Celebs’ best and worst things about Chinese New Year

SINGAPORE — The Chinese New Year season is here again, and it is impossible not to get caught up in a red tide of Mandarin oranges, music featuring clashing cymbals, and the smell of freshly dispensed cash.

What are some of your favourite things about Chinese New Year? If you said hongbaos and pineapple tarts, well, you are in good company: Local celebrities also listed these as their most loved and anticipated things of the season.

Of course, every silver lining has a cloud. What are some of the things they do not love so much about Chinese New Year, and how should we deal with them? Elvin Ng, Sora Ma, Andie Chen, Nat Ho and Jayley Woo dish out some advice we all can use.

NAT HO

My favourite thing about Chinese New Year is the hongbao! But as you get older, the takings get less. So the next best thing becomes the food. My aunt makes a mean (plate of) Hokkien noodles. And then there is my cousin, who also loves cooking — we always have gatherings at his place. He has a commercial oven in his kitchen, which shows how hardcore he is about cooking. And he has even invested in my newest F&B businesses, which are Love Bento and Taman Manis at Shaw Towers Beach Road.

My least favourite thing is the awkward small talk. It’s always, ‘You’re very busy with work ah? What is your brother doing now? Got girlfriend?’ That kind of stuff. And then they’ll talk about themselves and I don’t know what is going on. My strategy is to just stuff my mouth with lots of tidbits. I’ve realised that, especially with elderly folk, if you say, ‘These tidbits are really good. Where did you get them?’ they’ll say, ‘Oh, you want some more? I’ll go get more.’ Crisis averted!

ELVIN NG

My favourite thing about Chinese New Year is my mum’s pineapple tarts. She learnt how to make them because I love pineapple tarts, and after much trial and error, she developed a recipe. She makes them every year — it’s a lot of work because she has to stir-fry the pineapple. She does it to help me save money — once, I ordered five tubs of pineapple tarts and I finished them all by myself before the first day of Chinese New Year!

My least favourite thing is that while I’m happy to see the whole village of relatives, it is also quite tiring. Chinese New Year is not really a holiday for relaxing — it’s non-stop activity and takes up a lot of energy. A lot of people run away and go on vacation — I might absent myself altogether and go to Bali! Also, you have to answer questions like, ‘When are you getting married?’ I avoid those questions by saying stupid things like, ‘I have a few girlfriends and I don’t know which one to marry’, or, ‘Which actress do you think is suitable for me?’ There are a few names that usually come up. When I was filming with Jesseca Liu, her name came up quite a bit. But it’s better not to mention her name now, because someone might not be very happy!

SORA MA

I have conflicting feelings about hongbaos. My favourite thing about Chinese New Year is receiving hongbaos because it’s like receiving blessings from everybody. But the thing that gives me mixed feelings is that every year, I give my mum a big hongbao — and each year, the amount increases by about 10 or 20 per cent! I’m happy to do it but it also pains me. Still, I’m an accounting student, so I manage my money quite well — if I give her more money, then I spend less. Actually, I never spend any of my hongbao money. I put it all into one big packet and hide it somewhere, like maybe in a secret place next to my bed.

To me, it acts as a blessing throughout the year. I keep it next to me so that every day, I’ll feel that I am receiving good luck from everybody. Then, I add the money into the hongbao that I give my mum, so it’s like I’m keeping all the blessings for a year and then transferring them on. Once, my mum was a bit upset about a family issue and I didn’t know what I could do to help, so I just passed her these “blessings”. But I’ve never told her that I do this, so it’s my own, personal thing.

ANDIE CHEN

My favourite and least favourite things about Chinese New Year are the same thing: Chinatown. It’s tradition for my family to go to Chinatown in the two hours before it closes, and pick out all the good deals and bargains. Then, we go home and decorate. It’s an amazing experience but also the most horrible experience because that means we have to stay up until five in the morning and brave the crowd, and that’s getting more and more horrible especially when I have two kids. If you’re doing that too, wear shoes, shorts and a singlet. Set up a meeting point if you are going in a big group. And if you see something you like, buy it. Don’t wait, because you might not get to come back. But please hustle for a good price.

JAYLEY WOO

The part that excites me most about Chinese New Year is the travelling around from one house to another. Most of my relatives on my mum’s side live in Malaysia. When they come over, we book a bus or minivan so we can travel around together. I don’t get to see them often so I treasure the time we spend together.

My least favourite thing would have to be the food. (Laughs) I mean, I love the food, but it’s really fattening and oily. The older I get, the more I try to avoid oily food. Everybody’s like, ‘It’s only once a year’, but when you’re addicted, you keep eating it, and usually, after Chinese New Year, when you step on the weighing scale — it’s a different story. So before you visit someone at their home, drink at least 150ml of green tea, which boosts the metabolism, or water. It makes you feel full. And, of course, after the whole Chinese New Year affair, please exercise and go for checkups regularly. I’ve been coughing for three months straight and I have yet to recover, so my health is something I would like to take better care of in the coming year.