Chinese New Year (CNY) will be upon us tomorrow.  Another celebration that we Malaysians have the good fortune to enjoy with our Chinese friends. To get into the mood, I put up our Lunar New Year decorations soon after storing away our Christmas tree until its next appearance in December ( I always feel a twinge of sadness at the empty space left by the tree as it was part of our décor for a good three weeks). Although not overly elaborate, the red coloured bunting and gold auspicious letterings of our new CNY decorations  brightened up the condo and signalled to us, me far more than my husband, that it was time to usher in the next festival; cakes and cookies and lion dances. Nice.

I like all celebrations. What’s not to like? For me, CNY means cakes and cookies or kuihs, especially these three kuihs; Kuih Bakul (Glutinous rice cake), Kuih Kapit (Love letters) and Kuih Bangkit (Tapioca cookies). I like my Kuih Bakul, three ways. Straight out of the bakul or banana leaf basket, raw and sliced in chunks. Yum. Steamed, cut finely and rolled in grated coconut like my mum does it. Yum. Fried in yam and sweet potato – from a stall in Brickfields. Hot out of the wok, it is like eating gooey caramel stuffed in crispy airiness. The taste is incredible. Yum. Yum. Kuih Kapit is another one of my favourite CNY cookies. I only like the traditional fan-shaped variety because that’s the shape I associate Kuih Kapit with. The hollow-cylindrical version, not so much, although it tastes similar. Light, crispy, mildly eggy and not too sweet, Kuih Kapit goes down much too easily.

On the other hand, Kuih Bangkit is a difficult call. It’s one of those cookies that I am not sure I like but eat quite heartily at every opportunity.  It could be the floury texture, which I don’t particularly favour, as I generally want a little crunch in my desserts and food. That said, last year, I ate a whole bottle of them, in one sitting (clear plastic container with the red cap, that one), courtesy of my neighbour from Singapore. They melted in my mouth and got stuck to the roof of my mouth only because I stuffed too many cookies at a time. Still, yum.

CNY also means lion dances. I look out for open vans and lorries in the hope of spotting lion dance troupes en-route to their gigs. I also keep my ears peeled for sounds of lion dances in and around where I live, which is very near The Intermark Mall and Intercontinental Hotel, two establishments that usually host this yearly performance. Another avid lion dance fan is my mum. Every year, I check the dance schedules and ensure she gets a front row seat to watch this magnificent performance of talent and daring ( she is tiny and will only, otherwise, get to see the backs of people’s heads). Daring, most certainly are the acrobatic lion dancers. Two men, one holding up the lion head, which apparently weighs between 9kg to 15kg[1] and the second, holding the body or tail of the heavily adorned lion costume, jump from one precariously skinny pole to another, arranged in varying patterns of one, two and four poles, a little like hopscotch, but at heights of up to eight feet[2]. They don’t only hop from pole to pole, they dance expertly to the quintessential lion dance beat of drums, gongs and cymbals. Standing on these poles, the dancers sometimes throw money and oranges at the adoring crowds gathered at the venue.

I think the spectacle of a dance troupe, in their colourful attires, usually golden yellow and red with trimmings,  the lion head with its unmissable blinking eyes and over-the-top costume made of feathers, glitter and glass-mirrors plus the unmistakable sounds of ‘boom, boom, chang’ are what make the lion dance so uniquely CNY. That said, lion dances are not only reserved for CNY. They are also performed at company openings, product launches, weddings and other auspicious events. The lion is a majestic animal and revered. It is believed to have the power to scare away evil spirits and to bestow good fortune, good health and happiness.

CNY also means fire crackers going off 24×7, which I don’t mind as the loud and thundering sounds are very much part and parcel of CNY and ang-pows (red packets containing money that my mum still gives me although it’s mostly for the young ones and the not-yet-married). And, it means two national holidays to slumber, and enjoy the marginally fewer cars on the roads in KL.  What is there not to like about celebrations in Malaysia? 

Happy Chinese New Year.