5 CNY Customs in S’pore That S’poreans Confirm-Plus-Chop Didn’t Know About

Last Updated on 2023-01-11 , 5:30 pm

There are a thousand and one customs to observe during Chinese New Year, such as having firecrackers (which, well, isn’t legal) and decorating the whole house in red, or not sweeping out dust during the festive period.

While these are the more common ones, there may be some that you’ve never known, or never understood.

Sound smarter this CNY by telling your friends about these customs!

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1. Children can prolong their parents’ lifespan

This is known as 守岁 (shou3 ye4), or directly translated as “staying up for the night”. If children stay up from CNY eve past midnight to the first day of CNY, their parents would live a longer life.

This is linked to the legend of 年 (nian2), the mythical beast that terrorised ancient China during CNY.

年 usually attacked at midnight, so families would stay up on the eve to fend off the beast. Those who failed to stay up or fend for themselves were usually the elderly, so it became their children’s job to protect them.

And oh, just to clear some misconception: you won’t need to sleep later than your parents. Just sleep after midnight for 守岁.

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2. The first joss stick

During CNY eve, Taoists would gather at temples and pray, hoping to be the first to plant their joss sticks exactly when the clock strikes 12 midnight. They believe that whoever plants the first joss stick at 12 midnight will have their wishes granted, while the likelihood of having wishes granted decreases with every stick thereafter.

This is why if you look at news reports during CNY, they will usually report the chaos and mayhem that ensues at 12 midnight when everyone is trying to be the first.

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3. The People’s Birthday

The seventh day of CNY is known as 人日, directly translates as People’s Day. The Chinese believe this day to be everyone’s birthday, so everyone grows one year older on this day.

According to Chinese legends, the Chinese Goddess of Creation, 女娲 (nv3 wa1), created different animals on different days, and created humans (us!) on the seventh day.

So this day symbolises the birthday of all human beings on earth.

In Singapore and Malaysia, people usually have yusheng – but do you know that in other countries, people have “seven vegetable soup” (七菜羹), “seven vegetable congee” (七菜粥) or”jidi congee” (及第粥)?

We Singaporeans and Malaysians sure have expensive tastes #justsaying

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4. A Temple A Day

Many Taoists and Buddhists would try to visit a temple every day for the 15 days of CNY to offer their prayers. There are many celebrations for the Gods/Goddesses/Buddhas in the Taoist and Buddhist realm such as their birthdays or commemorating an event during these 15 days of CNY.

Visiting a temple every day to pray to every God ensured that the family will definitely observe every celebration. (Sometimes they try to visit more than one temple a day!)

At the same time, some people believe that different Gods are more ‘effective’ at different temples, so praying at fifteen different temples over the course of CNY would cover most bases.

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5. The Sugarcane

If you’re from Singapore or Malaysia, you would definitely have seen people carrying long sticks of sugarcane during the 8th and 9th day of CNY.

The 8th and 9th days are the eve and birthday of the Jade Emperor (天公), ruler of the heavens. Taoists, especially Hokkiens, would pray and burn incense and sugarcane at 12 midnight of the 8th day to celebrate the Jade Emperor’s birth and to give thanks.

The Hokkien pronunciation of sugarcane, 甘蔗(gam1 jia4), sounds similar to the Mandarin pronunciation of “thanks”, 感谢(gan2 xie4), so the sugarcane symbolises giving thanks to the Jade Emperor.

At the same time, sugarcane is especially symbolic because legends have it that the Hokkiens escaped a massacre by hiding in sugarcane plantation on the day of the Jade Emperor’s birth.

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Many of these traditions are quickly dying out as the younger generation do not understand what their parents or grandparents were doing.

While CNY is most importantly an occasion to meet relatives and give thanks, it traditionally also is a chance to reconcile with and nurture the spiritual side by reflecting on the past year.

Even if our generation do not wish to carry on the traditions, it is worthwhile to know why our predecessors did them, too!

Featured Image: focal point / Shutterstock.com