fahrul was with us too but he was doing the errands mostly, as they often do whenever they get the opportunity to go to Kuantan. There are better choice of stuff in Kuantan as compared to Kerteh. We returned to Kerteh on Tuesday evening after Sita completed her work. The following day, Wednesday, we returned to Petaling Jaya. Ram has an appointment with her doctor at the Tun Hussein Onn Eye Hospital on Thursday.

I have always, from school days till now, associated the Chinese New Year with oranges, lion dances, noises of firecrackers and fireworks. However this time I did not see any lion dance nor hear the noise of firecrackers while in the East Coast, although I had quite a fair share of oranges. But when we returned to Petaling Jaya and along the way home we noticed lion dances and dance troupes on the back of trucks with their drums and regalia. That night, precisely at midnight, the silence of the night was suddenly shattered with the booming of firecrackers, flying fireworks, and other booming noises. There is currently a ban on firecrackers and fireworks….. what ban? Its only in the news but not in reality on the ground. Ah… well, I can write page upon page on the local laws and their enforcement or the lack of it!!

For now, we are back at home and trying to get back into the routines, while preparing for our next trip away from home which will be very soon!!

MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Petaling Jaya