Year of the Dog

The Chinese New Year is one of the most celebrated event in the world. The Chinese are everywhere in every nook and cranny of the world. This year is the Year of the Dog and what’s even more special is the fact that this year will be a “long” year with 385 dog-days. Such phenomenon will only occur 12 times from 221BC to 2100AD. The last such phenomenon was in 1944. I guess I wouldn’t see another such lunar cycle in my lifetime.

I have 3 dogs in my Cheras home and one in Happy Garden. The Year of the Dog has seen a sudden surge of people owning dogs. A UM professor commented in TV3’s Buletin Utama that people own dogs in the belief that their barking “Ong! Ong! Ong!” would bode well with the Chinese strong superstitious belief of "ong" equals to prosperity. I never knew dogs’ barking has changed from Woof! Woof! to Ong!Ong!Ong! I guess Ong sounds more like a puppy than a rocky Rottweiler. However, many people who were not prepared for the new commitment of owning a dog found themselves unable to cope with the added responsibilities of cleaning them up, feeding and giving them the required attention. So, the unlucky dogs were reportedly abandoned on the streets when the reality sunked in on the owners. As I ponder over such report, I realized our family gave a lot of attention and spent huge amount of time and money on our dogs. We are the proud owner of one of our 3 dogs in BTHO that is already 15 years old and that is equivalent to 105 dog-years! Going by this record, we may soon have one of the oldest dogs in the world!

My CNY celebration with family is a bit different this year. We took on the steamboat approach. It’s more convenient that way and we get everything in a pot of wholesome CNY goodness. We have fish, prawns, Foo-Chow wantan, and many many more, all the stuff that forms the usual CNY greetings. And we get a tastier pot of soup everytime we put in the fresh ingredients and the taste just gets better.

This year it’s just me receiving ang pao. My brother’s married last year so I inherit all the red packets including double takes from him since it’s his first year of marriage. The traffic was quite good in the morning but not until it turned afternoon. I bet a lot of people have made KL their homes. Just my area in Happy Garden alone, I noticed each of the houses was still occupied and cars were streaming and parking onto the roads for CNY visiting. Working for and constructing highways have made me gone numbed with the daily traffc jams and so a traffic jam-free CNY is what I wished for before I get back to work.

I had been receiving poetic SMS-es on the CNY. Actually I have my own created much earlier, just that I refused to send it out and be "another" of those poetic SMS-es. But here it goes..."Missing Chicken, Golden Retriever. Chicken or Fox Terrier? No answer will get mini pincher, When you feel a Hush, that's when it's Chi-wa-wa-nese New Ear!"