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Wait, crud. I'm late.
But whatever.
The Quaver wishes everyone a very happy New Year.
…Again.
You know, there’s a great thing about living in Singapore. On this blazing rock, we celebrate both western and eastern cultures. Thanks to the fact that most of us are Chinese, we also partake in the forced revelry of the Chinese New Year. Which, according to my PD tutor, is not actually the Lunar New Year. The Chinese don’t use a purely lunar calendar. Rather, it’s a combination of both the solar and lunar cycles, known as the Lunisolar Calendar. It’s basically a calendar that includes both the moon phases and the time of a solar year(one revolution around the sun).
But who cares? Okay, plenty of people. But I’ve never really been bothered. After all, one day in the distant future… All the peoples of the earth will use the same calendar. The same currency, the same… Okay, I’ll cut the Martin Luther King Jr thing here…
Chinese New Year is a time that most of us relate to oriental feasts, family reunions, throat-killing yummies, and many, many more. It is a time when we get to see our cousins, our uncles, our aunts, our grandparents… For some, maybe even their siblings or parents, after nearly a year of absence. Unless you celebrate Christmas, of course. But let’s not deny it: We’re not complaining.
Many of us have been through as many CNYs as we have birthdays, and I think it would be safe to say that they are generally a pleasurable experience. Even if you, like Shaun, are not interested in meeting a select few of your relatives, there are always the red packets to cheer you up! Yeah, I know, not the point of the New Year, but who says we can’t enjoy that too?
So, everyone, since we can’t get firecrackers here in Singapore, thou shalt improvise. Sparklers are readily available. As are matchsticks. And water, electrodes, and flames… Plus butane. Even though we don’t happen to have happy magnesium-packed rockets at our disposal, it doesn’t mean that we can’t make a pyrotechnic show that would put even Gandalf’s famous fireworks to shame.
Okay, that was a lie. Gandalf’s fireworks are unbeatable.
But still, yeah. Jeremy, I’m still thinking of your store cupboard. We need to get those fire hazards out and… Neutralize them. Yeah, that’s a good word. Neutralize. Not explode. Because it’s not in any way explosive or potentially dangerous… Yeah, why would I lie?
But before we go off having fire parties, rejoice, my friends! Go do something crazy and worth retelling so that your kids won’t think that you’re really boring. We’ve got a mega weekend ahead of us. So, enjoy yourselves. That is an order.
$$Ka-ching$$
Noooo. My 170MB picture collection has failed me! Nothing about Chinese New Year!
-Joe