It’s not the mystical traditions that people need, but the peace and harmony they are blessed with that needs to be nurtured.
KOTA KINABALU: With the traditional emphasis on coming together, celebrating and looking forward to good fortune, Sabahans tend to equate Chinese New Year with extravagant spending. But this year, the Year of the Horse in the Chinese Zodiac, many are approaching this period with a bit more caution and prudence.
Their thoughts are on a better living as the Year of Snake comes to an end at midnight after heralding a series of changes that saw the cost of living around the state go up considerably.
Many said outright that they are cutting back on expenses and that even their children who live and work away from home have decided to forego the tradition of returning home this year. Chinese-run businesses that used to shut down for days at a time in the past show no signs of closing this year round. Some even have displayed prominent signs saying “We open Chinese New Year” to notify potential clients and customers expecting a shutdown.
Retiree and grandmother, Julia Wong, who has seen her share of the ups and downs of Sabah’s fortunes over the years, hopes that state will regain its prosperity in the coming year and the wealth trickle down to ordinary people.
The sharp price increase of once plentiful food items such as seafood in the coastal city has left her perplexed and upset.
She’s shocked that the price of prawns that was just RM17 per kilogram recently has increased to RM25 per kilogram now .
Her solution – buy less even if it’s for that most important Chinese tradition – the family reunion dinner. Instead buying of buying the usual two kilograms, she bought just 1kg.
Wong also noted how a friend from the peninsula who always used to return home every year to celebrate the festival with family and friends in her place of birth, this year decided to stay in Sabah.
“She told me she wants to save.”
Old timer Barth Chua agrees that times have changed and people are feeling the pinch due to the depreciation of the ringgit, the removal of subsidies and the higher cost of fuel that has combined to increase the already higher cost of living in the state.
Still, he said, the price of goods here are cheaper compared to places such as Australia and Hong Kong even though the items available there are of better quality along with the service.
“Breakfast in Hong Kong costs a person about HKD35 (RM15) and two days expenditure (there) will be enough to sustain us for a week if living in Sabah.”
Chua fondly recalls the “old days” when the Chinese New Year celebration here was the biggest celebration of the year as there are not many entertainment options available for the town folks and everyone visited each other.
“Shops (run by Chinese) would be close for three days and only open on the fourth day of Chinese New Year … sometimes the shop owner opened for a while on the first day (of Chinese New Year) as a good fortune gesture for their business.”
“Now it’s all business … it’s common to find Chinese-owned shops open almost every day.”
Loh, a plumber in his late 60s, said he would be back immediately after the holiday and would remain on call even during the holiday. “Mana ada orang boleh cuti lama … kita mau cari makan…” (which loosely translates as ‘how can people take a long rest … we need to earn a living…’), he said when asked when he would return to finish some work he was doing for me.
Something else that has changed during the festive period is the items on sale at the once-a-year night market. Traditionalists lament that most of the items on offer are not related to the celebration removing the need to go there at all.
The night market held the day before Chinese New Year eve is a tradition that allowed the Chinese community to buy the necessary decorations and other must-haves for their houses along with the food that was only sold during the festive season.
As their customs change or die, the local Chinese community are also warily eyeing the racial and religious tensions that are raging in Peninsular Malaysia.
“People must savour what they have especially the peace and harmony here because it is difficult to get it back once you have lost it,” Chua said in thoughtfully as he watched life passing in then street outside.
But it’s not all gloom and apprehension. Local photographer Jimmy Omar snapped a shot that some say is a sign of good fortune – a cloud formation above Mount Kinabalu on Monday morning that had a striking resemblance to a galloping horse and shared on the social network.
According to a local Chinese astrology enthusiast, the unique cloud formation denotes the popular Chinese saying of “Tian Ma Xing Khong” (Heavenly Horse Prancing in the Sky) which signifies liberation or freedom.
For the Chinese, the horse has been an integral figure in the creation and survival of the Middle Kingdom.- JJ