Life, Day by Day

What greeting do you say for the Chinese New Year?  I first knew that there was a Chinese New Year when I went to Hongkong in the late 90's.  Feeling sick the first day I was there, I stayed in our hotel room and watched TV. One program was teaching viewers how to say Chinese phrases. And so, that's how I learned (and never forgot) the greeting of Kung Hei Fat Choi.  I did not know then that this was in the Cantonese dialect, the one mainly used in Hongkong, Guangdong and Macao among the many dialects in China. Back then, I thought it was the only new year greeting in Chinese. Hey, don't blame me...the only Chinese left in me is my lineage. It was only recently that I learned that in the Philippines and Bacolod in particular, most of the Filipino-Chinese come from Fujian province where the dialect is Fookien (Hokkien).  And so, we should actually say, Kiong Hee Huat Tsai when we greet them for the New Year.  As for China's official language Mandarin, it is Gon...

What is it about a new year that makes people so optimistic?  After all, it's just the next day after the 31st of December, it is just another day.  January 1 does not really change anything, but the fact that it is the start of a new year gives people a change in perspective, at least for a while and the cycle goes on and on since every new year is like having second chances. It's a fool's belief. Having said this, I realized that unlike most people, I celebrate the new year because it's a tradition and not because it is important to me. I have no expectations because basically my life just goes on, nothing really changes.  I am talking here about my life in general, the day to day kind of living and interacting with people.  But the many oppressions, sadness, disasters and life challenges of 2011 gave this New Year a new meaning for me.  It gave me HOPE. And indeed these first 10 days of 2012 have already shown me that indeed life would be better this y...