Returning to the way life should be

AFTER two years of being unable to celebrate Chinese New Year with family and friends, I will never take festive celebrations for granted again.

Under the movement control order (MCO), our movements were restricted and travelling back home became a privilege.

Hailing from Ipoh and working away from home, I learned to cherish my trips home even though the festive season brings with it jammed up roads and eateries filled with people.

On the countdown to the first day of Chinese New Year, fireworks often light up the midnight skies and can be heard for endless stretches.

My house is always filled with an endless stream of people with relatives and friends on the first day.

Most of my friends are working overseas, so Chinese New Year is the only time when we get to meet each other and catch up.

I never knew how much I valued all of these gatherings until the pandemic hit us.

In 2021, most of us were not allowed to go home due to the MCO.

For the first time in my life, I was asleep by midnight that Chinese New Year.

Although restrictions were relaxed last year, most of my friends were unable to return home from overseas.

This year we had a blast, meeting relatives and friends for what seemed like the first time in ages.

Breakfast dates, gatherings and dinners – I did not miss a single one.

Most of my relatives are getting older and entering their 70s and even mid-80s.

It pains me to see how slow and difficult their movements have become. Even negotiating a flight of stairs has become tedious for some.

At first, I wondered why some relatives repeated the same questions so many times. I now realise that old age has taken over.

Young nieces and nephews whom I remembered as toddlers are now in primary school.

The older ones who were once silly kids are young adults entering university.

In a few more years, I’ll be attending their weddings.

It feels as if there was a disruption in the time-space continuum.

The years of 2020 and 2021 seem melded and my memories of those 730 days are crammed together.

This Chinese New Year, being finally reunited with my family, relatives and friends made me feel as if we had stepped out of a time warp that could have been the setting for a science-fiction movie.

In Ipoh, young people like to meet for dim sum at 7am.

But when my gang arranged for a rendezvous, we unanimously settled for dim sum brunch at 10.30am.

Did we lose steam or have we grown older after two years without our reunions?

The other thing I noticed is how young people are glued to their devices.

During our gatherings, I saw them laughing at videos or playing games on their cellphones instead of talking to each other.

I noticed this movement restrictions, too.

Mobile devices became our lifeline for connectivity then, and we have grown attached to our devices despite being able to gather in the same room now.

It has become harder to make meaningful conversations with the younger generation, particularly those glued to their devices.

We need to unlearn those “new normals” we once embraced out of necessity.

We need to be together in person, to laugh and share our thoughts.

I am now in my late 20s, and most of my friends are either attached or married.

In a few years, it will be harder for us to meet due to our commitments when we take on the role as parents.

This has made me appreciate more the time I spent with them during my recent holidays, reminiscing about simpler times.

The older I become, the more I appreciate the time I get to spend with my loved ones, hearing my aunts’ and uncles’ stories and just being home with my family.

I hope the pandemic has changed our perspective and made us more aware of the importance of spending time with our loved ones.