Chinese New Year Valentines & William Blake

'Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry'
[The Tyger by William Blake (1757-1827)]

Chinese New Year 2010 falls on February 14th Valentine's Day and it ushers in the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese Almanac, hence William Blake makes a cameo appearance with a stanza from his poem of The Tyger.

In these last few days before the Chinese New Year, red coloured buntings and decorations have garland the shop fronts and foyers of shopping malls in Kota Kinabalu and elsewhere in Sabah. Red is the auspicious colour for the New Year.

For Chinese families and those adopted into the Chinese culture, the New Year Eve Dinner would be the occasion where family members near and far gather together at the family home and pay respect to their elders. In Sabah most families would have members who work elsewhere as far afield as the Chinese Diaspora takes them - let us the remember the loved ones who may not be able for one reason or the other to make the trip back home this time, spare them a thought as they toil for families far away from home.

Speaking of loved ones, Chinese New Year 2010 is also Valentine's Day, for lovers everywhere a Dozen Red Roses should be the order of the day in keeping with the auspicious colour for the New Year.