A Christmas tree decorated with red and gold baubles, a variety of ornaments and fairy lights towers over the cosy sitting room of Benjamin Yong and Elizabeth Lee Yong’s apartment in Kuala Lumpur.
In the dining area, the founder of the Big Group meticulously dresses the table, while his wife, the co-founder of jewellery brand Bowerhaus, puts on some Christmas tunes on the self-playing grand piano.
Preparation for this shoot began long before we arrived – the day before, the couple spent Yong’s birthday setting up the tree, decorating the house, hanging up a giant wreath and preparing an entire Christmas spread.
It is the last week of November, but the atmosphere feels very much like Christmas Eve – the table is set with a festive tablecloth and runner, gold leaf-shaped placemats and red napkins, with a full Christmas spread – turkey included – beautifully laid out to give our photographs the perfect setting.
“In Australia, we have a very early start to Christmas, at the end of October the house is being decorated and it just feels more festive that way,” quips Lee, who grew up in Sydney.
This time of year has always been a big deal for both families – for Yong, it’s the biggest celebration of the year.
“Loud,” he jokingly responds to a question on what Christmas was like for him growing up. “Christmas for us is always very family-centric, and it’s always been about family and friends.”
The couple love Christmas so much that they had a “100 days before Christmas” celebration this year.
“We celebrated Christmas, I did a full Christmas spread, we all dressed up in Christmas outfits, we had Christmas crackers and then we got to pop them all 100 days before Christmas. I really enjoyed that, any excuse to have another Christmas,” laughs Lee.
Yong adds, “More so this year with the lockdown, it’s just been so bleak, we need to find any reason to spark joy, why not?”
The lead-up to Christmas Eve is part of the fun, as both Lee and Yong thoroughly embrace the excitement in the preparations.
From decorating the tree to making gingerbread houses to buying presents, Lee enjoys the entire process.
“It’s not just Christmas day, but the whole month combined, of getting Christmas ready for that perfect night,” is Lee’s take on the fun in getting things ready.
A closer look at the Christmas tree ornaments reveals the thought that goes into the couple’s decorations: several ornaments are actually crafted with photographs of meaningful moments, and homemade ornaments by their children, Benjamin Baylee (4) and Blake Azalee (6).
“His mum loves collecting ornaments for the tree for the kids, which I think is really sweet, so every year when you decorate the tree you can see the years that have gone by,” explains Lee. “Baylee did a shark last year and he created that ornament for the tree. Even when I first met Ben’s family, on Christmas morning I gave them ornaments which Ben’s mum still has, so every time I see them on the tree it’s just memories throughout the years of everyone being together.”
Ben chimes in, “Of course we are a younger family so obviously the tree started a little bit later but I think the idea is that over time every ornament should tell a story. It’s not just about a pretty tree, and it could be something from our travels, some things the children made, arts and crafts that become our ornaments.”
When it comes to food, the family are spoilt for choice not just with cuisine cooked up in the restaurants that they own, but also with the contributions from members of the family.
“His mum loves making trifle for dessert. Everyone has their own signature dish, so there’s a cherry pie, a trifle, the turkey’s the most important where his mum has perfected the stuffing and the olive rice,” says Lee, whose specialty is the gingerbread house.
“I love doing a gingerbread house with the kids and decorating it. But, we never eat it because it’s so manhandled, there’s so much sugar on it and it’s just so pretty. By the time we dismantle it’s a bit too old to eat,” she adds, laughing. “It’s more of a fun activity”.
It’s also a very busy time for the business, and this year they have gone all out with a variety of options for those who may not have the time or energy to cook up an entire meal.
“This year we worked on a very extensive menu, there’s turkeys but there’s all the other sides – pies, roast beef and salmon as well. So, it’s not just necessarily turkey because not everyone’s a fan of turkey,” says Yong.
A very Australian element to the repertoire is a seafood box, and Lee explains that it’s too hot in December to have a turkey for Christmas, which is why Australians have come to enjoy this option for a meal instead.
“Our job essentially is to take the hassle and stress out of people’s households,” says Yong, adding, “We’ve also started getting lazy at home and started adding repertoire from the restaurant.”
The magic of Christmas
As children, Yong and Lee both looked forward to opening presents and now, as parents themselves, they get to relive the excitement through their kids.
The magic of storytelling and Santa Claus is part of what makes Christmas special to the family, but Yong and Lee also teach their children about helping others.
“I guess it’s give and take season, you know how throughout the year you try to teach them about helping others but as kids it’s understandable that all they focus on is me, me, me,” says Yong. “But it’s also trying to teach them that there are other people that are less fortunate, that we have to care about and consider.”
Before the pandemic hit, the couple made it a point to hold Christmas parties in orphanages and would bring their children along to play with the kids who live there.
“Unfortunately for two years we haven’t been able to go out but it’s getting them to see what orphanages are like and sharing the experience with them to make them understand how fortunate they are.”
Gift-giving is an important part of the Christmas period for the family, and in Yong’s opinion it’s to show care and consideration.
“There are times where I think you’re probably cracking your head thinking of what to give people but I think the original thought of that is it shows to that person that you care for them and that you’ve considered what they would like,” he opines.
“I will always say don’t get me presents, don’t get me anything but the excitement of, ‘I got you something just because or this is something special’ is always there. It doesn’t even have to be something expensive, it could just be something that I love like a cookie or something small but I love it,” quips Lee.
More than anything else, Yong feels Christmas is a time when people really get together and connect, more than any other time of the year.
“You know there are times when you say ‘Let’s catch up, let’s do something’ and you don’t because life gets in the way? But somehow with Christmas especially with family it’s just a concerted effort on everybody’s part to meet up and to catch up. I always think connection is really important whether it’s with friends or family, it allows that bond and it could be over a meal or over coffee.”
“I find that with the holidays people make more of an effort,” he adds.
To him, Christmas is about love, and being the end of the year, it makes everyone reflect and reassess what’s important and think about what they want to achieve next year.
“Also, it does make people think out of the box in terms of caring for those who are less fortunate,” says Yong.
“I love Christmas, if I could celebrate it all year round I would!” says Lee. “I just appreciate that feeling of love for family and each other, and I just feel like it’s pure magic no matter what you do with Christmas – whether it’s opening up the presents, playing games together or just enjoying each other’s company. Because it’s Christmas it draws everyone together, giving us that opportunity to connect as we spend time together.”
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