Awkward and intrusive personal questions are part and parcel of the Chinese New Year experience. Whether you’re an ang pow receiver or have already progressed to the giving phase, you will still be the target of inquisitive uncles and aunties.
To make this Chinese New Year more enjoyable for one and all, here’s a list of answers you can use to satisfy curious relatives.
- About your nonexistent love life
Recommended answer: ‘It’s my goal to find the one this year’
Helpful aunties are always eager to introduce you to eligible bachelors and bachelorettes. To keep them from playing Cupid and asking more personal questions, just tell them you are actively looking for a significant other this year.
This might hold them off from giving you a lecture about the importance of having a partner, and stop them from forcing you to go on a blind date with a cousin’s friend’s aunty’s brother’s son or daughter.
- About your unfixed wedding date
Recommended answer: ‘We are still looking for a suitable date’
This can get really awkward, especially if you’ve just started dating your partner and marriage isn’t something you both are talking about yet.
Whether or not you’re planning to get married, a great way to stop the conversation in its tracks is to simply say you’re waiting for a more auspicious date.
This will at least stop them from reminding you about your age and ability to reproduce, and focus on horoscope issues.
- About your salary
Recommended answer: ‘Just enough’
This is, for many, the most annoying question. Some may even consider this rude, as salary is a private matter that should not be discussed openly.
To politely decline discussing this, just comment that your salary is enough for you to pay bills, contribute to personal savings, and enjoy life with.
- About your nonexistent children
Recommended answer: ‘We are trying’
You and your partner might be wanting children at a later date, or they might not be part of your plan at all. You could also actively be trying to conceive.
Whatever the situation, the best way to counter this question is to tell them you are trying. Uncles and aunties love children, so there’s no way they’re going to accept “we don’t want kids (now)” as an answer.
Get on their good side by saying you’re working on it and they will leave you alone. If you’re (un)lucky, they might even give you some tips!
- About having more children
Recommended answer: ‘We want to dedicate our lives to nurturing our child/children’
The older generation tends to believe that when it comes to children, the more the merrier. Complaining about the difficulty of raising a child will only get you a serious lecture about how they raised a household of umpteen kids with limited funds.
Win these uncles’ and aunties’ hearts by showing them how dedicated you are as a parent, so much so that you want to spend all your time nurturing your current lot instead of increasing your household size.
- About your children’s exam results
Recommended answer: ‘There’s room for improvement, but we’re happy with what they’ve achieved’
It’s not just uncles and aunties who are interested in this – your competitive-parent friends will also be interested in your kids’ academic performance.
To avoid sounding show-offy or self-depreciating, tell them you’re happy with your children’s achievements and, just like all things in life, you’re aware there’s always room for betterment.
These answers should allow you to enjoy a fuss-free Chinese New Year!
This article first appeared in kaodim.com.
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