CNY 2020

It has become a tradition that Aric organises a family party on day 3 of the Chinese New Year in Parit Baru, his hometown. The year of the Rat started on 25 January 2020 and a few months earlier Aric began thinking already about this party.

The Chinese character for Rat is the same as that for Mouse, so he decided to use the mouse as a theme. All family members had to wear a t-shirt with a mouse, a Mickey Mouse or at least something in the shape of a mouse.

For the decoration of the house, Aric had bought a large quantity of multi-colored LED-lights. When I arrived, on day 2, he had already made a lot of mouse-like decorations. Here he is standing in front of the kampong house, where he was born and grew up.

Three families have been living in this house, Aric’s father and two of his uncles. During CNY, children, grandchildren and relatives come back to this house, resulting in a big crowd. All families have their own rooms and in the common kitchen they prepare their own meals. Quite interesting.

I had chosen a t-shirt, combining my interest in stars and planets with a kind of mouse shape. But… I forgot to bring it to Parit Baru! Officially there was a penalty of RM 50 for not wearing a mouse shirt, but fortunately Jenny, Aric’s sister in law, could not attend the party and gave her t-shirt to me.

WHen I arrived, Aric was still busy preparing more decorations, here with his nephew Andrew. The (air-conditioned) office of the house was occupied by several of Aric’s nieces.

The LED decorations are not so special in daylight, but in the dark they become very attractive.

After editing the picture to the right, I have created a CNY-wish with it and sent it to friends and family πŸ™‚ .

Here is the designer with the final result.

That evening we had a steamboat dinner with the family in the kitchen, while in the living room others were playing card.

Sleeping can be a problem for me, during these meetings, I am a sensitive sleeper and need some privacy. Fortunately the family has a bungalow, a few km away, and we could have an undisturbed sleep there πŸ™‚ .

Next morning started with coffee.

In the morning more family members arrived from KL and preparations started for the steamboat lunch. Parit Baru is surrounded by fishing villages, so the fish , prawns etc can not be more fresh. With so many people we had to eat in shifts πŸ˜‰ .

In the afternoon a stage was constructed in front of the house, using two lorries and material from the hardware shop.

While Aric and his helpers were busy, it was a good time to take some pictures. Notice that everybody is wearing a mouse shirt (including me haha).

When the construction of the stage was completed and it was still light enough, Aric arranged everybody for the traditional group photo. Almost fifty people!

We had a buffet dinner outside, using a catering service. Later there were several games and there were fireworks.

The grand finale of the evening was a show were many attendees showed their skills, karaoke, wushu, dancing, singing. Not easy to take acceptable photos, quite dark.

It was another successful CNY celebration. Here are some group photos from earlier years.

4 thoughts on “CNY 2020

  1. A fascinating insight into
    How a large Chinese family
    Celebrate the lunar new year
    Nice pics , and very family orientated
    Thanks Jan

  2. Thanks Jan for sharing . Yes that’s a big family gathering . Wonderful that you are a part of Aric’s extended family . Not many ang mohs have the privilege to be so immersed in the CNY tradition. You must have Chinese genes from a pevious lifetime. Rejoice, Rejoice, Rejoice.

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