Lunar New Year. We’ve all heard about it, most of us here in SIngapore celebrate it, but what does it mean to you as an individual? Is it that time of the year where you get to savour cultural snacks and foods? Is it an opportunity to spend more time with your family? Or perhaps even the time to rack in all that ‘ang pao’ money? These are just some of the most common ideologies people have during this festivity and here’s how I usually spend this festive season.
农历新年。相信我们对它都不陌生，而新加坡大多数人都会庆祝这个佳节，但这对我们个人来说意味着什么呢？一年中的这个时候是我们品尝传统小吃和美食的时候吗？这是一个与家人共度更多时光的机会吗？亦或者是花光所有“红包”钱的时间呢？这些都只是人们在这个节日期间最常见的一些意识形态，以下是我通常庆祝这个节日的方式。
How I Used To Think of The Lunar New Year | 我以前如何看待农历新年
Lots of Singaporeans, myself included, spend the holiday in Malaysia as they have relatives whom they want to celebrate with, or they simply want to go on a quick holiday during the 3 day break. I am part of the former group of people as my father’s side of the family resides in Kuala Lumpur.
许多新加坡人，包括我自己，都会在马来西亚度过假期。这其中很大的原因在于他们想与亲戚一起庆祝，或者他们想要充分利用 3 天的假期去度假。我就属于前者，因为我父亲的亲人就居住在吉隆坡。
Honestly, I used to dread the process of having to go to Malaysia via car. There would always be this massive congestion at the customs due to the sheer number of people trying to leave the country during Lunar New Year. The jam alone took about 3 hours to clear and the whole duration of the journey including meal time was about 12 hours. After that long drive, adding up to a whopping 24 hours back and forth, I had no idea why my family was so happy to celebrate the holiday. To me, it was just simply painful to endure the torture of sitting in the car for so long.
老实说，我曾经害怕必须乘汽车去马来西亚的过程。由于农历新年期间试图离开我国的人数众多，海关总是会出现严重拥堵。仅堵车就花了约3小时才疏通，整个行程（含用餐时间）约需12小时。 经过漫长的车程，来回长达24小时，我真不理解家人为什么依旧如此高兴地庆祝这个节日，而我们却不得不忍受在车里坐这么长时间的折磨。
“Ang Pao" Money | 红包钱
The main thing that kids look forward to during the Lunar New Year is the money that they get from red packets. The tradition goes that those who are married in the extended family should give the red packets to unmarried individuals like children, who as a result get quite a lot of money by the end of the celebration.
过年的时候，孩子们最期盼的就是红包。 传统上，大家庭中结婚的人应该给未婚人士（例如孩子）红包，因此在庆祝活动结束时，他们会得到很多钱。
As a child I didn’t even get the luxury of keeping the money as my parents would keep it for me instead. Thus, I couldn’t experience that joy which many others did. At that time, I was also really picky about food and most of the food on the table during the reunion dinners just didn’t appeal to me. This in turn made me feel even more miserable during what people called a holiday.
当我还是个孩子的时候，我几乎没有机会用到这些钱。我的父母都会为我保管红包钱，所以我无法体验到许多其他人所拥有的快乐。当时，我也非常挑食，团圆桌上的大部分食物对我来说都没有吸引力。这也就让我在人们所谓的假期里感到更加痛苦。
How I Think Of The Lunar New Year Now | 我现在对农历新年的看法
In the past, I looked at the Lunar New Year as it was some sort of chore I had to go through yearly. But as time progressed, I started to really appreciate how the Lunar New Year could bring our whole family together, breaking geological barriers to reunite with one another. And that, to me, is the true meaning of the Lunar New Year. So, what does the Lunar New Year mean to you?
过去，我认为农历新年是我每年必须经历的一些琐事，但随着时间的推移，我开始真正感恩农历新年让我们全家人有了团聚的契机，甚至也能打破地域隔阂与亲人团聚。这，对我来说就是农历新年的真正意义。那么，农历新年对你来说又意味着什么呢？
