This week, Chinese around the world will usher in the Year of the Ox with family and friends, happiness foods and customs all designed to bring good luck after a tumultuous year.
In tightly controlled Singapore, the government is letting the festivities continue in a time of Covid, but its leaders are imploring the nation to exercise restraint in uttering Chinese New Year phrases or they risk fines and imprisonment.
“Strongly speaking favorable statements” is not allowed in restaurants, according to the country’s recently updated legal statutes, which mark a popular ritual called “Lo-Hei,” a Cantonese phrase that calls for good luck.
Commonly in Singapore and Malaysia, custom centers around a dish called Yusheng which is a blend of grated vegetables, preserved fruits, raw fish, crunchy strips and spices. While ingredients and spices are added, people gathered around the dish clamor for abundance, love, career success and good grades. The group then uses chopsticks to mix and throw the ingredients into the air to ring in the New Year with heartfelt wishes, in what is typically a noisy and messy affair.
Leading up to the Year of the Ox, which begins February 12, ethnic Chinese residents – who make up the majority of Singapore’s 5.7 million residents – typically eat multiple meals with the colorful dish.