| By Rosli Abidin
Yahya
Young boy selects a Chinese New Year decoration. Photo: Zureena
Abdullah
The Chinese community in Brunei
Darussalam is set to say goodbye to the Year of the Horse while
ushering in the Year of the Goat tomorrow by offering prayers
and exploding harmless firecrackers to pay their respects to
their ancestors and holy spirits.
The festivity is the most
significant holiday for Chinese people not only in Brunei
Darussalam but also around the world, regardless of the origin
of their ancestors.
Commencing with New Year's Eve
tonight, the celebration is set to begin with the gathering of
Chinese families in Brunei, in which they would enjoy a feast of
noodles (representing longevity), a whole chicken (for
prosperity), a whole fish (for abundance), and other delicacies.
The sky would be sporadically
filled with the sound of harmless firecrackers tonight, the
Chinese way of sending out the old year and welcoming in the New
Year.
And on the stroke of midnight,
every door in the house, and even windows, would be opened to
allow the old year to go out.
Tomorrow, on New Year's Day,
children would be most delighted by the "ang pow" or
the cash-filled red envelope, handed out to them by the elders.
Twigs of tiny tangerines would
also be seen hanging inside the house, a sign of anticipating
bloom and wealth in the coming year.
Lion dances have also been
organised in private accommodations and dwellings of the Chinese
community.
The festivity would also be a
chance for the other communities to visit the Chinese people in
a gesture of solidarity and harmony.
During the Year of the Goat,
many Chinese couples would try their best in not having children
as they believed that the goat is the least auspicious sign in
Chinese astrology.
Chinese astrologists said those
born under the sign may have bad luck for the rest of their
lives.
According to recent news
reports, even in present day China, some couples avoid
conceiving a child who will be born in the Year of the Goat.
In contrast, the birth rate in
Chinese communities the world over shoots up every Year of the
Dragon, the most revered sign in the calendar.
In his book entitled
"Chinese Animal Symbolisms", Dr Ong states that the
good points of a 'goat' person are easygoing, sweet, gentle,
compassionate, dislikes strict discipline, fond of children and
nature, artistic, creative, fashionable and affectionate.
The bad points are that the
person may be easily overcome by emotions, tiresome and
pessimistic, indecisive, non-methodical and superficial in love
and marriage.
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