I have received a basket full of CNY goodies from one of my sister as a gift. Of course the kids were thrilled but like Christmas I told them not to open those goodies till the celebration of CNY itself. Some kind of self-control and discipline I taught them since they were young. They obliged and nodded. I am also thinking to make a goodie hamper for my eldest son’s school. To share and give. I guess this is the celebration is all about whether you are a Chinese, Indian, Malay, Christian, and from other races.

Its a kind of reminiscent of my childhood that my family used to get from neighbors of other races. Every time without fail, our family used to get traditional homemade sweet coconut candy cake, cookies, and so many others from the Indians and Malays. In return my mom will give a cup or two of sugar. I used to ask mom instead of sugar can we give them other items? It sounded weird, ain’t it but that’s their tradition. Since we shifted, we no longer get those goodies from the old neighborhood but we were still invited to their open house.

For me, those days were gone. I do not see any one here (where I lived) practiced those supposedly said tradition, at least that happened to our old neighborhood. It doesn’t matter if the cookies were slightly sweeter than is supposed to be or even if it doesn’t fit your taste bud, but it’s the thought that count. I also remember clearly lingering around the cookies and finishing off the last bit with my sisters when I was a kid. Nothing is sweeter than this plateful..that is going to last forever in my heart.