The Chinaman and The Nonya

Tuesday, 27th January 2009

My wife is a 100% pure Teochew descended from Swatow, while I am a 3/4 Baba (my mom and paternal grandma are Peranakans).

This Chinese New Year however, we decided to switch culural roles, so I ended up dressing like a Chinaman while my wife decided to dress up as a Nonya :-D

After two days of visitations, my daughter remarked that in spite of the economic downturn, she has collected more hongbaos in terms of quantity and quality as compared to last year.

It did not come as a surprise to me however because Ps Prince has declared 2009 to be a dektos year of the Lord where His free favours profusely abound. I have said Amen to that, as a result, my entire household is going to see that coming to pass. Hallelujah!

Speaking of which, I recall how my parents would bring my siblings and I to visit their friends and relatives back in the 1970s/80s. There were 4 of us, so I can imagine how some of them would rather we *not* visit them during the Lunar New Year :-D

Anyway, there were 2 households which my 3 sisters and I looked forward to visiting each year. One was a neighbour who lived a few doors away from us, and the other was my mom’s eldest sister (Chris' mom). While most other hongbaos we received ranged between 20 cents to $6, we would get $12 from these two homes (which would be the equivalent of at least $30 in today’s terms!).

By God’s grace, it is my prayer that my wife and I would be able to leave the same kind of legacy that the children of today will remember fondly when they reflect back upon their own hongbao-collecting years, and give Jesus all the glory because He is after all, the source, and we are merely His stewards. Amen?