But while this is a time for family reunions and joyous get-togethers, many are still spending the season away from home.
Among them is 19-year-old Stephanie Tay, a mass communication student who arrived in Perth, Australia, in May. This is her first time celebrating the New Year Down Under.
Having just completed her first year of studies, she is thankful to be able to enjoy the season as she is on a break before the new semester starts.
“I plan to celebrate over meals with my friends from church and several other Malaysians who are here,” she told FMT recently.
She said she looked forward to some of the traditional dishes she would usually enjoy back home. “I am really excited to toss yee sang and eat ‘sang har mee’ (prawn noodles).”
Tay revealed that her family would travel to Xiamen in China every year to be with their extended family and have a big celebration there.
Although she wasn’t able to do that last year due to the pandemic, she still had an intimate celebration with her immediate family in Malaysia.
“I will definitely miss them this year and I am planning to video-call them,” she said.
Tay has a simple wish for her family and friends back home. “I hope they have a really good time celebrating together,” she said, adding that she hopes to host a CNY gathering with her friends in Australia someday.
Missing her family
Audrey Theah has been in Wyoming, New South Wales, for close to two years. The 23-year-old came to Australia in February 2020, just before the pandemic took a turn for the worse.
“I was lucky to have enjoyed Chinese New Year in Malaysia before I left. So last year was my first time celebrating away from home,” she told FMT.
“Thankfully, I had family friends who are living just over an hour away, so I was with them.”
This gave her the opportunity to indulge in some Malaysian food and spend time with familiar faces, which, she said, she would likely do again this year.
According to Theah, the celebration in Wyoming is a quiet one. “It’s not a big thing here; you wouldn’t even see a lantern.”
Back in Malaysia, the New Year would usually be spent in her father’s hometown, Penang.
“I miss receiving ang pows,” she said with a laugh. “I also miss eating arrowhead chips, which I can’t find here. Last year, I even bought ‘bak kwa’ online and got it delivered all the way from Melbourne.
“It was not cheap,” she added pointedly.
Not surprisingly, she misses her family during the festive season, and although she video-called home last year, it was not the same as being physically there with them.
The food-science graduate hopes to be able to return to Malaysia soon, pending travel restrictions and the outcome of her current job search.
“However, it will probably be another one or two years before I go back, but it is what it is,” she said.