OLD HABITS DIE HARD

With each passing year, traditions disappear, displaced by conveniences of a modern era. There are some, however, who would fight tooth and nail to ensure that the past will not be forgotten but reinvented for the generations to come

- DANIEL GOH

Every year, streets, homes and shopping malls are draped with the colour red to signify the coming of the Chinese or Lunar New Year. And beyond that, there are unmistakable auditory cues that let you know that the festivities have begun. It starts with the crackling blasts of fireworks that continue long past midnight, and the next day, it is often accompanied by the deep reverberating booms of the lion dance drums. And of course, the soundtrack to this entire 15day tradition is the annoying, high-pitched Chinese New Year songs that seem to be played on loop everywhere you go.

Besides the obvious, however, there are the more subtle sounds of this cultural celebration. Ones that are most often associated with a sense of nostalgia. I'm talking about the soft clattering of mahjong tiles as they are being shuffled on smooth white paper, or the creaking of rattan furniture which can always be found in an ancestral home, and the clinking of porcelain as copious amounts of Chinese tea is prepared and refreshed for guests throughout the day.

Although the firecrackers and drums still resound to this day, the more subliminal tracks to Chinese New Year have started disappearing. As the older generation inevitably pass on, the next generation continues the celebration but replaces certain cultural traditions with slightly more globalized alternatives. The classic rattan furniture once found in most households have been replaced with more accessible options from IKEA or finding enough players to start a Mah Jong game becomes increasingly hard as western-style playing cards or boardgames becomes the preferred conduit for familial fun.