IPOH: For a husband and wife born in the Year of the Fire Horse, this year’s Chinese New Year carries a rare and deeply personal significance.
Now turning 60, Wong Siew Boon and Caroline Ooi are celebrating the completion of a full zodiac cycle.
This means that the couple are returning to the very same Fire Horse year in which they were born, something that occurs only once every six decades.
Adding to the joy is the return of their daughter Nicole Wong, 27, from Canada, who is spending the festive season at home for the first time in 10 years.
Ooi said the family plans to mark the occasion with a traditional reunion dinner with family members, some of whom are returning from abroad.
“We adopted the practice of reuniting at a restaurant in recent years as elderly family members are no longer able to cook large meals,” said Ooi when met at her home in Taman Kinta here.
Also present was Ooi’s mother Won Kooi Keem, 87.
“Traditional auspicious dishes symbolising prosperity and blessings will feature prominently on the menu.”
Ooi said visits to relatives would continue throughout the festive week.
“On the second day of Chinese New Year, my family plans to travel to my mother’s hometown in Chemor.
Her daughter, Nicole, described her trip home as enjoyable.
“I have eaten a lot,” she said with a laugh, explaining that school semesters previously prevented her from returning during the festive period, adding that she came back only for Christmas due to work commitments.
“I especially missed local festive treats and the unique atmosphere of the season, including shopping for new clothes, festive decorations and traditional biscuits only available during this time of year.
“My decision to return is simple – receive ang pow and eat the good food,” she joked.
For her father, the year is also significant because he and his wife are approaching retirement after about four decades of work.
“With fewer commitments ahead, we hope to travel more, possibly visiting our children in Canada and relatives in Australia.
“To welcome my daughter home, we prepared her favourite festive snacks, including pineapple tarts, peanut cookies and prawn crackers,” Wong said, adding that he also baked a butter cake.
Wong said that for the family, the rare convergence of a zodiac milestone, a reunion after years apart and the prospect of retirement has made this Chinese New Year one to remember.
