Happiness is .....(44)

 

A sumptuous dinner - with Soh Wah, Yew Tien and Soh Wah's mom

 

Yew Tien having a whale of time, lighting up the candles.

 

The full, round moon ....

 

Moon bright, bright, in the middle of the night.....

"Choo, what are you doing tonight?" asked Soh Wah, my best friend.

"We have a meeting at the office."

"What? Meeting tonight when it is the celebration for the mid-autumn festival?"

"Aiyoh....Singapore, where got Autumn", I said.

I have only known this period to be the lantern festival and people buying and eating mooncakes, but I have never realised that on the 15th day, families are supposed to have dinner together. Soh Wah insisted on my joining her and family for dinner and so off I went to her office as it would be nearer to meet her at the office than at her home in the West.

At dinner time, Soh Wah was surprised when I told her that it was the very first time I was invited to a home on this special occasion for dinner all these 27 years of my living in Singapore.! I have not missed anything because after work, I just like to relax in the evenings, watching my favourite television programs in the quiet and comfort of home, sweet home.

"Choo, in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and even Korea, this is an important celebration. In fact, they even have 3 days of public holidays."

I always love home cooked meals. Somehow they always taste different and are always extra delicious. I guess because they are cooked with love. Soh Wah's maid has been working for her for the past 15 years and is treated like a family member. She is an excellent cook.

It was interesting to watch Yew Tien lighting up the lanterns. He seemed to be
thoroughly enjoying himself. I guess there is always that little child in all of us.

I told Soh Wah that my most memorable time was when papa bought me a lovely lantern, in the shape of a colorful eagle. However, I was careless and accidentally dropped the lantern which was immediately burnt. The poor eagle had died prematurely, and I cried bitterly. It would upset me tremendously whenever I wasted any of papa's hard-earned money.

As Soh Wah and I were walking to the bus-stop, we saw that the moon could now be seen more clearly as earlier, it had been cloudy due to the heavy rain. I quickly took out my camera again, and took some pictures. Soh Wah laughed and said I would need a telescope instead. Not bad, what a little camera could do. The moon looked so cute in the picture! Now I can understand why Chinese poets of ancient times loved to pen lines on the full, round moon.

Happiness is celebrating this special occasion with good friends. Maybe next year,
I will cook dinner at home and invite some non Chinese friends or friends whose families are living overseas.

It would be wonderful if our Government could declare a one day public holiday so that "blur ones", "ignorant" people like me, would realise the importance of the occasion. :-)

Gan Cao