With no inter-district travel allowed, among other restrictions in place with the movement control order (MCO), Jessie Yong and her family were unable to make the trip back to their hometown in Sabah’s Keningau interior district.
Yong, who is the Befrienders Kota Kinabalu publicity director, said this year was the first time they celebrated Chinese New Year (CNY) without returning to Kampung Lingkudau where it’s normally a big affair every year.
“We’re just going to be in KK this year and celebrate without forgetting the traditions but it is difficult (this year), unlike previous CNYs.
“We will still try to keep the traditions alive by cooking the same type of food we have every year, bathe with air limau (pomelo leaves soaked in water) and giving ang pows to our children on the first day of CNY.
“These are the same practices back in Keningau except this year it will be just on our own – just me, my husband and four children.”
With the authorities only allowing immediate family members to gather for the reunion dinner, Yong said she and her family had no choice but to reconnect with other loved ones through video calls.
“This is done during dinner time to ‘toast’ for a good year ahead,” she said.
She said, in previous years, everyone in her big family will make a point to drive back to their hometown where they will even have a long table to accommodate 25 people for the reunion dinner.
“Everyone, from my mother-in-law, siblings and their spouses and all our children stayed in one house and had breakfast, lunch and dinner together. We don’t eat out, everything is home cooked.
“We make sure everyone’s back for the reunion dinner. It’s always a fun family gathering where all the children will sleep in one room, boys in one room and girls in another,” Yong said.
“Most of us are working and doing business in KK and we hardly find time to be together. So, CNY is not only a time to catch up but also to rest and relax.
“Everyone sitting together at a long table and chit chatting, reminiscing over past celebrations and fun memories,” she said, adding they will hold their open house on the second day of CNY.
Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) senior lecturer Lee Kuok Tiung, on the other hand, had to forget about flying back to his hometown in Sarikei, Sarawak for the celebration due to the interstate travel restrictions.
Lee, who has two children aged 13 and 14, said they will normally go back either for CNY or the Qingming tomb-sweeping festival.
Like Yong, he and his family went online to celebrate their family reunion dinner with other family members in Sarawak and also in Brunei.
“Each of us shared what we were having for our reunion dinner. We also caught up with what’s happening in our respective places. But what I miss the most in Sarawak is the fireworks at midnight.
“However, despite it being all virtual, the CNY spirit has not faded at all,” he said.
Another CNY novelty that Lee misses back home is the longevity noodle his mum makes.
“We will eat this early in the morning on the first day. But as we are unable to travel, my mother helped to prepare it earlier and sent the food by post.”
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